Italy - Day 25: My last day in Italy!

While I thought the day started really bad in the hospital, everything turned out "positive"!!!

Since I was early, I waited in the sun in front of the hospital and entered just before 8 a.m. Of course, nobody spoke English again, but thanks to my paper, that stated date and time and Orthopedics, I was brought to the right place. It was not open yet (still before 8 a.m.) but I was at the right door.

BUT there were already 15-20 people queueing in front of me. I thought, that's the end to possibly getting the 12 a.m. bus to Stuttgart and I will have to spend at least another night above town...

And then again, nobody spoke English, but I got a number and had to wait in front of a display. To my surprise, there were only 3 people in front of me and one of them didn't show up. So it was really quick!

I had prepared a text and questions for the doctor and translated it into Italian. But it was not necessary. The doctor spoke a little English. Not great, but good enough to communicate!!!! So he looked at it, said its the ligaments and prescribed an orthosis and pain killers. 

Now I was wondering, if I should stay in Italy! But I wouldn't be able to hike at least for another week because it is still pretty painful and I really don't want to stress it this time. I want it to completely heal!!! No risks. I had read enough about ligaments and treatments within the last day online, that I knew itsnot good to continue with too much "sport".

So I bought the orthosis and bus ticket home - again a trip is over earlier than expected... :( 

A quick stop at sunset in Bologna

Italy - Day 24: A busy morning, ticks and some podcasts

The night was short. I was high on sugar, still thinking through all the options for the next weeks and then there was loud music and singing in town, lasting at least until 3 a.m. At some point I decided to listen to podcasts, because I couldn't sleep anyways.

I thought it to be perfect, that everybody seemed to be awake until late, so I could leave my tent, wash myself and some clothes early in the morning at the water tap that I had passed on my way up from town. But although I think there is barely a car going all day on this dirt road, at 5:30 a.m. in the morning, 2 cars passed me there, going up into the direction of my tent. One of the cars even stopped and a guy filled his water bottle. So I decided to have a very rough wash up and go back to my tent.

This place seems to be a heaven for ticks. I found them crawling everywhere: on my tent, on my solar module laying in the sun and especially on me. After my little walk and a short pee, I found around 25 ticks on me (I stopped counting at some point...). Most of them really tiny and only 2 were already sucking and must have been from previouse days. These ticks are not easy to spot on my freckled skin with all the scratches (but so easy to spot on my white, not sun exposed skin). Every time I checked, I found new ones and I wonder, how much I missed or couldn't see because they were somewhere on my back... I was really not tempted to leave my tent today, although it was another beautiful sunny day ;)

But of course I had to leave once in a while, to move my solar panel in the sun or to pee and every time I got back I found at least 5 new ticks on my legs.

I spent the day mainly listening to podcasts of the "Blaue Couch", which I had downloaded a while ago and which is basically a half hour to 45 minute long interview with one person.

I am not very optimistic as to what they will tell me (if they will tell me anything new at all) tomorrow in the hospital. I don't think I will be able to continue hiking for now and guess I will have to get a proper diagnosis (maybe with ultrasound or MRI) in Germany.

At least there is a "Flixbus" going from here to Stuttgart every day at around noon. It's just that the buses for tomorrow and the day after are nearly fully booked and I won't book a bus until I know when I will leave. So I hope to still get on one of those buses, otherwise I have to spend more tent days in the forest above town, which is a little boring and annoying with all the ticks!

The only picture I took today: sunrise at the water source, looking towards Castel di Sangro

Italy - Day 23: A few mountains, an Italian hospital and more frozen peas

Yesterday, I had decided to walk back to town. But instead of just walking back the way I came, I wanted at least to walk a little up, around a few mountains and descend over another trail. This added a few kilometers, but if those were really my last hours in the mountains, I wanted to see at least a little bit of them.

My foot felt not too bad, until I started hiking, so I decided to take a painkiller. The trail was really good (a real trail) and once the painkiller worked, it wasn't too bad. The weather was perfect! I contured around some mountains and then descended through the forest on slightly overgrown trails.

But then came the horror: I had to descended a bouldery river bed. It hurt like hell (despite the painkiller) and I was really slow. Luckily not all was like that, but there were parts next to the river in the forest. Otherwise the 3 km would have taken hours.

Then I followed some trails and roads down into Pescasseroli. I found a sign of a medical center and followed it, but there was nothing. So I asked in the nearby national park tourist information center, but the lady spoke no English. She sent me to the museum of the national park, but that lady spoke only a few English words. She sent me down the road and said somewhere to the left there and I would have to ask there again.

I found another sign of the medical center and followed it, finally being successful.  The information desk was closed and nobody around. When a lady entered, she asked something in Italian, but I just asked for the information and pointed on my foot. She said I should follow her and she would have a look. She spoke no English word! I showed her my thick ankle and she showed me pictures of x-rays on google. I said no, that's not it and asked if I can see another doctor or if I have to go to another town. She advised me to go to the next hospital in Castel di Sangro. I asked if there is a bus going, but she said she doesn't know and off she was...

I asked some other people for the bus, none spoke English. The next one was leaving at half past 12, but I had to ask 3 other people (again, no English spoken) until I was sure where the bus stop was - no indications of a bus stop at all...

Then I wasn't able to buy a bus ticket on the bus, but it would have been possible online. I tried to buy a ticket in the few minutes before the bus was leaving, but it didn't work. The nice bus driver let me on the bus anyways! We passed the blue-greenish Lago di Barrea, the lake that I had seen from above a few days ago, and after lots of stops finally arrive in Castel di Sangro.

I saw a hopital near the bus terminal and gave it a try, but it was privat, which I had assumed. So I walked through half of the town to the public hospital. There, NOBODY spoke English, not even a little bit.

After a Corona test, I waited to see a doctor. I had written a little text and google translated it, so he can understand, what my problem is and that I really want to know the cause and what I can do. I also wrote that I had an x-ray in Greece before, hoping he won't want to do another one. Well, he looked at my swollen ankle and sent me for an x-ray... I tried to convince him, that I don't need one and I even have the CD with the x-ray, but no way. So I hoped, that when he sees there is nothing, he'll come up with something else. By the way, they asked me after the x-ray, if I'm pregnant... 

After waiting another really long time, they told me it's no fracture (congratulations, I could have told you right away...). Then I was sent off again, because tomorrow is a public holiday in Italy and the guy who should now look at my foot will be there on Friday. Just some paperwork and that's it. No pain killer, no bandage, no advice, nothing. Honestly, the hospital in Greece was much better and I thought they were not even looking at my ankle!

I don't really expect anything from my next visit on Friday, but since I don't have anything better to do, I might wait and see, if they can tell me anything at all. I think it's the ligament and probably it takes 6 weeks to heal. But if I could get some orthosis like I had last time in Germany, I should be able to walk a little during this 6 weeks. Certainly not really hiking in Italy, but at least usual everyday walking, which would make life more pleasant and hopefully reduce loosing muscles and having the same problem all over. Whatever it is, I assume my hike is over for now. But I want to make sure I can go hiking in July in the Caucasus, which will be 6 weeks from now, so whatever it takes, I'm going to do. I'm afraid the doctors won't be helpful on Friday, so my last resort will be going to a doctor at the sports clinic, where I was in Germany last time, who made an ultra sound and was directly able to tell me, what's wrong!

But for now I am hiding at a not very scenic spot over town. Since its public holiday tomorrow and then also on Monday, hotels are either fully booked ot outrages expensive. So I rather invested a little money in food and some frozen peas again, to have a pleasant tent day ;)

Walking down a river bed, which even got steeper and more bouldery

Bus ride across Lago di Barrea

Campspot neqr town for the next 2 nights - not really nice

It's frozen peas time again - guess what's for lunch tomorrow :)

Italy - Day 22: An unexpected peak, nice ridge walk and maybe end to my hike

I continued my trailess hike through the forest, until I was back on a dirt road and marked trail, which I followed for a while.

Since I wanted to walk along an open ridge, I had to ascend and there was a short cut on my map. So I took the path that seemed in a better state than some marked trails had been before. At some point I was wondering, if I shouldn't hit the road, that I was short cutting. Turned out, I was exactly at the elevation, but further West around the mountain. Contouring on the steep hill seemed more effort than walking over the peak. So I ended up with some additional elevation gain, walking up Monte Tranquilo. It was insanely windy and I was already worrying about my ridge walk...

I descended from the peak to a saddle, where a VERY pleasant and marked trail started. Although it was windy on the ridge, it was not too bad and since I was changing sides on the ridge, I was sometimes cold in the wind and sometimes nice warm, when wind protected. And then I made a stupid move with my right foot and my ankle hurt again. Something is still not right with that foot... but I was able to walk without painkiller and even relatively pain free on the road, so I decided to continue, as long as it doesn't get worse!!! I really want to finish at least the Abruzzo, but I guess I will need to find a doctor soon, who can really tell me what's wrong and what I should do to make it better in the long run.

At the Rifugio di Iori, I took the shortest way down to Pecasseroli, since I wanted to get some food before the stores would close at 1 pm for 3.5 h. I made it, but had to ask where the supermarket was, since there was no sign, just a carpet in front of the entrance, so you couldn't look inside. I filled up all my water bottles again and walked out of town.

Then I took a wrong trail. All trails are marked red and white and I hadn't looked on the map properly, and seen that there are two trails starting close by... So I ended up leaving that trail, walking a short bit steeply up on a path through some forest and then I hiked up a wide grassy valley - all this in perfect weather :) Finally, I was back on the right trail, which was a dirt road.

I followed a dry riverbed up to Rifugio Parato Rosso and ascended through some forest, where I saw the 3rd dayhiker today. At the treeline and before a steep ascend into the rocky mountains, I set up my tent. It was early and would have been great to walk a little around, but I was happy that my foot got some rest.

I just took off my shoes, and it seems like the hike is over for me. My ankle swoll to an egg anf it hurts pretty much... I guess I need to go back and find the cause!