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…
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.
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!).
Video of cobble-stone layers
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?
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).