Start: Corrubbio
Finish: Borghetto
Distance: 19
Total: 1013
Today was my first full day on the road walking since the 90 day break and it was good to get back in the swing of things. It was a good day overall with a little chaos thrown in at the end just so I don’t get too complacent.
With missing a full nights sleep flying over from the U.S., you’d think I would have just fallen right to sleep last night. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. After a good meal at the hotel restaurant I got back in my room about 9:00 and was wide awake until after midnight. That was only 5:00 in the afternoon back home so I’m going to be adjusting to the time change for a couple of nights. After I did fall asleep I got some good rest and was up and ready to go this morning. I hit the road at 8:00 with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s.
Today’s route took me through many small towns and the road was two lane with no shoulder. Luckily, the traffic was not very heavy and drivers were good about sharing the road with me. There was a bike and walking path along my route all day. Unfortunately it sometimes wandered away from the road by quite a ways and was very crooked which would have added considerably to my walking distance so I stuck with the main road most of the day.
Today I got started into the Alps where I will be until near the end of the month. The road I’m taking follows the Adige River. The Adige is the second longest River in Italy, beginning near the Italy-Austria border and running to the Adriatic Sea. The locals take full advantage of the river valley as this area is known as the Lombardy wine region. For miles and miles I saw nothing but vineyards and wineries. About mid-morning I was joined by three retired Italian Army veterans who I happened upon during my time along the walking path. They were out getting their exercise and spoke very little English but I was able to understand their passionate insistence that THIS is home to the world’s finest wine. Funny how everywhere you go that grows grapes has the finest wine in the world. Another point of interest; this region is also home to some major Italian marble and granite producers. You can see the mining locations in the mountains and there are factories that turn the rough stone into the beautiful finished product used for floors and countertops.
My walking day ended in the small town of Borghetto. It has one hotel. That one hotel was closed, and it’s just as well because it didn’t look so hot. So I went to plan B. Borghetto has a small train station, and the train stops there hourly enroute to all the other towns through this valley; or at least the ones lucky enough to have a train station. Because I had already anticipated the possibility that this hotel closure might happen, I knew I could walk another mile and catch the train 15 miles north to the town where I’m walking to tomorrow. So off I went to the station. When I got there, there were two teenage girls standing on the platform so I asked if the train going to Rovereto was coming soon. They said yes, in three minutes. I went into a panic because the train only runs once per hour and I didn’t want to miss it. I asked them about a ticket and they said the ticket machine is broken. Now this station is so small it has no ticket office so the machine is the only option. So the two girls said just get on the train and take your chance. OK. So the train comes right on time, I get on, and immediately the conductor comes by asking for my ticket. I said “I don’ta havea onea because I just got on in Borghetto and the machinea, it’s brokea. He said no problema, I could buya one from hima. So now I know.
So I rode the train 15 miles north to Rovereto. This is a much bigger city; big enough that their train station has a ticket office. When I got off the train I checked with the ticket office attendant about the schedule for tomorrow morning so I can backtrack to Borghetto and pick up where I left off today. Of course, the train departs hourly at :47 minutes past the hour. I’ll be there.
Next I headed to the hotel I located on Google Maps here in Rovereto. They have two hotels, 50 feet apart on the same street. Unfortunately, both were full tonight. But wait, the desk clerk said there was another hotel two miles further north on the edge of town. She called and they had a room available. Good! But it’s two more miles and I’m dead tired and I’ll already have to walk to that hotel tomorrow because that’s where I’ll stay again tomorrow night. So, I took a taxi to the hotel and will walk two extra miles to get back to this hotel for a second night. So tomorrow, I get a ride to the Rovereto train station, take the train back to Borghetto, walk back to the hotel where I’m staying tonight and spend tomorrow night here as well. Then I’m back on schedule.
So it was a good day overall; just a little crazy at the end. Thanks for reading.
P.S. I published a new video on YouTube. See it there or select the video tab on the website.
