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Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy, August '09
The Gran Paradiso National Park in Northwest Italy is a very mountainous region and was the holiday destination in August for Angela, Helen, Linda-Jayne and Tom. They joined a Ramblers' Holiday group for an eleven-day Hutting Trek, which consisted of walking up and down very big hills - and I mean big! - and staying overnight in Alpine huts. These were not unlike our Youth Hostels but in many cases were more basic and there was no discrimination between the sexes, i.e. we all slept in the same rooms!
Our party of twelve comprised eight men and four women and we were all reasonably fit and needed to be. The daily routine was to get up at 6, have breakfast at 7 and start walking at 8.
Walks were measured by ascent and descent rather than distance travelled, and in total we climbed more than 28000 ft (almost the height of Everest) and descended almost 30000! We ate lots and lots of carbs - bread, often with jam, pasta, polenta and a fair amount of meat. Our veggie friends ate the same but with lots of cheese instead of meat. On one occasion, the waiter was persuaded by A****a that we were all vegetarians and our main course consisted of 4 slices of tomato and 4 slices of mozzarella! There was almost a lynching!
Linda-Jayne had a severe case of toothache on the first day and had to find her way down to the nearest village for treatment, and she rejoined us the next day with all the necessary pills and potions to see her through the holiday. The only other mishap was a very painful case of blisters, but after treatment in a local pharmacy and a stay overnight in a hotel, the patient was able to rejoin the party the next day.
The pictures give a much better idea of what the holiday was like than I can, and show the mountains and some of the huts. Most of these are very isolated and supplies have to be brought in by helicopter.
All in all, it was a great holiday, though most people were relieved when it was over. Would I do it again - ask me in 6 months!
Tom
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