Off the Bike, On the Hike

So far Mt Sobek is living up to its brochure. We spent our first day traveling on a cushy tour bus for about an hour from Malpensa back to Pella where I had my hotel-lake-ferry debacle a few days ago. Our group’s first order of business was what our guide, Giovanna, said would be a light lunch. Two-and-a-half hours and several courses later, we spilled out of the restaurant onto the Pella Pier where Giovanna hired the exact same guy I had hired, to take our group to the tiny Isola di San Guilio which, today, is home to a Benedictine Monastery.  You can walk the island loop in about 10 minutes which we did, then ducked into the church which houses the remains of San Guilio and some others. 

 

Next we took the same boat to Orta where we settled into the lakeside Hotel San Rocco.  Giovanna led us on a walk up the hillside to Sacro Monte, a complex of chapels and a church devoted to St. Francis of Assisi.  There are 20 chapels built along a meandering forested loop.  Each chapel contains statues depicting  a significant scene in the story of St. Francis’s quest to establish his Franciscan order. People would come and tour the chapels to honor and learn the story visually. It was really quite fascinating and something that totally escaped me last week.  We had to tease one member of our group who lives in San Francisco and said this was the first time she realized who it is named after.

This walking adventure worked off maybe a 10^th of the calories we consumed at lunch and suddenly, it was time for dinner. We started with a tour orientation accented with Prosecco, then walked to a nearby restaurant where we consumed another, spectacular multi-course meal.

Everyone on this tour is active one way or another (or several) and everyone is trim and fit. None of us is used to eating this much, but it’s sure hard to resist the fantastically prepared and plentiful platters that appear on our table without us so much as ordering. We all vowed to offset this day’s eating tomorrow. Huh.

So, we’re off to a good start. Giovanna has already proved herself an organized, informative, and charming guide. We’re in good hands for the remainder of this tour.