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…)
Mass in the cathedralStar tree of the day – I’d this a Deutzia? Beautiful perfume!Not as good as the first one I ate but still a work of art
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.
Favourite shop in Fidenza with its Parmesan cheese, prosciutto…
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.
Three Wise Men riding 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.
Delicious starterSuper main course
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!
First view of Fidenza cathedral
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!
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.
Shortversion:
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.
Garden at back of morning cappuccino cafe
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.
First stream to be “forded”!
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
Daisies beside the road
– a video surveillance sign on a deserted country road so I wondered where the camera was and why it was there
Video surveillance camera in the middle of nowhere!
– 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
Young resistance fighter remembered on a little country road
– 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.
Gonzalo and me flying down the Po
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.
Sigeric’s footprint in Danilo’s gardenDanilo with his beautiful pilgrims’ “Golden Book” which we signed (with other pertinent information)Danilo’s pilgrim statistics
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
Fine, mostly overcast warm weather
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)!
Gonzalo, Pier-Liugi (the mayor) and me
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!
A pilgrim’s feast!
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!
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…)
Good but overcast weather
Well, what a day of re-acclimatization to the Via!
Short version for those who can’t be bothered with all the following detail:
Still on the Po River plain so no hills. Walked mostly on small bitumen roads and some dirt roads. Pleasant scenery. I got slightly lost leaving Pavia but got back on the trail, missed my morning cappuccino at the bar in the first village which was closed on Mondays, walked through flat fields to the second village and was disappointed to find the interesting little church with magnificent frescoes closed, walked on to this little town (first possibility to sleep), found hotel closed on Mondays but fortunately got in to sleep although no wifi, thankful that I have no blisters, came to bar to write these notes and have had a cappuccino, a tea, and will be having an aperitif before dinner and returning to hotel. Skip to end of text if interested in photos! Otherwise, arrivederci until tomorrow.
Long (perhaps too) version:
It took me a little longer than it should have to pack my rucksack but I’ll get used to knowing what should go in which of my 4 coloured waterproof bags and where they should go in my rucksack. Went to the nearby bar for “breakfast”, if one can call it that, which has an arrangement with the hostel & the owner was most welcoming & sat me down comfortably. I set off back over the covered bridge & into the town but missed a turning (not well-marked) & ended having to go back to find the beautiful St. Michael church which is in the 11th-12th century Lombard-Romanesque style similar to the UNESCO-listed Longobardo chapel cousin Liz and I saw at Cividale near Udine in Friuli province (near Trieste) last summer. All missed turns were not for nothing as I was able to see some of the centre of the city with beautiful shops (most not open before 9h30… after a late Sunday night?), the spring fashions, and many lovely coffee bars and impressive bread/pastry shops. I stopped in one and bought a fresh little focaccia which I asked the lady to put in the zipper pocket at the top of my pack. When I took it out to eat for lunch the little receipt was with it, as one is obliged by law to keep receipts within several hundreds of metres of a shop as proof of payment if requested by someone in authority to see that a shopkeeper records the sale & is not cheating on his/her taxes. As Pavia has an illustrious university, founded in the 14th century, there were students everywhere going to classes as the uni buildings must be spread over the centre of the city. I smiled as I asked someone the way to a main street and he replied “I’m not from here” and the second person said “I don’t know”…so what’s new?
After leaving Pavia I walked through flat pleasant country with some big farms with fields of crops, quiet villages with mostly well-cared-for houses and gardens, very little industry, and no other pilgrims.
It is now 70 years since the end of WWII (VE day is 8th May and the anniversary of the liberation of Italy is 25th April) and I walked past some memorial plaques for the fallen of both wars as well as a commerative plaque for local resistance fighters who died just before the end of the WWII, with recently placed wreaths on them. Very moving…
Memorials to WWI dead and to resistance fighters in WWII – wreath for 25April (liberation day)
When I finally arrived in Belgioioso the hotel was closed (of course it’s Monday…) but a young woman cleaning the rooms answered the bell and thankfully said I could stay the night & the first thing she did was to give me a bottle of cold water from the fridge! After fearfully examining my feet it appears they have held up so far… The young woman left the very long wifi password for me on the front desk (said it only works in the entrance of the hotel) but she didn’t indicate the name of the network and I tried it with the 3 networks which popped up but no luck (she had left by then). So I came to the centre of town to a decent looking bar and after a cappuccino (as the only client) and then a tea I may be obliged to have an aperitif as there are many plates of varied delicious-looking nibbles on the counter and as the sun is over the yard-arm (now 18h15) and the bar is now jumping both inside and at the tables on the footpath, why not, and I’ll drink to my feet holding up tomorrow. I have to check out places to eat so may even end up eating here. No sooner said than done, and I now have a Prosecco and the waitress has brought a plate of mixed goodies to eat (which our Zoe would die for so I shall think of her as I eat them and sip, and while she certainly doesn’t drink alcohol she is always asking if we can have an “aperitif” at home) so I may not need to find a restaurant!
Went to another restaurant for dinner but certainly not a gastronomic experience (perhaps because it’s Monday?) but this tiny town (big village?) has a beautiful furniture store, a shop with wedding attire to rival that of a big town, and at outlet shop, as well as two funeral directors in this street, among others…
So in all it’s been an interesting and positive experience so far… Viva l’Italia et viva la Via!
Today’s lessons and highlights:
Most grateful for…
– I have walked longer than planned but so far my feet are in good shape!! A couple of little pressure points but NO blisters.
Biggest disappointment
– I decided to wait to get to the bar in San Leonardo, 7 km away, for my morning cappuccino, even against my better judgement when I passed a beautiful cafe called The Art of Coffee as I left Pavia, but on arriving there it was closed on Mondays and a sad looking place it was…so in future I’ll not pass up an opportunity when it comes to a civilized coffee bar! No, I am being futile as the real disappointment was not being able to go into the beautiful 15th century little church of San Giacomo Pellegrino (Saint James the Pilgrim) which has a magnificent series of frescoes (I’ve seen the photos) which was closed and the promise of “key available nearby” didn’t eventuate…AND after a detour! However I do have my own little St James in a two- part metal shell which a friend brought back from Santiago de Compostela for me. Also I used the step on the side entrance door of the little church to sit down and have my delicious tomato and hard-boiled egg (from home) focaccia sandwich as there were no other possibilities to sit anywhere.
Business as usual
– I saw many people with nice-looking dogs on leads and NOT ONE barked so I was convinced that my days of vicious barking dogs was a thing of the past but as I got to the outskirts of the city there they were again. Once I even passed 4 adjoining houses where there were 2 or 3 vicious dogs in each house and what a cacophony of sound they made. Fortunately the gates were closed in each case. Also many places and villages have signs that the area is under video-surveillance, but I still can’t work out why.
It’s spring!
– Spring flowers are everywhere and there are beautiful purple irises, azaleas, hydrangeas, rose buds, and many flowering trees and shrubs but the wisteria is finished (they are at their best in Geneva right now). And the wild red poppies living out their brilliant, ephemeral and fragile existence on road-sides and in the fields of wheat which are a glorious green. The corn is now about 10 to 20 cm high and I have even seen the first hay being cut (with its wonderful smell) & lying in winnows to dry out before being baled. Vegetable gardens are all tilled and prepared with new plantings and, out of the city, everyone has summer furniture in gardens or on terraces. Haven’t seen any cherry trees yet (like last year) but I did see elderberry trees already in flower and thought of 3 friends who use the flowers to make delicious elderberry cordial.
Beautiful poppies
Most incredible sight!
– On the outskirts of Pavia at a road intersection (with an entry to the autostrada) I came across a thin young woman in a strapless black body-hugging mini dress, with 10cm stilettos and ear-phones, smiling and dancing on the road and enjoying herself as she tried to sell her charms to passing motorists… She gave me a big smile and went on with her dancing (but of course I couldn’t take a photo) – I waved but didn’t speak to her (didn’t want to deprive her of the chance of business) but she is possibly from an Eastern European country and I can only surmise that she must get business…
Impressive builders
– two interesting examples caught my admiration and gave me a smile. Men were building low concrete walls around a piece of garden and I noticed that at regular intervals there were plastic water bottles popping up in the cement – which must be in the holes for fence posts! (Photo if you can see them). Then in San Leonardo two men were re-cobbling the square in front of the church and their technique was extra-ordinary so I asked them if I could take a photo (& for the first time you can see live coverage from the Via!) – notice how the hands holding the hammer never stop while they reach for the next rounded stone, I suppose to keep the rhythm but I wonder at repetitive strain injury… And when they spoke together they spoke Portuguese! If you’ve been to Lisbon you will remember the beautiful black and while cobbled areas (specially if you were wearing high heels!).
Example of innovative construction (using plastic bottles!)
As I arrived in the bar where I’m writing this I saw the woman from the bar with a broom trying to sweep out many many cigarette buts from the deep spaces between the deep-set cobbles on the edge of the road and when I said how hard it must be and I suggested she needed a vacuum cleaner, she nodded but said she didn’t have one… When I asked about a wifi connection in the bar, she said “Yes, but it doesn’t work”.
Don’t know if this should fall under the “impressive builders” category, but after San Leonardo on a tiny bitumen country road with no cars there was a stretch of bitumen bicycle track for about 400 metres parallel to and slightly higher than the straight road. Why?
Lonely stretch of bike path which finishes before house in photo…
Bike riders
– these come in two types, men in lycra with helmets who buzz by and older women without helmets out to do their shopping but who always smile and wave and wish you a good day (& many people also wish you Buon cammino as you pass them).
Telefoninos
– Italian drivers still have their mobiles to their ears as they drive…as do most people everywhere…
Best advice (?)
– I came across a mechanic who had come to the aid of a broken-down motorist on a country road and when his client drove off he asked me if I was on the Via. When I replied affirmatively, he said that if I wanted to save myself 10km tomorrow I should go to “the” traffic light in Belgioioso (is there only one?) and turn right and go straight to his village without taking the recommended route. He even said he could give me a ride on his “moto”, but when I looked in my invaluable guide book the distance on the recommended route is only 5km ! (Perhaps there is another alternate route).
3rd May 2015 Geneva to Pavia By bus and trains & foot (1.8km)
Well I’m on the road again ( as the song says), on the Via Francigena towards Rome. Let’s hope this venture continues well and my feet behave. I have been treating them well so I hope they show their appreciation!
My versifying friend sent me the following lines before I set off so I hope they will ensure I walk safely for a long way…
Verily,
Veteran vagabond
Venture via villages
View valley vistas
Visit vineyard villas
And
Valour will vanquish Via
I finally finished packing my rucksack about an hour before leaving (packing is one of my pet hates so I’m always packing as I walk out the door…) and was happily surprised to find it weighed only just over 9kg – I had packed so many “essential” things that I feared it would be much more. Will try to whittle it down as I walk by only carrying necessary food, etc.
I travelled in a special train from Geneva which was laid on because of the international Expo in Milan which opened its doors on 1st May (unfortunately all is not ready and building will continue for a few weeks yet although the Swiss have proudly announced that their pavilion is finished) and it was packed to over capacity with people without seat reservations sitting in the entry to each carriage. In Lausanne there was an announcement asking passengers to stations in Switzerland to take other trains (seat reservations are obligatory on the Italian section of the trip to Milan).
In Milan I bought a ticket to Pavia at a machine and the first message in the purchase process was “beware of pickpockets ” so I was checking all the pouches around my waist and neck while making my purchase (for an extra Euro I decided to travel 1st class!).
Arriving in Pavia I set out on foot to the hostel & as I walked over the beautiful covered bridge on the Ticino river** (see photo & history below) a man on a bike stopped and asked me if I was walking along the Via Francigena, where I had come from and whether I was walking to Rome. I explained that I was restarting my walk and that it was my feet which would decide how far I would walk. He replied that he had done the Via two years ago but “in bici, piu facile” meaning “by bicycle, much easier”… and gave me a warm handshake and wished me luck. What an auspicious start!
I booked into the Santa Maria in Betlem hostel next to the impressive church and met a French pilgrim who had walked from his home in the beautiful Drome area in south-east France and who had been walking for 4 weeks (4 or 5 more weeks to Rome, he said…). When I asked about feet problems he just said “old fractures” which must be giving him problems…but when I mentioned blisters he brushed away the suggestion with a “you just have to pierce them…”. I then came to this restaurant for a “pilgrim’s cheap meal” (they have a special arrangement with the hostel for its guests). I had forgotten how lively Italian restaurants and bars are on Sundays – while we Anglo-Saxons are at home getting ready to go to work on Monday morning the Italians are out with all the family and friends enjoying themselves!!
I’ll be having an early night tonight to be in form to stride out tomorrow…
Covered bridge
**The previous bridge, dating from 1354 (itself a replacement for a Roman construction), was heavily damaged by Allied action in 1945. A debate on whether to fix or replace the bridge ended when the bridge partially collapsed in 1947, requiring new construction, which began in 1949. The new bridge is based on the previous one, which had seven arches to the current bridge’s five.
6th August 2014 Great St-Bernard Pass to La Clusaz 18.5km
Another beautiful fine day so it was perfect to set off after breakfast in the hospice towards Gignod (where I had started to walk from in May) . It was steep and going down constantly so I had to watch where I put each foot, especially with so much water coursing down from the mountain sides and flowing over the path. All the way down it was impressive to see the 6km of winding road snaking down the deep valley and 6 more kilometers of covered galleries (to protect against avalanches) before finally joining up with the road exiting from the road tunnel. It’s the 50th anniversary of the opening of tunnel this year. The valley was as beautiful as I remembered it but with many more wild-flowers, at one time a full field of the dark red irises. The tiny and bigger streams were coursing down their beds with a beautiful chorus and often making cascades. Again the villages were so neat and with gardens now full of many flowers and balconies laden with red geraniums and other flowers. The second harvest of hay was underway with the winnows (as a friend said the lines of cut hay before it is baled are called) being dried. And the many little vegetable gardens were full of summer produce and of course there were still some barking dogs! I stopped for a cappuccino in Bourg Saint-Rhemy after 7 kms going down and continued down to Etroubles (which proudly proclaimed the gold medal it had won last year for its flowers) where I had my picnic lunch which the hospice had prepared for me. I sat next to a shrine with a big carved wooden figure of Christ and realized that I had seen many wooden sculptures in various places so perhaps this is a speciality of the valley (an activity during the long winter months). The final couple of kilometres I did along grassy tracks running by the side of a “rus” which forms part of an elaborate system of water channels running along the sides of the mountains and which have irrigated the whole valley since the 14th century, taking water to even the smallest fields – the largest channels are still in use today. In Switzerland these little channels are called “bisses” and still have locks at various intervals which can be opened so that water can be used to irrigate the fields. As I wanted to take the bus back up to the pass I had to keep checking my watch ( last bus to the Pass for the day left Gignod at 14h25) and finally I had to cut short my walk at La Clusaz (at 1200m altitude) after 18.5km, but 4 km short of Gignod, and scramble down to the main road to catch it. Opposite the bus-stop was a hotel which had previously been one of the first pilgrim hostels in the valley, dating to 1234, and it had beautiful frescoes on its facade. Had to smile coming back in the bus as at one intersection near where the tunnel road and the normal road join up I saw two policemen from the financial squad next to their clearly-marked car armed with stop sign in hand ready to flag down a car – in the direction coming from Switzerland – and I was wondering whether they had a specific vehicle in mind… Also many cyclists on the road going up and down which I thought awfully steep but my nephew Michael has ridden it & declared it a good ride… For those of you who are wondering, there was no possibility of meditation as I walked either up or down as I had to constantly watch where I put each foot on the treacherous paths although I often paused to contemplate the fabulous views in both Switzerland and Italy. Great news was that after these two days of solid walking I had no blisters nor tendon problems – but I will feel my thighs tomorrow… A woman who has just arrived at the hospice to be a lay volunteer until the end of the month will sleep in the room with me tonight. Another lively and satisfying dinner at the long tables in the refectory & a good sleep under the eiderdown.
After a lazy morning I took the bus back down to Bourg St Pierre to catch the train home, a happy little “pilgrim”. I was speaking with a friar as I paid my bill about the number of people they accommodate (with them there will be 122 people who sleep there tonight) and getting suitable provisions, and especially fresh produce. He said that during the summer everything comes in by road and then they stock up at the end of September for the winter (no deliveries as they are completely snowed in) but that he had never eaten so much salad as during the winter months because people bring them salads, vegetables, fruit, even fresh pineapples, in their rucksacks when they come during the winter on skis or snow shoes..
So, arrivederci from the Via and perhaps until next year.
I am back on the Via Francigena since Sunday 3rd May 2015 & now feel that I can continue longer so will start to give you my news.
Last time you heard from the Via was in June last year so to fill you in I will first publish the walk of the first two stages which I did last August. I will then give you this year’s updates. So here goes…
“And in the beginning…” Here are my impressions from last summer when I slipped away in some finally (!) fine weather in August to the mountains to do the first two day’s walk (on the second half) of the Via Francigena up to and over the Great Saint Bernard Pass which snow had prevented me from doing in May, especially as my tendons were now well-healed & I was encouraged by the following lines from my versifying friend
Taut tendons
thwart
tireless trekkers
treading tricky
tracks
but…….
Toned tendons
taught
techniques
to tackle
taxing tracks
triumph!
5th August 2014 Bourg Saint-Pierre to Great Saint-Bernard Pass – 13.5km
This morning I took the 5.53am bus from home to catch 2 trains and a bus to arrive at Bourg Saint-Pierre at 9.20am to start my walk up to the pass. After a coffee and croissant & a trip to the local municipal centre to get my pilgrim passport stamped I set off on a beautiful morning (you need to know that the summer so far in Switzerland has been very mixed with lots of rain…). I started from 1600 metres altitude and was walking up to the pass at 2450 metres but what with ups and downs I was to walk up 1,100 metres in all. The mountains were spectacular and the path well-marked but unseasonally inundated with the recent rain-water. There were a couple of dams so I walked by two man-made lakes as I went up. One really has to look where one puts each foot so I was thankful to have my sticks to steady me as sometimes I was hopping from one stone to another. One great consolation was the wild-flowers of so many colours and sizes – fantastic! I saw some type of wild dark-red irises which I’d never seen in the mountains before among the whites, yellows, purples, pinks, blues in all tones, of other wildflowers. However, I have to admit that at one point I missed a sign and took a wrong path which became quite hairy but fortunately I met some local people coming down who had been up to see their animals (which are in the higher pastures for the summer) and they were able to set me straight which I was SO pleased about. At times I was a little parallel to the road up to the pass (only open from end May/early June until end September as after that cars have to take the tunnel from further down the mountain) and there were many cars taking it as well as the inevitable (moto) bikies who simply love roaring up mountain roads with all their curves…but also cyclists of all ages battling up and rolling down the curves.
After the final effort up to the pass with the last part over rocks which I thought quite hairy (it took me over 5 hours to do the walk with a couple of breaks for a drink & lunch & to look at the views & flowers) I arrived at the mythical Hospice which has existed here and been continuously open since 1050 AD to house pilgrims (the first Roman road was built in 12 BC although a track over the pass existed long before this). The Hospice is inhabited all year round by the Catholic friars (they are priests, not monks, who also minister to local communities, with lay volunteers in summer) and open for pilgrims or other visitors (who often arrive on skis or snow shoes in winter). I was warmly welcomed with hot tea and given the hours of all meals, religious services, etc. The big stone building of 5 floors is very cosy and welcoming (I have a lovely room under the roof all lined with wood and with a wash-basin while there are modern facilities of 4 showers with plenty of hot water, 6 toilets and 10 wash-basins just along the corridor for people on this floor) with a surprising church in Baroque style on the ground floor as well as a beautiful chapel in the crypt (where I attended sung vespers before dinner). The Saint-Bernard dogs are no longer used for rescues (although they are still bred here in summer) as they are too heavy to transport e.g. in a helicopter, and difficult to train so German Shepherds are now used instead.
I walked around the site which has a lake and a couple of other buildings on the Italian side of the border which is 100 metres from the hospice. There is a plaque outside describing how Napoleon crossed the alps in May 1800 with 46,000 men, animals, equipment, etc – what an incredible feat this must have been…and in the hospice is the monumental marble mausoleum of his favourite general, General Dessaix (who died in battle in 1800) which he, Napoleon, had had sculpted in Paris and then transported here in 1806 at much cost and effort so that “the alps would be his tombstone and the friars would be his guardians”… He commandeered 800 men to transport it here, with many lives lost – just imagining how they got the enormous blocks over the narrow rocky path to the top with vertiginous drops along it boggles the imagination, although when one thinks that Hannibal also crossed the alps (but not here) 2000 years earlier…
After a hearty 4 course meal at long tables in the dining room (at least 60 people with a couple of groups in other rooms) there was a superb concert of Russian music in the church by 3 musicians with 2 balalaikas and a Russian guitar. The musicians are part of a 31 day project of 9 musicians from around the world with the goal of walking from mountain hut to mountain hut each day in the Swiss, French and Italian alps, carrying their instruments on their backs, and giving a concert at night. They said that for the first 6 days (ours was the twelfth day) there was a double base player and an accordian player! And the guitarist was in bare feet as he had terrible foot problems… I met some interesting people at dinner including a French family with 3 young children (the eldest 12 year old was carrying a pack of 10kg and I learnt that the tent in which the 3 children slept weighed 2kg!) who had walked along the full Swiss section of the Via Francigena from Porrentruy in the Swiss Jura and were ending up two days hence in Aosta. I retired to my little room & climbed under the cosy eiderdown & slept like a log for 9 hours.
