17th May 2015 From Pontremoli to Aulla
28.25km
Beautiful weather, but too hot in the afternoon.
Short version:
Long walk in beautiful (but unseasonably) hot weather. Walked out of Pontremoli on the main road & visited the beautiful Pieve di Sorano and then walked uphill and down dale, including along too much bitumen road. Arrived in the hostel with the help of a kind Romanian woman, had some dinner & fell into bed.
Longer version:
Another nice breakfast to prepare me for the road but much earlier. There were several other foreign walkers at breakfast, eating what I was eating! An Italian couple came & went in 10 mins while the Germans & I were still there eating away on cereal & brown bread!!
It was a beautiful day and the hills all around were very clear! I wanted to get away early as, being Sunday, I decided to follow the map (rather than the route in the guide book which seems to have some silly detours to get one off the main road) & walk straight along the main road for 7 km. I walked by St Peters church but still closed…so sadly no sight of the labyrinth of the pilgrim’s trials.
Walked on the main road affronting the oncoming traffic but, being Sunday and early, fortunately there wasn’t much of it. There were many cyclists out singly or in bigger or smaller groups. The warmest memory of the day was a group of about 25 cyclists riding single file and when the first one saw me he waved his right hand and the wave went down the line (made me think of the wave I’d seen once in Montreal in a Stanley Cup hockey match) and a chorus of Ciao greeted me as they all went past! It was fantastic. Another time, with a smaller group, the first cyclist whistled and the arms went out and they all moved over to let me pass. What technique!
After 7km I reached the beautiful Pieve (small church) di Sorano, a 6th to 12th century church which was beautiful. I arrived there and went in & the priest was getting ready for the service at 11h00. I spoke to him and it seems he is also the priest of another church as well as the principal of a school in Pontremoli. He said the church was from the 6th century and modified until the 12th, and advised me to see the apse from the exterior. He asked me if I was a Catholic but I replied that I was raised an Anglican. It was a beautiful simple interior and from the cemetery behind I could see the full beauty of the construction.
I went over the road to the bar recommended by a man who had done his washing & was hanging out all his “smalls” in front if his house front door. The bar was a riot (not sure how many of them would be going to church…) but I think the whole village must pass through there. Was drinking my cappuch when I heard the church bells ring. Many people were making their way there. About 5 mins before the hour, the bells rang with a “hurry up or you’ll be late” ring just like at school.
I reached the village of Filatteria (pop 2453 today) and was struck by a memorial plaque for the the WWI dead – there were 70 – 80 names, all in inlaid marble, classified by rank. I couldn’t get over the sheer number of people affected in this small rural commune.
Went up long steep hill road & another 93 steps to the village itself & came across a couple of painters in the square. Then tried to find way markings – at one point I asked a man who said he’d walked the Via but it was to Compostela (!) & he didn’t even know where the Via Francigena signs were in his own village (he looked like a local & as he didn’t say “I’m not from here” I can only assume he was!).
I walked up further (on remains of a Roman road) and through many woods, often with rocky or muddy tracks which just needed a little care to pass, but no real problems and I was ready for the two streams which I would probably have to ford but fortunately stones were placed such that one could pass without having to remove one’s shoes!
At the village of Filetto I passed the half-way point between Gt. St Bernard Pass and Rome! At one point, I came out of woods & passed over a tree across the road and passed through some fields & cameto a junction with a road ahead and another to the right and both had way-markings and the guide book said “continue on a walled lane” which they both were! I followed one to the right and ended up in a field & a man asked me where I was going so told him and he said I had missed a turn to the right on a path parallel with his fence which he told me to take. About 500 m later I ended up at the same tree over the road! I must have lacked a little common sense, but it showed me once again that many Italians do not have a good sense of direction.
I ate some lunch in a chestnut wood where there were picnic tables, quite unusual. Continued on through some other villages & decided to tighten my boots when I saw a park bench by the road-side. Just as I was moving off again a man popped his head out of a window opposite, said Hello, heard my accent and asked if I spoke French. It seems he had worked in Aigle and then wanted to buy me a drink in a bar but I pushed on. It was a very hot day and from then on I walked along bitumen roads, up hill and down dale and it was long, long, long. At one point there was a sign to excuse the roadwork ahead being done Gratis! I then came across a older bare-chested man with no hat, very tanned, working on a turn in the steep road with a grader(?) who was clearing a culvert all along the hill-side road, not an easy task, but a real professional. At the other end there was another sign similar to the first. A very civic initiative! Then as I walked parallel to the autostrada for a while I got to thinking that perhaps all we Italophiles could give a few days of free labour to the country we love visiting so much (but of course we would have a parallel programme encouraging people not to just throw rubbish everywhere!)…
Walked through Barbaresco then into Terarossa, and was no longer where either the guide book or map said I should be but I saw a sign and asked a woman whether the railway line wasn’t on the other side of a fence over the road. She said she’d accompany me to the hostel next to the church where I was to go. It turned out she wasn’t Italian at all but Romanian, working looking after old people, long hours for not much pay… After a couple of km we arrived in Aulla (not an interesting city as heavily bombed during WWII) at the gruesome museum (lots of skulls in costume) next to the church and was I happy when the man there offered me water. He took my passport and asked surprisingly why did I have an Australian passport if I was Indian? He had used the Indian visa in my passport as my passport data! He took me to the big hostel, no one else present & told me where a restaurant was. I was so pleased to be there as it has been a long hot day! The meal was forgettable except for excellent gnocchi in a tomato sauce. Went home exhausted and fell into bed.
Favourite experience of the day, the bike riders! No photo…
Favourite place of the day: Pieve di Sorano
Favourite flower of the day: beautiful zucchini flowers
Favourite stream crossed on stones!