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| A section of the Sanctuary |
With the heat wave still hitting
hard we are staying put in Oropa, Ian is quite happy as his back has not been
as good as he would have liked, so a chance to rest it. I needed to go to the
reception and pay for another night, and that was right down the bottom of the
hill. By the time I got organised it was 9am and the heat was already building
although very few people around as it was a bit early for all the bus passengers.
With camera in hand I had a very enjoyable time wandering down the many levels
of buildings that make up the Sanctuary, really impressive. There is a sense of
peace, although maybe that was because
the tourists hadn’t arrived! A large number of restaurants line the square and I
found a little shop to buy some bread for lunch.
Then it was off to the wooded
area where I had read about a series of 12 chapels each depicting the story of
Mary’s life and containing a large number of beautiful painted statues. The
chapels rise up the grass hill with tracks joining them. A little disappointed though
to find that they are locked and it was very hard to see through the barred
windows. But it was very pleasant walking through the shady trees and
eventually arrived at the large semi-circular Monumental Cemetery. It was
fascinating and I was the only visitor so had a play time with my camera!
I could see on Maps.me that there
were tracks that lead further up the hill then down to our campsite and finally
made it back after a number of wrong turns and just about eaten alive by
mosquitoes. I arrived back two hours later, absolutely saturated from the heat,
but really enjoyed the walk.
The rest of the afternoon was
just too hot to do anything, temperatures hit 31degrees, not as hot as the 40
reported elsewhere in Europe, but enough to make a lot of activity out of the
question. With the fan going I sat at the computer and worked on the morning
photos.
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| The Sanctuary covers a large area. |
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The old Basilica, I couldn't go in as there was
a service being conducted. |
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| Two of the little chapels. |
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| ..and a glimpse of the beautiful statues inside. |
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| The cemetery. |
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And a few in camera multiple
exposures...for my photog friends! |
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