5-14-10 Marina di Andora to Santo Stefano al Mare day 40

5-14-10 Marina di Andora to Santo Stefano al Mare day 40

I had a bit of a morning miracle.... my laundry from the night before was all dry...except the very tips of a pair of socks..considering that in the last two plus days every time I did laundry things felt almost as wet as the night before.. this was a nice change, also there was some heat in the room perhaps too much... ..i am trying to speculate on why I have had problems some nights with sleep.. sometimes in the singles I have the skinny beds.. and I cant really roll around in them perhaps the way my body wants... perhaps fear of falling if I move around too much... I thought half joking.. is this what my pilgrimage theme will be? Fear of falling (of cliffs and out of bed) and fear of heights?...  a sarcasm to the rescue! ..the other morning miracle... I found out that the hotel room was actually ten euro cheaper than I thought I heard, and then after the man talked to me for a bit he ended up knocking another 7 off the bill... i've  never had the price drop right before I payed.. nice...I asked the man about my impending road conditions, what i'd be facing..He told me that again the first stretch is narrow winding and not that great for pedestrians because there was no side walk but once I hit Cervo things would improve and I could walk along the a secondary road and or beach walk all the way to Imperia.. He also said that they are planning on moving the rail tracks closer inland and the old rail line will be converted to pedestrian and bike paths...which is prob good tourist business for several of the towns ive passed yesterday that had little beach because of the rail... and the former rail path will be converted into the longest coastal foot path anywhere in europe... he said they are saying in the next five years... I looked at my watch jokingly and said I was too early... but I rejoice in all the future pilgrims or other travelers by foot who dont have to face the same obstacles, i've been dealing with....

Today It would be a very windy at times but sunny day....So the first stretch was as he had said, no real sidewalk but actually more forgiving than some paths since there was a generous curb, so I was not as frightened as i'd been..then as promised safe sidewalks and beach front walks.. I then interrupted my pilgrimage for a hair cut.. this place had photos up front of fairly decent looking short hair cuts for both men and women and though I had  no guarantees I decided it was time to take that chance... the price was the same in euro as I would pay in dollars at home..so more expensive...the woman tried to talk me into blond streaks in my hair... I begged off... she seemed pretty easy going with my request to have it short hair and look more like a boy  cut than a girls and she accommodated by giving me something inbetween which once I got the hair product washed out I quite liked.. so I got lucky.. the reason I hesitated is I had some bad experiences in thailand and the usa and I am still pretty new to not having dread locks and dont know what to demand for my hair... I felt a little self concious as she spend a lot of time and care, blow drying, styling and gelling my hair.. I dont think pilgrims usually sport that much hair product...then I decided I should probably do that walking thing again.. I would pass through Imperia today, it seemed to be in two sections the newer part first which was more on the straight part of the coast ..it had a large walking path in.. a few cranes in the harbor and pastel painted buildings quite typical for Ligurie...the energy seemed very relaxed for a bigger town...i did not explore the inner core where the small tourist magnetizing charming shops where.. I stayed along the coast, the second section was around the coast curve and rose in tiers with church tower top, again I walked around the harbor edge bellow.. and took photos in passing... I dont seem to be hungry during the lunch hour at all so other than the hair cut I took small breaks.. I wanted to get more distance under my feet today too since I felt like I was slowing down again in the last few days... once I left Imperia behind, unfortunately my only option for walking was S1 and to quote a discripter from a friend... it was 'crap-tastic' … the usual blind turns... no safe rail on the cliff side.. I walked against the wall..cars seemed to get too close.. this was not at all for pedestrians.. I got really emotional again... I thought I would find lodging in San Lorenzo... but once there, there was not beach front to walk along.so even in town no side walk... and the port turn off I took dead ended.. I just stopped sat on some rocks looking at water and reigned myself in and try to calm a bit..... but decided to moved on when  this couple came along walking on the beach, bitterly snarking at each other.. I tried to see if I could walk from the port to the town avoiding S1 but no, the road was under construction  so I head to back to unforgiving S1 on the way out of the port area I saw another younger couple having a spat... clearly the  discursive energy I was feeling was a shared phenomina... so I still had to walk on the highway but forturnatly because it was a town they had to obey lower speeds..but I was really surprized that even in the town there was no side walk.. the only tourism here seemed to be harbors for yachts.. I found finally a turn off into the town itself.. it was small, I was hopeful because there were some tourist restuarants and a bike rental shop but I found no sign of lodging.. so I asked the bike rental man... and although he told me lodging would be another 8kms away... roughly two hours walk for me.. which at five thirty was not the best news... when I found out I was at the beginning of a walking bike trail from converted rail lines... I almost yelped with joy... I don't care how foot sore I was I could do it... the first section was an impressively long tunnel of approximately 2kms...then open air with coast bellow.. pretty flowers which I could actually enjoy and then best news still I either walked faster than I thought, which I doubt or there was a hotel before what the man at the bike store had predicted.. I was not crazy about the price... but it was that or more walking so I took... I had proper dinner at its restaurant since I was living off of cheese-dough-caffeine too much again..their veggie options where very limited.. I did have a good tasting soup that had artichoke in it, grilled veggies, a common side dish, and mixed salad..so no protein but greens non the less.. then off too room... sadly even with a normal sized bed still not great sleep with lots of wake ups.. and no clue why...