Marbelous!!

First of all, we have not had wifi lately, so I will talk about the last couple of days, and then Russ will post about today. Day before yesterday we started out from Sarzana around 10:30am and walked to Marina di Carrera, around 15km. We went through small villages, vineyards, past an archaeological site (Luni) and ended up in a beach resort area that was very commercialized and quite devoid of tourists! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we finished walking, around 3pm, and then had trouble finding a place to stay that was a reasonable price and/or not full. All we could think about was the large beer we were going to have once we were checked in somewhere! So...we found a place, the elderly man at reception gave me a key to a room that was occupied already- that wasn't too bad as the guests weren't in the room when I walked in, then when we got the next room down the hall, there was no power...no lights went on, nothing. The front desk gentleman had to come up and flip the breaker- all was good. First order of business (before the beer) was to shower and then do our hand washing ( it's a pilgrim thing). Russ did his first, then I was rinsing mine, and when I pulled the plug out of the sink my little "sweat" cloth went right down the drain before I could catch it. It was obvious right away that it had completely plugged the drain! In retrospect it was very comical, as I thought of bending a crappy coat hanger and using that to fish out my cloth, however all of the coat hangers were good quality- figures! Russ came up with the idea of bending his broken reading glasses to make a hook. I had to stifle the urge to laugh hysterically as he probed the drain with his new tool, which of course didn't We finally gave up and went down to the front desk yet again...fortunately there had been a shift change so we had a new old guy to deal with. I had learned how to say "I'm sorry" and he was very nice- went up with his little bag of tools and solved the problem very quickly. We DID get the beer so it all worked out in the end.

So you're probably wondering about the subject of this blog entry. We have been enjoying the views of the Carrera mountains lately, and yesterday morning we walked past an area where Carrera marble is loaded onto ships..huge chunks of it, mostly white but also some brown as well. Apparently Michelangelo's David was made of marble from the mountains of Carrera, and he also used marble from Pietrasanta, where we stayed last night. The same morning I noticed that the sidewalk curbs were made of marble- how cool is that? Later that day we passed houses with chunks of marble laying in the backyard-seems it's everywhere, and in abundance. You can see where it's been mined in the mountains, and there are many more mountains just like that, so don't think there will be a shortage anytime soon.

One of the advantages of walking is that you notice the little things that otherwise would be missed (such as curbs, lizards etc). We have also noticed how many cyclists are on the road-groups of men mostly, young, old, fit, overweight - they seem to love it. Some of them have yelled hello to us which is fun. How they manage to not get killed by the fast drivers is a mystery, but they all seem to accommodate each other on the road.

We have enjoyed the walking very much so far, and the weather has been perfect. Nice little breeze, sometimes shade, wonderful scenery. Last night in Pietrasanta we stayed in a convent...thought we'd try it, and we were in a dorm room with six bunk beds, and ended up sharing the room with a French couple who didn't speak much English! I actually slept better than I have lately...must be the Camino feeling of security, being with other pilgrims.

That's it for now- ciao!
Linda



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