The mysterious split mountain

The picture below shows the split mountain in Gaeta, South Italy. It is located in a protected natural park. According to local stories, God was so distraught at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that He made the earth shake and let out a lightning bolt, which created three big cracks in this mountain.

I've just seen a very unusual vehicle in the middle of the town: it's a blue three wheeler with a black pirate flag and a surfboard on is top .

Happy Wednesday :-) 

Island of Ischia's thermal waters

Yesterday I came back from the Island of Ischia. The weather was never too hot and never too cold, so I went walking and running through the island every day. The picture below was taken at 06:00 a.m. while I was running slowly close to the water. 

I also enjoyed saltwater pool, freschwater pool, Turkish baths and sauna. Many German people were enjoying there the beneficial properties of Ischia's thermal waters, modified and enriched in the earth's wonderful underground laboratory. For decades rain seeps deep into the soil,  flowing through fissures  of  vulcanic  rocks, until they form aquifers inside layers of soil.  Here,  the water acquires its particular characteristics and high temperature coming in contact with magmatic bodies that lie in the heart of the isle.

In the alleys of the historical centers of Ischia it's possible to find old small buildings with their typical mediterranean architercture. Like many other placea around the world, Ischia's Mayor is letting restaurants and coffees set up tables in streets and alleys to easy virus restrictions.

Olives are still too small. They will be ready in six months. 

The bad thing is about the public lines. I was sorry to see an American girl who was fined by police officers: although she had a ticket it wasn't stamped! Maybe the girl forgot to stamp her ticket or she didn't know she have to stamp the ticket. The problem also was that the driver didn't say anything during the journey, although he noticed the girl didn't know the rule. In addition, the men who sold her the ticket didn't say anything about the fact that the ticket stamp machine was on the bus.

Tomorrow, 1st of May, occurs the International workers' day. 

Have a nice weekend! 

Non-acidic fruits & vegetables

I've been cycling since I noticed  that osteoarthritis of my feet is strictly related to running. So during the second week of July I gave up running and began cycling in the Hills,  through tall oaks and olive trees.

Cycling is great exercise but hard work when it is windy and the path is up-hill. It gives me the same endorphin production as I experienced when I was a runner. 

Just a picture of  the Southern Italian Coast which I visited in August:

And with regard to August, people who live in the Northern Emisphere  can enjoy in Summer time a huge list of non-acidic  fruits & vegetables. As it is known, we always have to consume non-acidic food in the aim to maintain our body pH level normal.
Lemons, lime and kiwi are  categorized as highly alkaline fruits and are therefore non-acidic. Other non-acidic fruits include bananas, cantaloupe, coconot, grapefruit, grapes, watermelon and berries (exceptions are cranberries and blueberries which are classified as acidic).

Apple and orange are non-acidic fruits which we can find in Winter. In addition, in Winter there are a lot of non-acidic vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, artichoke, pumpkin, lettuce and garlic.



 

Destructive burning in the hills

The weather is still too hot, that's why since the first week of August I haven't increased my runs. Moreover, I had a relaxing weekend from August 21st to 24nd and, consequently, I didn't run adequately. On the other hand, I went back to Gaeta once again, where I swan a lot. My cousin's boat gave me the opportunity to enjoy clean water. We also sailed and reached an island situated 18 miles West from Gaeta by boat. I really enjoyed snorkeling there.

 

The picture below shows the destructive burning which I saw while I was spending last weekend in Gaeta and its surroundings.

The beautiful and wild landscape has changed from this ...
 

 

to this.

 

Nice weekend to all my blogger friends! 

Appian way

Tomorrow it will be back to work, as I have been on Holiday since July 29. I had a great time in Ponza and Gaeta: sunny weather and good environment (first of all clean beaches, and secondly, two interesting archaeological sites). 

The picture below shows a part of the old Appian way next to Gaeta (130 km South from Roma). It's the earliest and strategically most important Roman road, which  connected Rome to South Italy. We visited that interesting archaeological site on August 1st in the late afternoon, when the weather wasn't too hot. 

 

The Appian way, with its large stones, was built  in 312 B.C. by the Romans, and it spanned 350 miles (563km).   It allowed trade and access to the east, specifically Greece.  Nowadays, it is a beautiful place to visit and walk, but it is not a safe path to run or cycle,  because those big cobblestones may be dangerous.

In the meanwhile, I've planned to run a 8 km  race on August 27th,  although I am not running as I should at the moment. I think I'll run that  race as training. The race starts at 8:30 pm and we'll run in the dark.  

Nice week to everyone!

We have just spent our 25th Wedding Anniversary in Ravello

On April 26th we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. So we spent three days in Ravello, South Italy, and before we left the kids had given us white roses and orchids.

Ravello is located at more than 300 Kilometres South from Rome, and it's a very relaxing place. We stayed in a nice hotel located next to the car parking and the main town's square and landmarks. The room was comfortable enough, and its window offered us a wonderful scenery. You can see it here below: absolutely stunning! We also enjoyed the same landscape while we were having breakfast.

Have you never eaten such a big lemon as you can see in the two pictures above? We found those big lemons there. We also saw narrow staircases through the old town (picture on the right), That's why I didn't try to wear my running shoes while I was enjoying Ravello's environs :) ... All the running paths were up-hill and down-hill.
Here on the left you can see two of the Ravello's ceramic street plates. They give the possibility to reach other villages simply following the steps.
Tomorrow I will be back running. Nice runs to everyone!

My 200th post

Hello everyone! This is my 200th post.
I haven't been blogging since last month.(sorry for delay). Next week I'll be on vacation and my best destination will be the Ponza Island. Two days ago, my  sister sent me the picture below which shows the place where I'll spend a three days next month. It's the place where my mother usually lives in Summer which is situated in the hills close to Gaeta. Her house's rooftops are covered with photovoltaic panels. We are going to celebrate her birthday on August 2nd.

I have never seen such stunning rainbow through that valley.

As usual, in Summer I lose the ability to run over a long period of time without getting tired. I haven't plan to run any race in the next two months. That's why I didn't run the 10km race which was held yesterday in my hometown. On the other hand, I gave my support as volunteer, providing water along the track :) and got the t-shirt of the race although I didn't run it. Some runners from Sweden and Netherlands ran that 10km race as they were here in Italy on vacation. Beautiful atmopshere before the race.
I'll probaby sign up for a Half Marathon which will be held in October. The running path will be around the "Vico lake" here in Central Italy. So, at the moment I am trying to maintain my running shape considering that our body sometimes needs a break.
Happy Summer to all my blogger friends!

The hills of Gaeta

Back home after a pleasurable vacation in South Italy! It was so nice to get away and spend time on the beach and relax poolside, although returning home and back to work after a vacation usually feels like punishment for temporarily ignoring our responsibility. Vacation time is really important and it doesn't matter the place or resort. I'd like to show you just six "Summer" pictures. The first one on the left shows a particular way to sell icecreams on the beach.

Unfortunately there were fires in the woods surrounding Gaeta and this is especially the case in the hills located behind the beach where we stayed. 
I didn't forget my running shoes and enjoyed my runs through the countryside. I ran at least three times a week and the photo below shows the scenery which I enjoyed along the running track. Of course I always did my runs in the early morning considering the hot weather conditions

A picture of my mother's house, located in the hills close to Gaeta, and ...

... her birthday cake.  

I hope all you will enjoy this Sunny Sunday of August!

Running in vacation mode

I haven't run any race since July, 14th, although plenty of races are held here in South Italy in Summer. The weather is hot enough and I like hiking and swimming. On the running front, I am trying to maintain my running shape with three training sessions per week: 1 long run, 1 tempo run and 1 relaxing run. In other words, I'm running in vacation mode. I wrote my last post last month, after I had run the Santa Marinella's 10km race with the International running flag of friendship. It is now in Phoenix, Arizona and last Saturday Christina  ran a 21km race with  the International flag that will be probably  sent back to Europe soon. She will send it to a French running friend as soon as possible.

The water isn't polluted  here in South Italy, because this year some beach resorts aren't at capacity. Along the beach one can meet people from Nigeria who sell everything: toys, balls, goggles, swimming caps, nose clips, swimsuits. There is also the possibility of walking or running by night along the beach and to see the sea illuminated by the moon. Wonderful! 

In the photo below you can see my daughters and I and a cart with beach items, such as life belts and small rubber dinghies. Other people sell ice creams along the beach and I think that next to Naples we can probably see the most unusual beaches of anywhere in the world.

And how can we forget to pick blackberries? After my daughters and I had picked blackberries we made four jars of delicious jam.

In the main square of the small town of Itri, 8 km from the sea, I saw that old Italian motorcycle, which brand is "Moto Guzzi". It was built in the 1950s. The last photo below shows my niece, Nadine, in my mother's garden. She's 5 years old.

I hope my blogger friends will have a great  running, hiking and swimming weekend!

Chocolate shoes

On January, 6th, I was delighted with the tempo run: I ran 10 km at 4.48 min./km, time taken 48:09 mins. I hope it might be the beginning of the improvement (I didn't run during the last week of 2011 and had a temperature). Today I did a pleasant 18 km long run at an average pace of 5:37 min./km. It might be useful for my next 15 km race which I'm running on January, 15th.

The photo above was taken during the last edition of the Montalto's 10 km race.

 

Chocolate shoes

   

Since January, 5th,  companies who produce chocolate have gathered the pedestrian area of the town. Along the streets we've seen sellers of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and ... "chocolate shoes" (as you can see in the photo).  Yesterday my wife and I had a good chocolate drink there. In the photo below you can see the chocolate manufacturers along the street. They will be there until January, 8th.   



Chocolate sellers along the street

As request by Stefano  with his post of December, 30th, I show here the T-shirt which I got last Summer, on August, 6th, after I had run the Pisterzo's race. Pisterzo is the name of a small village situated on a hill 80 km South from Rome.

You can read on the T-shirt "the seven soups Pisterzo 2011" (the Italian word "minestre" means soups) because after we had run the organization offered us seven different soups: lentils, chicory, onion soupe, pumkin, etc. I would have never thought that runners could eat soups after a race instead of bananas, tea, orange juyce, cakes and healthy drinks! The track of the Pisterzo's race was very very tough: 7.5 km entirely up-hill and I ran it at 6 min./km although I hadn't followed a specific training. After I had crossed the finish line I didn't have any tea or fruits ... I had seven soups :) That's why Stefano gave me the title of Duke of Pisterzo :)

View of the small village of Pisterzo

Have nice runs!

Blackberries

Yesterday after my daughters had picked some blackberries we made a delicious jam. Ultimately, we only made a jar of jam. Better than nothing :) But the most important thing is that they enjoyed walking through that wonderful countryside. They found the blackberries along a path which is a beautiful place to run too. I sometimes go running along that path because the environment is really great and ... it is flat :). You can see it in the photo below which I took while my daughters were picking the blackberries. If we had had enough time we would have  picked figs too. We will  do this next time!



The running path through the countryside where my daughters picked the blackberries

                    


The jar of blackberry jam which my daughters made yesterday

I've come back in my town and next week I'll come back at work. We were on vacation in South Italy on relaxing beaches, green hills with olive trees and old villages. So we visited a small town where most houses were built with white stones. That small town is called Ausonia and it is very old. It's a characteristic place and I would never thought there were so narrow streets. In the photo below you can see one of these houses above mentioned.




One of the houses of Ausonia (South Italy) which were built with white stones

Now I'm trying to improve my training and I'll help my friend Stefano who is following a marathon schedule.
Nice running to all my blogger friends! 

My mother's birthday

On August, 2nd we celebrated my mother's birthday. She's 74. The cake which you can see in the photo was made with almond and chocolate.

I will be in vacation with my family here in South Italy until the next weekend.

The photo below was taken last month while I was running the first kilometer of the Santa Marinella's race. I'm in the centre of the photo with the white and red outfit.

Since the 1st of August I'm in Formia, South Italy. After I had run a race in the dark around a small Tuscanian town called Porto Santo Stefano, I left my town on July, 31st. The photos below were taken before that race.

The photo below shows the port of that Tuscanian town where we ran.

I hope all you blogger friends will have nice runs!