Follow the Mountains : 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 ;)