Last Day in Ireland, First Day in Italy
To Italy
Yesterday we got up early, returned our rental car and flew to Italy. Once we finally checked in for our flight and got on the plain we were informed that we had to wait for the plane to be deiced. This we were told should only take 10 or 15 minutes. Almost an hour and a half later, all while waiting on the tarmac, we were off to Italy.
Once we arrived in Milan it felt like Jenn and I were in the Amazing Race. First we had to catch the Star Fly shuttle to the Milano Central train station. From there we needed to take the underground metro for 2 stops to another train station where we were to take our final train to Brivio. Aside from walking past where to buy our tickets for the train to Brivio and not validating our ticket, didn’t know we had to, I thought we handled it like a couple of pros. We landed in Milan at 11:30, managed to collect our bags, take the shuttle, metro and train and arrive in Brivio for the scheduled meeting at 2:30.
To the Camp
In Brivio we met up with other Legambiente volunteers who drove us to are shared accommodations in Campesirago. This small village we are staying in is an old medieval village that was abandoned shortly after World War II. This was due to poor access to the village as it is high up on the side of the mountain. Since the year 2000 though the road up here has been paved, buildings are being renovated and people are moving back. Campesirago currently has 15 permanent residents!
The weather so far has not been too cooperative, lots of fog, rain and even a little snow. This has prevented us from enjoying many of the sights around this area but this morning the clouds were actually below the level of the town allowing us the see out over valley, filled with clouds and the tops of some of the other hills in the area. The sight was amazing, unfortunately we were off to work and I had no camera.
Our First Day at Work
Luckily for me the work camp has extra rubber boots I’m able to borrow while I’m here. The information sheet we got said waterproof hiking boots would be fine but with all the rain and snow they’ve had here lately there are lots of puddles we need to walk through along with lots of mud to contend with. The weather is also still not cooperating. Once we drove down into the valley this morning there was more fog and throughout the day we were met with rain, a little bit of sun and some snow on the way back to camp.
The work is hard, but rewarding. Today we cleared some observation decks jutting out into the swamp of the snow and debris that had accumulated and then we got down to the real work of the day. Cutting back the trees that were overgrowing the platforms. Because we are trying to be environmentally friendly this was all done with hand tools. I spent most of my day swinging what looked like a thick machete cutting up the larger branches into manageable chunks that we could carry out. Carrying the pieces of the trees out is very important because if we were to leave them there the trees would decompose and become soil. This would then make the swamp hard earth and hence, no swamp. This is bad.
Tomorrow I’m scheduled to stay at the camp while Jenn and most of the others head to the swamp to do some more work, weather permitting. It’ll be my duty to cook breakfast in the morning, clean up while everyone is gone and prepare dinner when everyone is back. At least I’ll be warm.