2022
It is dawn and the moon, with its entire illuminated circle, is still high. “He who thinks badly is wrong, but often guesses right” too many times I have adopted this proverb full of superficiality and malice, perhaps even joking, but deep down, deep down it is the way to see the sin in others and always consider ourselves morally superior. Last night I taught myself a good lesson in this regard. The hotel where I am certainly cannot be considered luxury. I go down for dinner thinking, given the tables prepared, of a good turnout. Just a table with 5 Creole girls, definitely not divas. But what will they do here in this little hotel along the highway, outside the town? I leave it to you to imagine what might have been going through my buggy brain: “Ah, that's it! And who will be able to sleep tonight? Let's hope they don't make too much noise and there aren't too many comings and goings. They quickly finish eating, wish each other goodnight and also good work to someone who goes out and heads for the car. I strengthen my unhealthy feeling even more. The lady at the hotel, an elderly person, tells me that she won't be able to give me breakfast before 8.15 the next day because she has depression and must take medicine at specific times and not overdo it, telling me about her medical vicissitudes. I listen empathetically and tell her not to worry about the time. The lady's speech leads to public health, that in Calabria there are no doctors and those who are there emigrate. “They had to bring 120 doctors from Cuba. You saw those girls, there are 5 of them who are taking care of patients in the area.” I won't tell you how I felt, bad for thinking the worst things, good for the certainty that I would sleep without disturbances. I have to confess two more things. Left alone as a diner, I am put in the place where I can best see the TV and these are the two things I have to confess: I watched Rete4 (a commercial network that I hate) and this in itself is a serious sin. But it is unforgivable to have watched the soap opera "Storm of Love", my parents' evening passion, at that time you were not supposed to call, under penalty of banging the phone in the face.
1 The zoo playground of the Cetraro Hotel
2 The zoo playground of the Cetraro Hotel
3 The zoo playground of the Cetraro Hotel
After clearing my conscience, I hope 8.15 will arrive soon so I can leave. While waiting I take a walk in the garden. The owner is an artist, in addition to having decorated the interior of the restaurant with maritime subjects, he has created a multicolored zoo in the garden-playground; dinosaurs, penguins, elephants, giraffes, dolphins. All made with an iron structure and a mixture of resin, cement and glue, all colorfully colored in very bright colours, to the delight of the children who flock to it in the summer. I have breakfast and leave around 9, I'm not even that late. It's already hot, I put my hat under my helmet, today is a day where there is a risk of sunstroke. As advised by the lady, I avoid the tunnels by turning towards the sea. I look out onto the deep blue and not very moved today. The road runs a little higher than sea level and on the left of the railway which creates an almost insurmountable barrier even for the view. Only at the various peaks of the climbs can you see the sea, a blue stripe.
4 The railway line separates the road I travel from the blue line of the sea
5 The sea in Amantea (Cosenza)
6 the sea near Paola
The most challenging climb of the day is in Paola, nothing extraordinary, an overpass (as some cyclist friends would say) about a hundred meters high and six kilometers long between uphill and downhill. Despite these ups and downs, today I travel much more quickly. At 12 I have already traveled more than 50 km, I am in Tonnara in Amantea. A detour takes me to the seaside. Lovely scenery! In a sheltered bay, in the middle of the blue, a person swims. It was what I was waiting for. I take a video and send it to friends. Some people think that the one swimming is me, forgetting my inability to swim and the difficulty of taking a video selfie (but now anything is possible) from 100 meters and even panning with zoom. They got confused because we had the same "headphones": whoever said that is a brigand! I'm hungry, I stop at a nice restaurant, where the waiter invariably lived in Vicenza! Vicenza caput mundi of the Calabrians. Tonnarelli with tomato and hear, hear, San Pellegrino sparkling water! You can't make me coffee, I'm without a phase in the electricity and have been waiting for an intervention on the power line since last night. I get carried away by the desire for a dessert, I had resisted my creamy and chocolatey addiction for days. A millefeuille certainly not lactose-free; I will pay dearly for it.
7 The sea in Amantea (Cosenza)
8 The sea in Tonnara near Amantea (Cosenza)
9 The sea in Tonnara near Amantea (Cosenza)
I'm still leaving for 27 km to Lametia or Lamezia, okay? I always proceed quickly but 10 km from the finish line a very strong headwind puts me in considerable difficulty, coming from all sides, a gust from the right, one from the left which makes me skid due to the sail effect of the bags. I slow down, I have to have an operational safety margin, the road has become narrower and does not have the usual mini lane at the side of the road. The traffic was also notable, a completely different thing compared to yesterday. I have to pay close attention to the gusts of wind that push me towards the center of the road. The trucks and buses don't have enough space and they shave my left arm, I almost feel like they're touching me sometimes, but luckily it's just the movement of air. With great relief I arrive at the hotel before 3pm, it's early, a good reason to take a nap after the shower. Even today 80 km.
10 It's October 30th but the water is warm
@LuigiZ @TravellerG @DeniGu @renata1 @PattyBlack @ErmesT @AntonellaGr @helga19 @CAAG1959 @DENIT33
Absolutely, another great article, my dear @plavarda...
Some of the Zoo objects are appreciated (all your photos are extremely beautiful)... But not all the statues... Hope you will take comments in the right spirit.
Your travel diary notes are very interesting and informative.
The wall Murals in the video are appealing - great! (your video, as usual is nice to watch - thanks.
"... the gusts of wind that push me towards the center of the road..."
Ohh... That strong!?
Happy that you could take a nice nap...
Best wishes, dear...
Hello, my dear friend, @plavarda
I was not talking about the mistakes in your photos - l liked and appreciated all...
I was talking about the CEMENT STATUES... the creative quality is not equally good - hope you got my view...
Thanks, dear
Hi, dear @plavarda,
I too, surely appreciated the whole... But... I just expressed that a few of them did not come to my expectations... We should be honest in expressing our feelings...right? That is all...
Thanks
