FORT WILLIAM BREAK

Time to fill-in some past ramblings, long overdue. I shall make 1 post for each outing, but I'll try and compile my next escapes as they happen...

This is the first trip of the year,

FORT WILLIAM, SCOTLAND, U.K.

FEBRUARY 2-9, 2016

02- TUESDAY

And so we’re off! I do hate these herds of Italians and their mobile phones - they keep them on until the very last minute before take off and they turn them full swing back as soon as the wheels touch tarmac! I’d confiscate them all upon boarding and give ‘em back on leaving the aircraft… I mean, how can you be so bloody dependent that you can’t switch it bloody well off for an hour or two! They must have implemented some sort of screening, though, for you don’t even hate to turn them off now, it’s enough you leave ‘em in flight mode…

We flew from Turin to Paris and from there on to Aberdeen - the flights were pretty uneventful, except some very strong winds in Aberdeen that caused the plane to have two attempts on landing…

Once in Aberdeen, we rented a car… and we got a flippin’ Fiat 500X! A car so uncomfortable we could hardly fit our baggage in… [the “we” is my wife and I, plus our 2 friends Pat & Renzo] Anyway, we managed to get ourselves all the way down to Fort William, stopping for lunch along the way in a pretty bistro. I had smoked fish soup - an excellent choice! 

We passed a lot of flooded land while coming here, a result of the recent heavy rain that’s been falling in the past weeks. At 5.30pm we finally arrived to Achintee Farm, our self-catering hostel for the week. As soon as we un-puzzled our luggage from the car, we went to buy some supplies and we finally called it a night. Although I didn’t do any driving, it’s been all very tiring… I’m sure I’m gonna get a good night sleep. The rooms in the hostel are great, the bathroom is a bit small but pretty, and the kitchen is well equipped of all essentials. I posted a positive review on TripAdvisor :-)

03- WEDNESDAY

It’s been a nice day, so this morning I decided to take a walk on a path to Dun Deardail, an old fort not far from here. I slept really well last night, the place here is ever so quiet. The farm is in the Nevis valley surrounded by mountains with the river Nevis close by. 

DUN DEARDAIL WALK [5.7km one way / 3.5mi]

A nice walk on a clear path facing Ben Nevis. I can tell I’m out of shape because my back started hurting soon after starting on the trail, in spite of my backpack being really light - I don’t think it was more that 3kgs - anyway, 11+km  [7mi] for the first day I don’t consider bad at all. I took a lot of pix, but down-points of pictures are: •you never manage to catch all the eyes can see; •you cannot record feelings, smells, sound, wind, temperatures… all a picture can do is actually take you back to that moment in time. Which is not bad for yourself, but you cannot really take anyone there with you - you have to live it to feel it ;-)

I thoroughly enjoyed the forest smells, the pure air, the chirping birds, the snow on the final part of the trail.

The DUH! moment was when I reached the fort - totally covered in snow. Good job I had taken a picture of the description board just at the bottom of the steps to the fort. As for vitrified walls, we’ll just have to take their word for it!

Not happy with the walk I walked another 4km [2.5mi] to the local shop to get some food for my late lunch - 3.30pm. 

Meanwhile Rosie and the other two have climbed Ben Nevis and reached the top! They were back by 6.30pm - very good dinner-timing! They’re having … pasta, again! Ha ha, there’s no way I’m having pasta over here when I can finally have some proper British food. I’ll have pasta when I’ll have to be back to Italy.

04- THURSDAY

I woke up in quite a good shape, considering… this morning was windy, but not raining (at first), so I started off to Inverlochy Castle and Corpach and the Treasures of the Earth Museum.

INVERLOCHY OLD CASTLE AND CORPACH [10km one way / 6mi]

I started across the river Nevis and followed Glen Nevis Rd into town, passed through Inverlochy and reached the old castle ruins. A quick tour inside the walls as a light drizzle started to fall.

I passed the footbridge over the Nevis and followed along the Caledonian Canal to Corpach, where I visited the Treasure of the Earth Exhibition. A fantastic collection of gems, stones and fossils - I thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

I had lunch at the Corpach Hotel, with broccoli and cauliflower soup and 1/2 pt of bitter. I had never been one much for soups, but I’m really enjoying their creamy texture now - a perfect light lunch that will allow me to have a late tea with a piece of cake. 

Coming back, I didn’t really fancy another 10km walk in the rain, so I took the bus into Fort William. As I was enjoying my ride back, Rosie texted me saying she was coming down from her climb, for her hips were hurting too much - so I met her in town and we grabbed a bite at Morrison’s Cafe’.

Today’s not been as tiring as yesterday, but there wasn’t any snow [it had also disappeared from the mountains around the hostel], and virtually no elevation. It’s been a good walk as the weather held, for it started to rain a bit more seriously only towards the end of the afternoon. Temperatures have been mild throughout the day.

At the end of the day Pat came back with a badly sprained ankle - climbing’s over for her… We could thus experience first hand the efficiency of the NHS and Fort William Hospital’s A&E - in one hour we were out with x-rays, crutches and tutoring boot, all thanks to the great nurses and doctors there.

So… it’s gonna be sight-seeing for all of us from now on, I guess. It’ll save me walking to town 

everyday, unless the others are up to it… all except Pat, of course.  :-/

05- FRIDAY

Heavy rain and wind this morning! Real heavy showers and powerful guts of wind, so we’re all home-bound. We went to Fort William in the afternoon for a bit of shopping and a look of the town, for the rain stopped. We did some shopping around and I ended up with a Scotland cap, perfect do keep the rain off my glasses and 6 new pairs of hiking socks - now I’m just missing the HIKING!!!

Poor Pat is pretty low about her injury - it was her first time in Scotland and she managed but 2 days of climbing… 

In spite of it all, I quite like this weather, I’d sign up for windy days any day! The rain, I’m not too keen on, but it’s alright every now and again. ;-)

06- SATURDAY

CAR TOURING DAY

Being quite a nice day, this morning we decided to take the car for a tour of the area. We went to Eilean Donan Castle - we got there at low tide, but they’re having repair works done, so you can only visit the castle on a guided tour… none of us really fancied it, so we took a few pictures and headed to Urqwart Castle on the Loch Ness. Alas! the blowing icy gale and the fact you had to pay an£8.50 entrance before doing anything else, didn’t even let us reach the visitors’ centre. We headed to Drummadrochit where we stopped for a nice bowl of soup at Glen Cafe’, then we continued to Inverness where we spent 2 hours walking around town. Poor Rosie had to do all the driving, as the other “eligible” driver was crippled, and I really don’t know how she did it…

In spite of not having physically done much, it’s been quite a tiring day - being car-bound so much is not really my cup of tea… Tonight the wind is fiercely blowing again - I hope tomorrow we can manage a walk of sorts ‘cos otherwise I’m not doing much of what I had set out to do…

07- SUNDAY

Er… not much of a SUN-day… :-/

The day started pouring down in a fierce wind… a definite no-no for walking. Rosie and Renzo had a fry-up, but the weather eased up a bit in the afternoon, so Rosie and I decided to go out anyway and follow the path to Steal Falls - we reached the furthest point of the road in the car, then walked along the beautiful path to the waterfalls. A total of just 4km [2.5mi] altogether, but the trail is really beautiful and well marked. Upon reaching an opening in the glen, all water previously sheltered by the mountain face just broke loose and showered us completely! We got totally drenched! -I was wet to my underpants- but the views were well worth it!!!

Before returning to the hostel, we stopped for a quick lunch at the Ben Nevis Inn, just above Achintee, where I had a superb vegetarian haggis washed down by a pint of cider - an excellent end to this wet day. As soon as I set foot back to our room, I changed into something dry and put the kettle on.

08- MONDAY

COW HILL WALK [6.5km one way / 4mi]

This morning I took advantage of the SUN for the whole half hour that it shone, and headed to Fort William via Cow Hill. A beautiful walk through forest and hills - great views all around and a very nice path.

Once in Fort William, I met with my holiday mates at the train station, and we left in the car for Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse - a very nice scenic route throughout. We just caught a bit of rain on our way back, once all the sightseeing was done.  :-)

Along the way, we had lunch in the only establishment open in the area, the Kilchoan Hotel, where I had a nice leek and potato soup and I shared an apple crumble with Rosie.

… And so this holiday draws to a close. I managed to do 4 out of the 6 walks I had planned, which, all considered, it’s not bad. I counted on a bit more independence, but with Pat’s sprained ankle it all worked out pretty fine. I really enjoyed my stay - shame that, when you start getting the hang of the place, it’s time to leave… 

Before dinner we packed our bags, so we can leave nice and early for Aberdeen tomorrow morning, just after breakfast.

09- TUESDAY

The journey to the airport was pretty smooth, and when we got the car back, we managed to have the dent on the windscreen not counted for. At Rosie’s statement “I’m an engineer” and threatening a lawsuit for the dent was OUT of the driver’s line of vision and just about INSIDE the damage measurement circle, they let us off “just for this one time…” [as if we’d EVER rent from them again - first, we’ve been flogged a (crappy) car that was different from what we had booked, then they tried to charge us for a dent in the windscreen that was really tiny and barely visible…]. Anyway, it all went well. 

At the airport, a wheelchair service was arranged for all the flights up to Turin for our friend Pat, crutches-bound. For once I had a window seat on the plane - it’s nice to see the world from a new perspective, seeing the clouds from above always amazes me!

all the pictures here: http://bit.ly/2481BVr

Lago Paschiet, Valli di Lanzo

27-09-2015

Solo walk.
Today I took a nice and easy 2.30hrs walk on a nice trail. I went up in my books and attempted some barefoot hiking coming down - not strictly all the way down for the top part was quite littered by treacherous sharp stones, and I had to come down in a bit of a hurry to avoid the rising fog, so I preferred wearing my boots for the first part of the descent.

Autumn is coming

The colours of the Autumn are starting to show and the scenery is really beautiful. At the lake is all peace and quiet - you just hear the soft ripple of the water and a bird chirping in the distance. I didn't meet anyone else on this trail, nor at the lake, making it all the more enjoyable.

refreshing the feet

As soon as I reached the lake I put my feet in it, refreshing them in the icy water after the 2.30 hrs they had been constrained in closed shoes; I spread-out my sweaty clothing and put on a clean T-shirt and a light fleece jumper for the air was quite brisk at 2000m and I wanted to rest and enjoy my apple for a bit.

I started on my way back down pretty soon though, as there were clouds coming in from the peaks above the lake, and some coming up from the bottom of the valley, and I didn't want to be stuck in the middle.

After a couple of hours of descent, from a slightly different (and worse) trail than that I used to come up, I reached the village I started from still in time for a spot of lunch, then I waited for Rosie to come back from her Mountaineering School teaching lesson.

Good job I always have a book with me ;-)

more pictures here

3 days geo-tour in Val Maira

03-07-2015

The "ciciu"

I met with the rest of the geo-touring group at Villar S. Costanzo (CN), where our 3-days started with a visit to the Ciciu del Villar Nature Reserve, a typical formation of this area. Their particular "mushroom" shape comes from the erosion of the clay base, leaving the top, made of harder metamorphic rock typical of here and the Susa Valley.
We then moved on to our lunch destination, after a brief stop to check the old separation between the African and the European plates, that runs just here :-)
I left my car there and teamed up with another woman who was also driving alone and we drove towards Elva, a beautiful little village famous for the old Hair Gathering trade. 

> Here's an extract I translated from the Museo dj Pels (Museum of Hair) webpage [http://tinyurl.com/o8y4k44] :
      The Museum of "Pels" (hair) of Elva is linked to the tradition of "Pelassiers" (gatherers of hair), lasting more than a century between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
The pelassiers started from Elva in the early autumn and traveled to Lombardy, Veneto and Friuli looking for women and girls willing to get their hair cut in exchange for a few coins, a piece of cloth or a scarf.
Back in Elva, the hair went into family workshops to be combed and separated according to colour, length and thickness. After this, the hair was collected in braids and sent to wholesalers, who made precious wigs sold to Lords and aristocratic ladies throughout Europe.
The Museum of Pels, hosted in the nineteenth-century House of the Sundial, collects historical material provided by the inhabitants of Elva: vintage photos, tools of the trade, evidence collected directly from the pelassiers, even the laces, jewels, and scarves that were used to convince women to barter their hair. The museum also shows a wonderful documentary by Fredo Valla titled "The road of hair" with interviews of the pelassiers who used to walk these mountains. <

We reached our lunch destination at about 2.00pm - La Sousta dal Col, near the Colle S.Giovanni, with 12°C... a refreshing change from the humid heat of the plains...
The food was very nice :-)

After lunch we drove to the Pass in the pouring rain, so ... no panorama! After retracing our steps, we made another stop for a short walk un a steep hill, just facing Mt. Bettone, where our excellent guide Enrico Collo, an expert of the Valley's geology, showed us the different rock formations.

Teepee tents at Lou Dahu

We then proceeded to Marmora, further along the Valley, were we have our accommodation for the 2 nights. I'm sharing the room with another member of the tour, and we're staying in a campsite (Lou Dahu) that also has bungalows, rooms and Indian teepee tents - the overall setting is nice, but they have a dodgy dog policy: no dogs are allowed even when all occupants of the room agree for its staying… dogs are not even allowed in the campsite area - really weird, when there were no problems in the HOTEL where some other members of our group were staying… so our companion dog Gina stayed in the hotel where her mother was, instead of in the room with her grandad ;-p




After a light dinner in Osteria della Croce Bianca, in Marmora (food ok, but the staff seemed rather out of place), we went for a walk in the night looking for stars. And stars we saw - Antares, Vega, Altair, the Scorpion constellation and even Saturn was visible. A lot of fireflies guided our way back :-)

04-07

Day 2 started with a flimsy breakfast at the campsite -cappuccino and croissant - I reckon they're a bit stingy in these parts... even if I think a bread, butter and jam choice, would have worked out better for us and cheaper for them. Never mind.

Today we spent the day walking - we started with the Gardetta plateau, where our guide Enrico found Triassic dinosaur prints under some fossilised ocean ripple - quite fascinating! We also learnt that green-yellow lichens  grow on silica rocks, whereas orange lichens grow on limestone rocks. 

One of the dino prints

Ancient ocean and beach ripple, on multiple layers

We continued our walk to the Gardetta Refuge for our lunch, where they gave us polenta (thick, solidified cornmeal porridge), the typical mountain food that can be served with stew, sausages or melted cheese and butter.

Edelweiss

Flowers in full bloom

A proud marmot

After lunch, another short walk up to the Gardetta Pass, were there still were some patches of snow. All along the walk we enjoyed the flowers in bloom, including edelweiss, a protected alpine flower. On the way we also spotted a few marmots, some even posing for pix ;-)






Rosie joined us at the campsite and for dinner, to be there for our last day of touring. It was a nice extra to my trip :-)

A view over the valley with an ancient glacial lake

Back to base, we repeated last night experience over dinner, if possible made even worse by the insufficient portions... All in all it's like being on an all-carbs diet: there's always very little vegetables -unfortunately quite typical of Piedmontese traditional cuisine- and the meal is largely based on first course of pasta or rice, and a meat second course, mainly roasts with a few (count them) over-greasy potatoes or carrots. They also favour starters, usually quite tasty, but there again you get a rather unhealthy mixture of meat-fish-cheese with sauces and other fats, with a few vegs, usually cooked...

05-07

This morning we headed to Rocca Provenzale, that incidentally resembles the spine of a giant dinosaur... The morning was really glorious, and we got the chance of learning yet something more about these mountains and their ancient past.

We had lunch at the Maira Springs - I must say the best food we had so far, they even cooked a seitan stew for vegetarians! and we have been told they don't usually do catering... 

A travertine cave

On the way back we visited a formation of travertine caves, also typical of the area.

When we reached our cars late in the afternoon the trip was over, so we all parted with a gift from Enrico, a nice booklet about the geology of the Valley and the promise to exchange photos from the trip.
With Rosie we went for dinner at the Tano di Grich (the Cricket's Den), in S.Michele Prazzo, one of our favourite establishments of this Valley, where we always enjoy good food :-)
_._._._._

I spent a very nice 3 days, learning a lot about geology and the formation of the earth from millions of years ago, I totally enjoyed the walks and the lessons, and the nice group that gathered.

Coming back to the plains we found torrid heat, I guess it's what India must be like most of the time, very humid and high temperatures... we could get very little proper sleep!

For info about geological tours: www.geoturismo.it (in Italian)
[for more pix: http://tinyurl.com/pyhwquu]

a week in Malta

09-06 : MALTA

We arrived in Malta this morning, after bumping into 2 old friends going to… Malta at the airport in Turin…
The weather here is really hot, but there's a breeze and the sea is lovely! Rosie had left her credit card at the airport (at the rent-a-car desk), so we had to rush back, rented car and all.

The population here seem rather scruffy, definately relaxed, and quite pleasant to talk to. Out apartment is nice and cosy, if a bit scarce in equipment, but the landlord is nice and helpful… and there’s free wi-fi. We did some shopping for basics to get us started…
On a short walk around the town I found myself a fab pair of walking sandals - great! and cheap. I might buy a pair of goggles too, for the sea here is really clear and rocky.

10-06 : MALTA

some spectacular cliffs

Today I followed a coastal path - a 15 km walk along the West coast, from Dingli Cliffs to the Blue Grotto. [http://mta.com.mt/page.aspx?id=267]

walking along

It’s been a very hot day, and I compleated the walk at around 1:00pm - about the right time to meet with the others climbing about and go for a bite to eat, before looking for a place for a good swim.

the Blue Grotto

My new sandals performed really well - I used them all day and got no blisters or other discomfort. Tomorrow we’re off to Gozo for the day.

 11-06 : GOZO

Gozo

 After a short ferry journey of about 25 min, we headed SW where the climbing trio found a spot to do their business, and I found a trail leading me into the island, passing from Xewkija and ending in the capital, Victoria (Rabat). The houses here are nicer than on Malta, even the modern beehives are somewhat more contained and not impacting so much on the eye…

Xewkija

In Victoria I went to the citadel -the oldest part of town- where I visited a few museums: Archaeology, Natural History, and the Old Prisons. Unfortunately, there were scaffolding all over this area, as they’re doing some major restoration works… probably before the big summer rush.
This morning I actually had a couple of blisters under my big toes, so I reverted to flip-flops pretty soon into the day - maybe I should have given my feet a rest after a long day wearing NEW shoes…

the citadel

In the old part of the town outside the citadel there are some old Victorian lanes (reminded me of Brighton in a furnace…) where local crafters have their shops - sometimes just the yard of their house. I bought two lace bookmarks, handmande by a nice old lady with whom I exchanged a few words.

the Victorian lanes

Here everybody speaks English, fortunately, for Maltese, is rather incomprehensible. It sounds a bit like a mixture of Arabic and Romanian… hard to read and impossible to pronounce :p
Shortly afterwards I was called out by the climbers who wanted to go for a swim, so I had to cut my tour short to join back with them.











We headed to Dwejra Bay and had a swim in the Azure Window, a large archway in the sea.

the Azure window - and azure it is  :-)

We then drove towards the ferry, but had dinner in Gozo still, in Marsal Bay. We went to a nice restaurant, Otters, were we enjoyed some local food - I tasted some Gozo cheeses and salad.
It’s been a long day - I think tomorrow I’ll take a break and keep in the area…

12-06 : BUGIBBA

a map of peninsula

I took a nice walk along the peninsula where we have aur accomodation, first going to the Qawra Salinas (salt pans), then retracing my steps along the seafront up to the watch-tower on the other side, in St. Paul’s Bay, having a fruit-salad lunch along the way. On the way back to the flat (shop-side) I stopped for a pair of swimming goggles and swim-shoes - rather essential equipment  if you want to preserve your feet on the rocks :-) Back at the flat I had a welcomed shower to get rid of the constant sweat… I’m living in a permanet sauna - in spite of the breeze…

make-shift bench

beehiwes...

romantika...

watch tower, now a museum (presently closed)

All in all it’s a bit boring to go around alone all the time. Not that I didn’t know it, but still, it’s quite tiring. The heat is constant, so is the sweating and the eyes are just slits for the sun glare -in spite of sunglasses - dips in the sea are most welcomed and so is some peace and quiet during the hottest hours of the afternoon. The bits of town I saw so far are all pretty run-down… most of the population is overweight and tatty… and loud! All in all, definately NOT  a place I’d live. I’m rather glad it’ll all be over and dome with in 3 days.

Maltesian boats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13-06 : GOZO

We decided to return to Gozo for the day: Pat and Renzo will go climbing and Rosie and I will go exploring :-)

Ggantija megalithic temples

the old Mill

We first visited the megalitic Ggantija temples - a very nice open-air museum, nicely laid out. The 2 temples are from c. 3500 bc and the walls still up were pretty impressive!
After the temples we went on to the old windmill, now a museum too - very interesting.
I find the local museum are all rather small and essential, but well laid out and with a lot of information - I enjoyed all I’ve seen so far. Museums are one thing I don’t mind spending money on, for it goes to the conservation and preservation of the area.


But the day wouldn’t be complete without a dip in the blue Mediterranean sea - we went to Rambla Bay and had a swim from the red sandy beach. After lunch, we met the other two and we went for a drink before re-embarking on the ferry back to Malta. From the ferry I saw the sun engulfed in a dusty cloud that made some eerie picture…

eerie...

 

14-06 : VALLETTA

This morning I set out by bus with two friends, who also came to Malta for a short break [all-day ticket: €1.50]. We went to Marsaxlokk Sunday fish market - supposidly THE weekly attraction of the island… sadly, no different from any other market I’ve seen. And the fish, although very good to look at, was sold on just a few stalls - fewer than the souvenir ones…

NOT a pretty picture...

different shades of green

cunny advertising

We had a walk through the “fishing” village, but that also wasn’t any different from any other place on the island. After a refreshing pint, we walked to Birzebbuga to visit an underground cave (and attached museum) where they had found lots of remains of ancient animals - the cave was rather small, but interesting.

a view from the fortress

We then caught the bus to Valletta, were we had a spot of lunch. We visited the fortified city and managed a glimpse inside St.John’s Cathedral, but unfortunately, we couldn’t go in for a proper visit, so we missed the Caravaggio paintings there - shame.
Valletta is quite old and run-down, but has a character of it’s own - at least the fortified part we visited.
After quite a lot of walking, we caught the bus back to Bugibba, where our friends are staying too - all the bus rides were packed, and on this last one there were a lot of youngsters evidently going for an evening out :-)

15-06 : MDINA

I had another nice day out and about with Rosie: we visited Mdina (Rabat), the fortified citadel that once was the original capital of Malta.

one of the many knockers of Malta

narrow lanes

People still live there and we walked the narrow roads enjoying each other’s company - the citadel is nice and quiet -a change from the usual hustle and bustle of the seaside towns- and we could finally see some of the door-knockers Malta is famous for, and some very nice glassworks.

overlooking the country

After Mdina we went to Anchor Bay for a swim - we had to climb down some rocks to reach a perfect spot to dive from: really worth the effort! Near there, there is the village they built for shooting the film Popeye, now a tourist trap with animation and all “All those in the water, say ‘YEAH’, all those on the beach, say ‘HU’”… Quick! Run!!!

fun swimming about

Popeye village... now a right ol' tourist trap

We jumped back into the car and went North to Cirkewwa, where we had lunch while we waited for our two friends on the way back from Comino island.














_ . _ . _ . _ . _

Finally, the holiday’s over. Malta has great seas, but it’s far too hot for my likings - I don’t think I’ll be coming back. The only way I could conceive another holiday here, in case of a walking tour of the island, is in the middle of WINTER! I guess it’d still be hot, but not so much. Still, I don’t see that in the very near future. For once I’m happy to go back to Italy…
The holiday foursome worked out well, we were all independent enough and together enough that the thought of another joint venture is not a bad thing.

more pix: http://tinyurl.com/q6sowcy