I am not in the mountains anymore. I have stopped walking and at the present moment do not know if I will be able to continue. I am in Turin to find out what is wrong with my knee. When I got up on Saturday I had great difficulties walking. I had had pains for some days, but hoped it would get better, seeing we were doing short days. But maybe the 1200m down to Capoluogo were too much.

I realised that I would have to take a break and see a doctor and I had two choices, either go to Aosta, which was the closest town with a hospital and not too for from the alta via, but may not have all the machines needed. The other possibility was to go to Turin with Maurizio, he said the hospitals and doctors are good and he would be there to help me with anything I needed. I decided to go to Turin, a city I always have wanted to see, but not under these circumstances.

Saturday was a bad day for me, I was in a terrible mood, because I had to leave the mountains and were worried sick about not being able to continue walking. I spent five hours at the accidents and emergencies department of the CTO hospital, they were unfriendly and didn't explain anything. And it was all completely in vain, because in the end they said they couldn't say what is actually wrong with my knee and that I had to have a CT scan, which was not possible there.

I limped through Turin in my dirty mountain clothes and everything seemed awful, which is not the case, but I was so depressed that I wasn't able to appreciate anything. I wasn't happy with the B&B I was staying at and suffered the heat, the masses of people and the noise. Not even the pizza with Scamorza or Maurizio, who met me late for a drink, were able to cheer me up.

Now things are better. I have moved into a new B&B, which is a nice flat with everything you need. I have been able to wash my clothes, there is Wi-Fi, I can cook if I want to, I have my own bathroom and it is quiet. The owner of Casa Crema in Via Susa is a very friendly man who showed me where a supermarket is and offered me to take me to "Veneria Reale" a sort of "Versailles" outside Turin.

I got a three-day card for public transport which cost only ten euros and another one for the museums. Meanwhile Maurizio has organised a CT scan for tomorrow and an appointment with his osteopath. He is helping me so much, everything is so much easier with his support. I am slowly adapting to the situation and beginning to see the beauty of Turin. I suppose it is time for some culture and sightseeing.