Monday, August 21, 2006
A heaven of stairways
When we get old, the last thing we want to do is to climb stairs. In our teens, we use stairs as a good cadio-vascular sport, to get in shape. What is fascinating is how kids love stairs. Going up and down the stairs can keep them busy for a quite a while.
When we were in Italy, I was amazed to see little kids just having a ball walking those slopes, rolling down the hill and climbing a maltitude of stairs. Whether it was up or down just did not matter. It is quite a good exercise for parents as well. Pushing a stroller with a 30 pound todler, the stroller probably weighs another 10 pounds, and of course you have to put something in or on the stroller: water, souvaniers, dipers. It could come to 45 pounds just like that... and push.
Those hill towns of Umbria, Italy sure are lovely. They are very old and some are very well preserved. They are also very slopey. You cannot get that using your treadmill, that is for sure. No wonder those 80 year-olds live that long, the great fresh air along with the exercise keeps them fit.
Some of the cities have escalators / moving stairs that could take you from the parking lot up to one of the main streets.
The main question remains: how did they ever manage to get all those rocks for the buildings and the fortresses in the 15th century and for so many cities. This is, my friends, a mystery to me. It's definately worth a visit.
tags: memories & short stories / a heaven of stairways
When we were in Italy, I was amazed to see little kids just having a ball walking those slopes, rolling down the hill and climbing a maltitude of stairs. Whether it was up or down just did not matter. It is quite a good exercise for parents as well. Pushing a stroller with a 30 pound todler, the stroller probably weighs another 10 pounds, and of course you have to put something in or on the stroller: water, souvaniers, dipers. It could come to 45 pounds just like that... and push.
Those hill towns of Umbria, Italy sure are lovely. They are very old and some are very well preserved. They are also very slopey. You cannot get that using your treadmill, that is for sure. No wonder those 80 year-olds live that long, the great fresh air along with the exercise keeps them fit.
Some of the cities have escalators / moving stairs that could take you from the parking lot up to one of the main streets.
The main question remains: how did they ever manage to get all those rocks for the buildings and the fortresses in the 15th century and for so many cities. This is, my friends, a mystery to me. It's definately worth a visit.
tags: memories & short stories / a heaven of stairways
# posted by michali @ 5:50 AM 
