Day 19 (2015) Geveva to Pavia

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!

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…

**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.