Via Francigena

11th May 2015 Fidenza to Medesano
21km.    Fine weather

Short version:
Walked from Fidenza through Santa Margherita, Borghetto (bar open as it is closed on Tuesdays!) and on to Costamezzano, where Olivero, the patron of the closed trattoria (it’s Monday), kindly offered to give me food and drink which I declined, walked on in country becoming more interesting with hills and very prosperous-looking farms, duped a dog into letting me eat lunch on the steps to a nice house, had another extraordinary “fording” experience, before arriving in Medesano, exhausted to find another pilgrim in the hostel, sleeping in the bed next to me! Good dinner.

Longer version (very, so,advise you to get a cup of tea if you have the patience):
As I walked off through the piazza I noticed that there were 5 banks around it (!) and then saw another pharmacy just 50m further on on my way out of the town on the old Via Emilia & I walked dead straight for 2.5km before turning towards Santa Magherita on a smaller tarmac road. The sign at the crossroads said 4km but it was only 2.5…but I had to pay attention walking along the verge in the face of oncoming traffic. At the entrance to almost every village there is a sign saying there are radars but I feel these should be on the roads between villages!

After lamenting the overgrown sports field behind the church which is sadly no longer used…I turned left onto a smaller road towards Borghetto (2km away & the guide book said it would be busy and it sure was with constant traffic, but why?). On the way I saw a garbage collector who had to get out of his truck at each house, collect the garbage, & drive on to the next house. Not much later I met another such garbage man & commented that he was alone & he said, yes & collecting the “umido” (vegetable waste). I thought of the study I’d read of the bus conductors on London buses having less heart attacks than the bus drivers, so figured that he’d be like a conductor. Later on I passed him again & he slowed & waved to me.

Arriving in this village I spoke to a woman working in her beautiful garden & complimented her on its many flowers and flowering shrubs, and I smelt the beautiful perfume of the first peony roses I’d seen, my favourite flower, growing out through her fence. When I asked was there a bar & would it be open, being Monday, she said she’d make me a coffee which I declined saying I just wanted to know about the bar. She confirmed it was but offered again for the coffee! Arriving at the bar (closing day is Tuesday…close call)

I sat outside with my cappuch (as they say here) & a fine kindly-looking gentleman came out of the bar & sat down & we started speaking, although he was a bit hard of hearing. When I asked if he was retired now he laughed and said he was 93 (am convinced all these pharmacies serve a purpose but of course having the bar to go to & having social intercourse does also) – a retired farmer. Told me the whole area produces milk (for the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese) & cereals. From then on the countryside changed to rolling hills, all very green and richer looking. Walked past prosperous looking farms & fields, much hay being cut & aired with machines, some of it even being packaged into enormous round bales.
Walked on to Costamezzano, with the road often going uphill a little now. When I walked into the village, the trattoria was closed (it’s Monday!) but Olivero, the patron, was trimming plants on its terrace and greeted me and asked if he could get me something to eat or drink. I declined with thanks but we exchanged names and where I was from. Walked on towards Medesano by taking the road which was now running along a ridge with great vistas on each side, and it was possible to look back on the flat plain of the Po.

However I also now started to see the Apennines in the distance & wondered where I’d be crossing them… Since leaving Fidenza I’d been seeing signs to promote the area “Valli e Sapori” – “beautiful valleys and flavours (food & wine)” as there is so much good produce around here, which made me think of my versifying friend’s words when I restarted the Via (but haven’t yet been to any vineyard villas!). I started to see some vines, mostly around the farms, I’d say for private use, and of course so many flowers of all types and flowering shrubs.

On these roads there is absolutely nowhere to sit so when I saw a beautiful modern house in a big garden set back from the road on a hill with oak trees planted outside the fence and thus with a shaded set of concrete steps up from the road, I approached tentatively to see if there was an “Attenti al cane” sign & sure enough there was but no barking dog! Stealthily I sat on the steps and prepared to eat and then dropped my food container which clattered down the steps, being sure this would awake the dog but, fortunately, not so…breathed a sigh of relief and took off my shoes to air my feet (have been receiving so much good advice about how to avoid foot problems…) and discovered another blister! Ate my lunch.

All done eating I set off optimistically again to face a 5 km route (from Hell) through fields which the guide book said was not waysigned… Firstly took the wrong turning off the road but realized and managed to only lose 1km with this mistake…got onto the track which was not easy to follow, even with a map as one could pass a fork in the grassy path among fields without realising (now how could Sigeric know all these paths turning left and right and which way to go at a T junction?). So was finally going along merrily when I reached another “dry” stream which was awful – not only flowing water but debris and mud everywhere. I cursed but then thought again about Sigeric, took off my shoes in the least inhospitable area nearest to the water (mine are very “city” feet which have almost never gone barefoot…) and tried to find the best way through the mess, often sinking into the mud and once almost over-balancing with my heavy pack…but I survived to the other side and tried to find the least-worst muddy spot to sit down. Definitely an experience to be forgotten. Then, praise be, some of the things I thought I shouldn’t perhaps be carrying as they were “doubles” came into their own! Some stronger paper towels which my old experienced-walker Swiss neighbour suggested I take, my wet tissues, as well as hand washing gel. So I put down one of these strong towels in order to sit in my navy (just freshly-washed) trousers and used another to wipe the worst mud off, finished cleaning my feet as best I could with the wet wipes and was finally able to wash my hands with the gel!

Was I pleased when I was finally back on a hard road surface and came across one of the houses mentioned on my map, after which the signage started again! Continued on into Medesano on Via Giuseppe Verdi but with no strains of “Va’ pensiero” which I think I merited! On arriving at the hostel, the priest announced another pilgrim had arrived to share the only room with two beds and a double bunk in it – Charles (a consultant/coach) from Brussels who has walked from home! He knew about me as when he had also seen Olivero in Costamezzano he’d been told about me as I, Lyn, was No 150 in this year’s pilgrim record book which Olivero keeps and he was No 151! Olivero had opened up to provide Charles with a meal which Charles said was excellent but not enough of it.

I asked Charles about the various “fording” experiences but he’d had none as he is using Google Maps (21st century pilgrim) and so hadn’t gone on any of my paths (many roads to Rome). Guess what, there was a washing machine in the bathroom with at least 8 different products, often super size, so Charles put a load on & I added my few things (but he was not an expert at operating a washing machine and put it on for a very long programme…) He had a problem with a bite (he doesn’t know what bit him, so I asked if it hadn’t been a snake!) and I was able to give some anti-biotic cream I’d bought in Fidenza as this was stronger than what he had in his organized “pharmacy”.
Charles taught me about another form of blister-avoidance – now don’t laugh Liz F or Catherine K-F – taping! So on our way to dinner we went via the pharmacy & we caused much hilarity while trying to explain what we needed and which finally was provided.

Into a good restaurant according to the pharmacist (see again how important they are!) and we had a Prosecco, a “primi” of risotto with mushrooms, truffle oil and a little red wine and it was delicious, then a tagliata of beef with rocket and Grand Padano cheese and a little balsamic which was also good, all with an excellent local red wine. Charles was an interesting person and good company. He has been walking incredible distances, with almost no rest days, as he wants to get to Assisi by a certain date, and as he wished to get up at 5am for an early start (middle of the night for me!) he considerately put all his things outside the door so he wouldn’t wake me up in the morning. I asked him if he snored (in case I should use my ear-plugs) but he said No, and he didn’t!
I slept for an hour at a time until the bells in the adjoining church struck each hour (I don’t think I heard them at 4h00)…

Highlights of the day
– the incredible (& worst) “fording” experience
– the kindness of people I came across
– the very-marked change of terrain and countryside
– a good meal in good company

This is a non-photo of the worst fording experience which I didn’t think to photograph…

10th May 2015  Fidenza in Emilia-Romagna

Short version:

Attended  mass in the cathedral & studied routes for next few days.

Longer version:
After another good breakfast (sooooo important as my dear mother used to impress on us) I Skyped my sister who is now joining all the doubters about the safety of my walking alone. Apart from the risk of an accident which can happen anywhere, I don’t think potential robbers or murderers would take to the paths of the Via (they’d have to ford the streams)…so I won’t have to worry like an old family friend did that she’d be “raped, robbed and murdered” when she stayed in anything less than a 5 star hotel!
I arrived at the cathedral for the mid-morning mass just as it was about to start and one of the museum volunteers came and asked me to sit next to her. There were about 150-200 people in the cathedral as there was the baptism of little Martino (9 months or so and beautifully dressed for the occasion) so perhaps, along with it being Mother’s Day, this accounted for the turn out, although my new friend insisted they always had a similar turn-out. There were at least 25 children in the church and they were active in parts of the ceremony, as were the 8 or so choir-girls and boys, which was very warm and relaxed. The cathedral is a beautifully proportioned building, very simple high pink/red brick interior with two levels of clerestories, and with all the lights on and the organ accompanying the singing it was a very moving and warm mass. It’s the first religious ceremony I’ve been to on the Via this year so it was fitting for it to be here in such an important staging point. At the end of the mass my new friend ensured that I had my passport signed & also introduced me to her sister (who also feared for my being alone!), and then I took leave of them & walked once again around this beautiful building. Back to modern day reality I stopped in a nice bar for my morning cappuccino and wandered around before heading back to the main piazza for a drink, all in warm sunshine.
This afternoon I have been studying my guide book and maps to see how I’ll affront the next few days which, all being well, will take me up and over the Apennines and down into northern Tuscany. I have reserved in a pilgrim hostel for tomorrow night. I’ll try to be on my way early as it promises to be a hot day. Forgot to say, unfortunately no signs of fresh asparagus…but what I perhaps forgot to mention about Fidenza is the remarkable gelati! Not only because they are truly delicious but there are served as a real work of art…each one is served in a flower shape, with each different flavour like another layer of outer petals. The one I had the first day was the best, served by the smiling gelati maker himself, but I forgot to take a photo before eating it and those I have had the last two days (yes, I have been making sacrifices to get the right photo for you!) have not been as well done as other people have been serving them. Imagine a white centre of lemon petals, then petals of raspberries around it and another layer of outer petals of the bitter dark chocolate from Modica in Sicily (which I have eaten in Modica but the gelato is better than the hard chocolate…). Anyhow you’ll have to imagine it from the less than perfect photo I’m showing you.
In the late afternoon there was a concert in the piazza which finished with a rousing rendition of “Nessun dorma”
In the evening the restaurant I wanted to go to was closed so I ended up going into a pizzeria (not the best and I won’t be eating another for a while…)

Highlights of the weekend
– Time off to let my feet rest & heal (& me also!) as I’ve been wearing my open Crocs sandals all weekend
– The wonderful dottore in the pharmacy
– Participating in the mass in this beautiful and magnificent cathedral
– Soaking up the “savoir vivre” of the wonderful and resilient Italian people.
– Gelati, gelati, gelati (fortunately I’m walking enough to not put on weight, or at least I hope I am…)

9th May 2015
Fidenza – now in Emilia-Romagna

What good fortune to have the small attractive and historically-interesting town of Fidenza on my path for a weekend of rest! Population about 25,000.

Short version:
A lazy day walking around Fidenza & looking at the sights, hopefully followed by a nice meal tonight. No storm this evening!

Longer version:
After a decent (!) breakfast in this 3 star hotel, I went out to visit the town which looks prosperous and was bustling on Saturday morning with many people in shops, bars, piazzas. There is one straight and very long pedestrianized main street which changes its name 3 times through the old centre but is really the old Via Emilia which would explain the straightness. I first went to see my “dottore” in the pharmacy to check something & he kissed my hand as I left! There are 3 pharmacies within 20 metres of one another so are there so many ill people or is it such good service, as I’d had, that people come from near and far? They must however live long here as all the death notices posted up around the town were for people in their 80s and 90s so perhaps the pharmacists all give excellent service. After walking up & down the street I decided that my favourite shop, apart from the gelateria and my pharmacy, was that selling all specialties from Parma, which is only 20 km away – cheeses which are priced by age, many different types of prosciutto, take away dishes etc. I ascertained that they open at 8h00 on Monday so will perhaps go there to buy a sandwich for the road.

I’d noticed that the women, mostly smartly dressed, either had runner-type shoes or high stilettos, even on a bike, as people of all ages were on bikes in the pedestrian area. I walked to the street market which I’d discovered was a few streets away from the old historic centre and bought some fruit. The freshly roasted half-chickens, one of which I’d have bought, were finished & there was a queue for full chickens which were still being cooked! Also beautiful fresh fish and sea-food were for sale. I noticed, as in nearly all places I’d been to, an April XXV street in honour of the liberation in WWII.
One can’t walk through places such as this without soaking up some history and thus awakening an interest in knowing more. A very little history: Fidenza is in an area inhabited from the 4th millennium BC and the then “Fidentia” became a “municipality” about 82 BC (after a battle) and under Roman rule the Via Emilia went through here. One of the most important episodes in its religious life was the martyrdom of Saint Donnino in 293 (by beheading, so he is always shown in art holding his head in his arm) and which also changed the town name to Borgo San Donnino (only reverted to Fidenza in 1927). A place of pilgrimage and the site of many wars, it was under the protection of Frederick Barbarossa (who won a war against the Parmesans who had destroyed Fidenza twice in the previous century) that the beautiful cathedral was constructed in the 12th century (on the site of an ancient church) in Lombard Romanesque style with the most wonderful reliefs sculptured on the stone facade by the master sculptor Benedetto Antelami, even one with the three kings (Wise Men) riding on horses to Bethlehem.

Ever since reading Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth I’ve been fascinated by the building of cathedrals and here was one with Norman style arches in the two levels of clerestories and gothic arches in the vault. This afternoon I went back to the cathedral to visit the museum and I had a personal guided visit with one of the women volunteers and saw the treasures including some of the most precious sculptures from the facade by Antelami and a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin with guess who by her side – our own San Rocco whom I recognised by the wound on his thigh! The other volunteer took me into the cathedral and up into the clerestory where the women used to go to attend mass (couldn’t mix with the men). She had a key to let us into a circular stone staircase and turned the key in the lock 5 times before it opened! Was most interesting to have a view down into the nave and she said if I go to mass tomorrow morning they’ll stamp my pilgrim’s passport with the cathedral stamp. As we left she went down into the crypt to get a San Donnino prayer card for me. Oh, I forgot to say that Sigeric stayed here in 990 on his walk back to Canterbury (it would appear that this had always been an important halt on the pilgrimage trail because of San Donnino’s martyrdom).
Am now in one of the best restaurants in town (after all it is Saturday night) which has typical cuisine of the area, a lovely unpretentious ambiance, and which I fortunately booked last night as it is filling up! I asked for the maitre d’hôtel’s advice on what to eat. As many of you ask what I am eating, here is my second good dinner. The appetizer is a delicious tiny slice of a fine-pastry covered tart which has a flan-like vegetable stuffing.

And the bread is Good & warm (usually Italian bread is not good & as a baker’s daughter I know my bread!) but I’d better not eat too much as I have much to come yet… My first dish was home-made tagliolini with Gorgonzola, prosciutto di Parma, saffron, in a delicious creamy sauce. Main course is pheasant, probably softly roasted (with steam), with smoked pancetta and a special type of onion in a sage sauce with roasted vegetables – it is succulent but I hope it’s not too rich for my poor pilgrim’s digestion! I may need a digestive after the meal… It’s now 21h15 and four young couples with 4 very small children (one woman is heavily pregnant) have just come in to eat at a long table – the men have put themselves at one end of the table and have shrugged their shoulders at the comments of the women who are at the other end with the children… To listen to them all ordering is a sheer pleasure, especially with the little ones intervening. … They are now being served and the children are just beginning to assert themselves in questioning what has been ordered for them… However the women have just clinked glasses together “cin-cin” while the men are in deep discussion. La commedia dell’arte…
Well, after a great digestive I’ve been able to eat a dessert of vanilla ice cream on a balsamic reduction with glacé mandarine and a little special oil over it, scrumptious (but never would have been possible without time and the digestive). Walked back through town and many people strolling or sitting outside bars, etc, with no anti-social behaviour and lots of good humour! Am off to bed for a good night’s sleep.
Tomorrow I have to plan the next few days re distances and accommodation… I just read that as pilgrims started flooding to Rome in the 4th and then 5th centuries they had a well-maintained structure of Roman roads and pilgrim ‘hospitals’, where hospitality was offered, began to be built. It seems also that they had no linguistic difficulties as they were able to convey their needs in Latin (a language later spoken only by clerics). Unfortunately with the Barbarian invasions of 6th & 7th centuries pilgrim life became more difficult as roads & bridges ceased to be maintained, accommodation was not kept up & in areas no longer under Christian rule other dangers of all sorts beset them (robbers, invaders, wild animals, storms, lack of food & sickness, etc) so the pilgrim was not at all sure he would reach his destination let alone return home in one piece. This is known, it seems, from writings from the 6th century onwards. Not so many ‘hospitals’ today…but there are many less other dangers, thank goodness.

Today’s highlights:
– a lazy day discovering modern Fidenza and its history
– the private visit to the cathedral and its museum
– a delicious evening meal but regret that I forgot to pick up the bread which the maitre d’hôtel had prepared for me to take away (for tomorrow’s breakfast)
– a beautiful soft evening as I walked back through the town

8th May 2015 Fiorenzuola d’Arda to Fidenza
16.1 km on foot    Fine weather all the way

Short version:
Worst breakfast at hotel which I think was almost a “truckie stop” as lorry drivers were just next to hotel & one was even washing his vehicle down at midnight! Set off through flat fields & saw first tomato plantations. All very pretty countryside, great cappuccino in a beautiful spot, on to Fidenza (home to the Via Francigena Association and a very historic little town) where I’ll spend the weekend & seemingly a great place to stop. Have a hotel right in the middle of town (but the train line very close…) so can stroll out for a gelato or aperitif! Go to end to view photos!

Longer version:
After an even worse breakfast than yesterday ( the choice between 6 different types of sweet croissant-type “things”) when all I wanted was a piece of ordinary bread but no luck…
I was fortunate in that my extra walking to the other side of town last night gave me a 1.5 km advantage on today’s walk towards Fidenza. A very pleasant day through flat country and principally between fields, mostly on small tarmac roads, but also some gravel roads and, best on all, some grass roads/tracks (& fortunately no streams to “ford”!). Fields of various cereals and then I finally saw the tomato plantations for which the area is apparently well known. Half-way to my destination I walked into the village of Castelnuovo Fogliani & went into a little place selling fruit and vegetables & managed to enrich my miserable ham pizza-bread sandwich for lunch (bought from the hotel bar this morning) with a tomato, cucumber, an apple and some strawberries (you may not think this important but when the closest thing to eat at any time is around pizza or bread…). Then in the village I sat outside a little chalet-type bar in the grassy piazza for a cappuccino & I finished off all the strawberries! The only other clients were a couple of groups of retired men in lively discussions (but not consuming much which didn’t worry the owner as she was more worried that I was walking alone) – the owner told me they are there most days (as they are retired – the wives are at home & sometimes come on Sundays!) – so nice to see as one realises that such people will not die alone while their neighbours are oblivious to their plight. This whole Po plain must be a hay-fever sufferer’s nightmare as for the last few days the air has been full of “debris” from spring flowerings floating in the breeze.
Then onwards through fields in more interesting green slightly undulating country, past some fine villas, beautiful flower displays of irises, roses, many flowering trees and shrubs (and even a small lemon tree in a pot with at least 100 fruit on it – tell me the secret!) before entering Fidenza (entering over a river which was flowing fast despite the guidebook saying it would be dry…) which is a most pleasant and very interesting small town of great history and is also the headquarters of the Association of the Via Francigena! I walked over the ruins of a Roman bridge (not longer used as the bed of the river has shifted since those times) and through an arch to see the beautiful cathedral in its piazza. Tourist office was closed but there were details of a some accommodation on the door so as I wanted to stay the weekend I chose to stay in a hotel (2 were listed) so I asked a local which was the closest and went there. The woman looked & ummed and erred a little before saying she could give me a room & when I asked for it to be away from the street she replied that it was the last room so I accepted with alacrity! Much to see over the weekend I’ll spend here (every pilgrim needs a day off although I’m not sure Sigeric would have been of the same opinion…)
As I was sitting having a drink in the main square late in the afternoon the sky turned grey and then thunder rolled around and it started to rain so perhaps this will be a regular event…will have to make sure I’m safely housed for the night before then.
Must admit that I was a little worried about a blister which looked as if it might be infected but a trip to the pharmacy and a check by a pharmacist seems to have allayed my fears so am hoping the weekend off will arrange the situation.
Have washed almost half my wardrobe (am wearing the other half). I think there must be some sort of festival here this weekend as so many people about this evening and some structures set up in the main piazza.

A quite uninteresting meal in the hotel restaurant (scaloppine al limone which was literally two thinish slices of pork in a flour-thickened clear lemon juice sauce) but tomorrow have booked to go to the one of the best restaurants in town with typical food… Am exhausted and falling into bed!

Today’s highlights
– the wonderful old-fashioned pharmacist who took me in hand and allayed my fears re my bad blister with advice & a suitable cream
– a delicious gelato which was a work of art with three flavours served like a flower!

Continue reading “Day 24 (2015) Fiorenzuola d’Arda to Fidenza”

7th May 2015 (my birthday).
From Piacenza to Fiorenzuola d’Arda – 27.25 km
Fine weather, mostly with a light breeze, but at the end very threatening thunder and black skies to the west, with rain for the final kilometre.

Short version:
Bad breakfast, long stretches walking along a dangerous main road, good cappuccino stop, finally off the main road & zig-zagging over country roads in cultivated fields, having to “ford” two fast-flowing streams, doing many more km than the guide book said, finally arriving at the destination on the edge of the threatening storm further away and then having to walk a further 1.5 km to the hotel in rain, but very happy to arrive! Very so-so birthday dinner but good glass of Prosecco!

Longer version:
What an eventful birthday!
I have never had such an awful birthday breakfast. The Italian breakfast (especially in cheap accommodation, although not in Belgioioso!) is really bad with mostly sweet breads and biscuits – how could so many extraordinary constructions of all types and beautiful works of art have been created on such a breakfast?
Anyway I set off with a high heart and then walked 4.5km on a straight very busy road through the outskirts of Piacenza. At the beginning there were footpaths but these soon disappeared and I kept crossing the road to find them when I thought “the grass looked greener on the other side of the fence” but only to be often disappointed…
After a couple of km who did I see coming towards me but my pilgrim friend Gonzalo walking back into Piacenza to meet a pilgrim friend for lunch(?). He was intending to go to the same town as me this evening…
I stopped for a cappuccino to have a break from the awful traffic careering beside me and went into a renovated cafe which had plate glass windows at the back onto a lovely old-fashioned garden so I sat out there and savoured my morning treat. A big shrub of my favourite peony roses was about to bloom.

Back on to the road which is the ancient Via Emelia going to Rome and the locals still refer to it as that. I walked on for another straight 8 km on this road praying for my life before being able to get off onto small paved roads/gravel roads which zig-zagged all over the countryside and which eventually led me to my destination. I found that it was better to keep on the bitumen (or even on the gravel) than to go on the grassy verges which are uneven, take longer to walk over and cause the feet to slip around… The land was very flat and although I only saw fields of corn, wheat, etc, Danilo had said that this is a major area for tomato cultivation. There were many big important looking farmhouses & buildings but also many deserted and dilapidated buildings. In several places I saw signs for asparagus festivals this weekend so these must also be grown here. Hope I find some this weekend.

At one point I had just stopped to tighten my shoe laces to stop my feet slipping around in my shoes, then encountered two horrible barking dogs on the road which I had to fend off with my sticks, when I came to a stream which the guide book had said to “ford” but I didn’t think it meant literally this! A few times the book had said canals, streams or rivers would probably be dry but they were all flowing (it’s been a very wet spring) so I should not have been surprised to be confronted by 10-20 cm of water…but I was! So after considering my options and thinking of what Archbishop Sigeric had had to confront in 990, I got as close as I could to the water before taking off shoes and socks and tentatively walking through the fast flowing water…only to get to the other side (a little stone dirt road up) when a fellow comes the other way in a big 4 wheel drive and he had to wait for me to get out of his way. I started to greet him but he just ignored me and drove on by so I had no regrets at not waiting for him to come as there was no way he’d have been ready to back back across the stream with me on board.

So I got my self all kitted-up again and walked on only to find another such stream less than a km further on but this one much deeper, so I had to roll my trousers up to my knees & repeat the whole process. However it was very refreshing for my feet…so all was not for nothing. By this time, I was really beginning to have doubts about the kilometrage marked in my guide book as the route was exactly the same as my maps which predicted 26 km whereas the book said it would be 19… So forewarned is forearmed for the future. It is really good having the maps as they provide a visual guide to the descriptions in the guide book.

Over to the west it was getting very dark indeed and then I heard rolling thunder so my feet picked up speed as I didn’t want to be caught in a storm. I arrived in Fiorenzuola and asked two people where the street of my hotel, or the hotel itself, was but guess what, the first two people I asked weren’t from there – they were from Rome and Florence! But another local turned up and said I should follow “the Emilia” to the other side of town but to be careful with the traffic!

So I plodded on and by this time it was raining but I didn’t bother to put my waterproof jacket on or to put the waterproof cover over my rucksack (all my possessions are safely stowed in waterproof bags inside the rucksack) as I just wanted to arrive, after what finished up being more than 27km on the road.
I was so pleased to find a reasonable and clean room with bathroom that I thought I was in Heaven. One really has to study the possibilities for accommodation before deciding where to walk to as many small places have no accommodation at all.
I have had a glass of Prosecco and a so-so meal in the hotel restaurant and will be sleeping well tonight! Tomorrow I will go to Fidenza (the seat of the Via Francigena association which I will visit) and stay two nights and have a rest and wash some clothes. Both guide book and map agree that it should be about a 17-18km walk so we’ll see.

Today’s highlights were
– daisies which appeared in big clumps along a stretch of a small road

– a video surveillance sign on a deserted country road so I wondered where the camera was and why it was there

– a moving memorial to a 20 year old resistance fighter on a country road who was killed in 1944 by the German army but who has not been forgotten as there was a big laurel wreath placed there, possibly on 25th April the anniversary of the liberation of Italy

– first live encounter with horrible barking dogs which I had to fend off
– fording 2 streams and being none the worse for it!
– becoming aware that my guide book might be misleading…

6th May 2015 Orio Litta to Piacenza – 20km on foot, 4km by ferry (crossing the Po River)

Fine weather getting to quite hot.

Short version:
Set off early with Spanish pilgrim Gonzalo to meet the ferry to cross the Po (4 km ride down-stream in fast boat) which was great as was the whole “Danilo (boatman) experience”. A long walk especially going through the outskirts of town on a main road, often without footpaths Arriving in Piacenza. Visit the city cathedral, other churches & old centre. Finally first delicious dinner!

Longer version:
After a good night’s sleep in the beautiful hostel Gonzalo and I had an early breakfast & left to walk the 3km to the landing stage by 9h00. Danilo turned up for us about 9h15 and we had a brilliant fast ride to his home 4km further down the river.

When we arrived we went into his garden and he proudly showed us “Sigeric’s foot imprint” on a brick built into a seat around a tree. He then made us coffee & he stamped our pilgrim passports and had us sign his wonderful Visitors’ Book.  He then showed us a statistic of the more than 3500 pilgrims he had transported from the first Dutch pilgrim in 1998. So far there have been 54 Australians who have passed through there – last year there were 378 pilgrims who crossed but he thinks there will be over 500 this year.

When Danilo suggested to Gonzalo that he should telephone to the church where he had to collect the key to a hostel (where he intended to stay the night which was a couple of km further on from central Piacenza), Gonzalo replied that pilgrims didn’t telephone and just accepted what happened.   He was a most interesting and authentic young person with a warm heart. Then he left in front of me as I walk more slowly than he does and he had further to travel, towards the hostel after Piacenza.

I started off on what should have been a 17km walk but which turned out to be longer – and I am starting to have serious doubts about the distances marked in my guide book. Nearly all the way on tarmac roads, often with no footpath but some bike paths, in flat countryside with more unattractive industry as I arrived on the outskirts of Piacenza.  There was a straight 5km stretch through unattractive small businesses and other shops etc (often failed businesses leaving empty space which is for rent or sale) until I reached the old centre of town. I went to the tourist office to find a place to sleep and then had to walk another 1.5 km to get there (but it is thankfully very close to where I start from tomorrow morning!).

After a shower I took a taxi to a big sports store on the outskirts of town as I had a problem with my walking sticks (which was quickly fixed) and then went out to visit the old city centre with several interesting churches and squares. I listened to a couple of sung masses and sat in a cloister with a beautiful garden. This evening I have eaten in an excellent traditional restaurant just up the road from the hotel and tasted some delicious specialities – there was a little bottle of a mixture of what seemed like lard with ham & parsley to spread on dried pieces of bread (almost like rusks) which was very tasty, a plate of very crunchy mixed vegetables cooked in vinegar and wine which were delicious, followed by a plate of tiny home-made gnocchi with fagioli (bean seeds) in a wonderful sauce and a super mixed salad (I needed the greens after eating bread all day). Will be happy to go to bed, after of course caring from my feet!

Today’s highlights:
– The “Danilo” experience as he proudly showed us his beautiful visitors’ book and spoke of the experiences he has had because of this (side) activity. He explained that this crossing existed from Roman times. The Po is a mighty but polluted river.
“Service with a smile!” Just after crossing a very long bridge, with a very narrow footpath and heavy traffic, I walked into a service station and sat down at some chairs on its perimeter (as the guide book warned that there would be no place to sit & often with no footpaths for the next 5km through the outskirts of Piacenza). A young man working there gave me a Thumbs-up sign and then brought me a peach drink! Then I realized I was seeing something I’d not seen for a long time – 5 men serving petrol to customers as well as cleaning the cars, if desired, and the customers just kept coming in so it must be appreciated…I didn’t think to look how much more expensive the petrol was but business was brisk!
– Lovely meal My first delicious dinner of typical Piacentina dishes.

5th May 2015  Belgioso to Orio Litta  18.10km on foot and 10km by train

Short version:

Great breakfast in hotel, set off along the route, followed signs faithfully but they varied from guide book (& strip maps) & ended up doing 5km more than planned so took a train at the end (common sense won out!) and then walked to the wonderful ostello in Orio Litta with a warm welcome & only two tiny blisters of no importance (in odd places) which don’t hinder me.  Delicious meal in the ostello with fellow pilgrim offered by the mayor’s wife as the trattoria closed on Tuesdays!  Tomorrow will cross the Po river by ferry and go to Piacenza.

Longer version:

There are some people who should go straight to Heaven when they die and the young woman in the hotel is one of them!  It turns out she is Romanian, in Italy for the last 12 years, is the “fiancée” of the hotel owner/cook, is 35 years old (but doesn’t know when she will get married…) and the older woman with her is her sick mother (has leukaemia) and they do all the work in the hotel with a very bright and generous outlook on the world.  She had set me up a royal breakfast with good cereal, a full array of fruits, biscottes, biscuits, jam, water, tea, then a coffee to finish off with.  All for a minimum cost and a lovely cheery manner.  When she took my passport she remarked that I would have my birthday this week which I’d not thought about.

I left the hotel and walked to Torre de Negri (literally the tower of the blacks) but no tower and when I asked a local man confirmed there was no tower (& “it’s always been like that”).

Walked through flat countryside of the Po valley again.

“All roads lead to Rome” so they say and I can confirm that there are several ways to cover the same territory…among those of my guide book, of the strip maps I have (with GPS coordinates, probably meant for technies or cyclists with GPS), and of the official way signage.    I followed the way with all the signs but realized when I reached the main road I wasn’t where the guide book (or the maps which had taken a completely different route…) said I should be.  As I couldn’t work out where I was and the official signs kept pointing onwards I followed them.  They took me by a very long and circuitous but pleasant route through fields on soft sandy paths and then I came finally to the river which the guide book said I would have to cross on a main road & I met a couple of men whom I think worked for the canal maintenance enterprise (there were many canals as I was back in rice paddies and corn fields) and I asked how far it was to the town of yesterday’s mechanic and was told I was on the way to Santa Cristina, the following town!  So I plodded on and finally got there after confirming with passers-by several times that I was on the right track (& at least I didn’t have to risk my life walking along a busy main road without footpaths as per the route of the guide book…) One group of 3 women in a very small place, seeing that I was walking through the fields alone, said I should be very careful (another just raised her eyes to the heavens) but on my way I only encountered farmers who were working their fields and all gave me a cheery wave.  When I arrived in Santa Cristina, I had done  4 km more than the guide book said I should – already 12 instead of 8 km – & promptly met one of the women I’d seen before (she’d said it was roughly 1.5km when it was in fact 3) as she’d come by car…  After a well-earned cappuccino I moved on to a 4km track beside the railway line with a dry canal between the two (as specified in the guide book).  Fine for a while then the track seemed to peter out with high grass and weeds ahead and the signs said to go away from it along a dirt road.  I did this for 500m but was going further away from the railway line so back-tracked and then had to fight my way through the metre-high grass but could see that the track has been used so was comforted but fearful of tripping up…and all the time the canal bed about 4 metres below me was dry and flat.  I had seen that there were some paved tracks down to it near little covered water channels which crossed over it and that tractors had been down there so at the next opportunity I took to the canal and then prayed that there would be another paved track up out of it further along as I knew I could not climb up its steep sides with my rucksack.  You can perhaps imagine my relief when I saw a path up out of it as I’d imagined I might be backtracking…  And when I got up again the track was much better.  To cut a long story short when I came to the railway station I had already done 17km and the guide book said I had another 11 to do!  As my mother always said that one of the best attributes to have in life was “good old garden common sense” (& which I think I am singularly lacking at times) I took stock of the situation with respect to my feet & when I went into the bar next to the station I asked about the next train (10 minutes later!) so I quickly bought a ticket for two stations and then that would have left me about 3km to walk.  So I jumped on the train which was mostly transporting secondary students homewards and when I was getting off I decided to jump on and go all the way!  It was just then that the conductor came along to check the ticket which I had to get out of a transparent pouch holding my maps around my neck but as I was fossicking to undo it he could see part of it folded through the plastic and said OK, so I didn’t have to show that I had gone a station further than I’d paid for (perhaps it would have been the same price)…  So I walked into the village of Orio Litta approx 1.5 km from the station  and was sitting down in a little piazza just about to eat a late lunch when a man came to show me to the ostello where a lady who does everything (like in my previous hotel) welcomed me and showed me around the truly magnificent building.  About 5pmthe mayor (& to whose wife we had spoken in the morning to reserve a bed) turned up in cycling clothes to stamp my “passport” & receive my donation for the night.  I spoke to him (who is also a primary school teacher) about cycling & about my nephew who would be riding in the Giro which starts this week so he asked for Michael’s name & insisted on a “selfie” with me as the relation of Michael!

Those who read me on the Via last year might remember the importance of the church declaring a holy or jubilee year…well this ostello dates from the 13th century and was almost completely fallen down but rebuilt and renovated in the year 2000, a jubilee year (when money must be available for such projects).  It is a truly beautiful place.  The mayor told me he’d see me at the trattoria where I intended having dinner and mentioned that he had met a Spanish pilgrim (while he was out cycling) who would be arriving for the night. He, Gonzalo, eventually arrived, a lovely young man from Madrid who had walked everywhere (from Madrid into France last year where he had an accident & he restarted this year and has been walking incredible distances to arrive here)!

I went out to the trattoria but, guess what, it’s closed on Tuesdays.  I met a woman in the street & asked her where I could eat & she said she’d show me to a pizzeria but took me via the mayor’s house & rang the bell & his wife came out & offered to make me a meal & I was embarrassed and said “no thanks” but she insisted so I said we’d be two (with the Spanish pilgrim) & so Pier-Liuigi (the mayor) turned up a little while later with a big dish of pasta with a tuna & tomato sauce, a mixed salad, 4 boiled eggs, bread, packets of biscuits & a bottle of wine!  Soooo generous!

In the meantime he had also looked up Michael on the Internet and asked if Michael could send him an autograph(!) which I promised to arrange. I saw Gonzalo caring for enormous blisters which he said he pierced but he just had to be careful of infection – no Compeed for him…  So I had a delicious and interesting meal with Gonzalo (in a mixture of languages as I’ve lost so much of my Spanish since learning Italian), a real pilgrim who is searching for something, and who has limited resources (as he says, “money for eating but not for sleeping” – he’d slept in the street in Belgioioso as the priest would not let him into the hostel if he didn’t pay €20…).  While eating I asked him if he’d walked through the long grass and he said Yes, until he saw a snake when he quickly opted to walk along the railway line…gave me the shivers to think what I’d escaped but fortunately I had had long trousers on.   The mayor didn’t expect a donation from him to sleep the night and he is travelling with  nothing but the names of his stopping points written on a piece of paper (information gleaned from other pilgrims & when I expressed surprise he said that you always meet someone to help you…) as compared to me with guide book, maps, Garmin watch, etc!  The mayor also telephoned to Danilo the ferry-man to pick us up tomorrow morning to cross the Po – he’ll come for us at 9am.  Gonzalo didn’t know about the ferry & if he’d followed the signage he’d have done several more km…  Am off to bed in my room in the “torretta” (little tower) as we have to walk the 3km to the ferry for the 20 minute ride across the Po River.    What generosity of spirit and it certainly showed in the faces of both the mayor and his wife (who thanked the lady for bringing me to her!).  I will have a blessed sleep tonight.

Today’s highlights and things seen & learnt today

– Don’t trust guide books!

– Most vicious dogs are often in the poorest looking houses…

– Spring agricultural & gardening work well under way everywhere

– Am back in Juventus territory again with the team’s flag flying from many balconies as the team has just won the Italian championship…but Gonzalo was teasing the mayor as the Juve must have just lost a match to Real Madrid…

– Missed Corteolona so no chance to see the mechanic & a ride on his moto!

– Missing the snake in the grass…

– Such generous welcome in Orio Litta

4th May 2015  Pavia to Belgioioso (which literally means beautifully joyful!)  19km (yes, it’s more than I should have done but I took a wrong turning in Pavia, extra 1.5km, and there was nowhere to sleep in between so had to come as far as Belgioioso…)

Day 20 Video

Video of cobble-stone layers

3rd May 2015  Geneva to Pavia  By bus and trains & foot (1.8km)