22nd May 2015. Valpromaro to Lucca
16km
Started raining as I set off….but cleared just after the half-way mark (but only after I’d negotiated all the “tricky tracks”)
Shorter version:
All going well. Away just as it started raining…but I survived it even on the up-hill & down-dale tracks before joining a flat bitumen road into Lucca. Didn’t get a cappuccino but I have survived that also. Arrived at lunchtime & here for two nights in a very nice (non pilgrim-like) hotel.
Longer version:
I had a fantastic night’s sleep (must have been the sleep of the Just after having gone to church)…evidently the church bells chimed all night but after 23h00 I heard nothing!
Pilar and Alfredo were up & my simple breakfast was ready for me. It has been a lovely experience to both meet them and benefit from such hospitality! Would that this custom spread but as the future-hospitaleros must have walked the Via it may take some time.
I knew that there would be no bars or shops before Lucca so I had some food & lots of water with me. It started to rain as I set off through the village, all kitted out for rain, but a few hundred metres later I realised I had forgotten to pull the rain protection cover up over my rucksack which I quickly rectified. I walked on a small road then a path which quickly went into the woods on not-too-bad tracks but tricky because of the rain. I was careful as all stones and rocky surfaces were slippery and I knew that there would be no Romanians to help in case of need and that a French couple would walk this way, but only tomorrow!
On a road again I walked steeply up to the neat little village of Piazzano which had beautiful views but not in the rain… Then I was back in the woods & the track started descending and descending and I walked very carefully and was getting worried about having to walk up again (could see hills ahead) but finally after a kilometre of descent I came out onto a flat tarmac road – was very relieved! It was flat all the way into Lucca from there. I came to a smart looking hotel set in gardens back from the road – Relais Victoria – and I thought of asking for a cappuccino (& the loo) but decided against it as am sure Sigeric would not have approved, even being rain-soaked.
The road ran through villages which were very quiet, often alongside a stream, and finally it started to clear which was great and my trousers (navy & freshly washed) started to dry out only to be wet again by the splashing from cars whizzing by. I started to see fields planted with corn.
I arrived at a bridge over a main river, Lucca on the other side, when I saw what could be a bar down off the road and I called to a man who signalled to go over the other side of the river, so I was looking forward to my cappuch just before 11h00. But…on the other side the waysigns took me on a long curve beside the river in a nature reserve! So, big decision, to have a coffee and face the on-coming traffic on a main road or no coffee and a rural walk on a dirt road…no coffee this morning!
Good decision as I started to hear many wonderful bird calls as the bells were striking the hour. Further on was an “urban farm” so city folk could learn about nature and a group of primary school children were there.
I decided to sit down and munch on my apple in the peaceful surroundings with only the very occasional dog-walker going by. On I walked until, just as I was leaving the riverside to turn into the town, I came across the most extraordinary pedestrian/bicycle bridge which was not marked on the map and would have been very expensive to build as it seemed to be suspended with just one central pillar – perhaps it was financed by a generous donor or else perhaps some of the local politicians are keen bike riders…
I walked on into the old walled town but was not sure exactly where my hotel was but I knew it was near the cathedral (I had stayed there some years ago). So who better to ask for a street direction than a taxi driver – but he said, surprise surprise, “am not from here, so ask a Lucca driver” which I did & couldn’t believe my eyes when he took a badly folded map (they do exist!) out of the car. He looked at it & told me where to go but it wasn’t correct and I asked another man if he was a local & could he help direct me and he said I’d come to the right person but when I said the street name he exclaimed “buona questione!”. However he knew the hotel (& the owner) & took me almost to it.
I checked in and asked for my pilgrim passport to be stamped & a man stepped forward with a lighter and a stick of wax which he melted onto the spot and the woman at the desk put the hotel seal into it – it’s quite the nicest one I have (but I hope it lasts until Rome…).
After relaxing a little, I walked around the town but will do most of my sight-seeing tomorrow – a few new churches to discover as well as some of the beautiful places I’ve seen before.
Lucca, completely enclosed in its completely-intact substantial walls with several gates to enter by, dates from Roman times and is a perfect little city. As it is for almost everybody who comes here, it is one of my favourite Italian cities – I came here first in 1971 with a local Italian friend and fell in love with what was then a quiet and beautiful city with its calm and empty piazzas. Unfortunately it has suffered from its success and is now being overrun by tourists ( the concierge in the hotel said mass tourism has started here in the 1990s), but I suppose that we all want to travel don’t we & we consider ourselves as different from those other tourists? It had many hospices for pilgrims from the Middle Ages with at least 13 in the 13th century. It also had a thriving silk industry and is Puccini’s birthplace.
I found one of the best gelaterias in town and delected on the home-made gelati of seasonal fruit.
Later…I have just had a delicious meal in a seafood restaurant with a to die-for starter of warm octopus & vegetables with a sauce thickened with potato, followed by tagliolini (flat pieces of pasta) with clams and artichokes, and a salad. Am replete! Now need another good night’s sleep..
By the way, be careful next time you are a pedestrian in Italy…
Over the last few days I have learnt to be very careful on pedestrian crossings which drivers seem to view as a nuisance. Three times at least cars have driven in front of me on a pedestrian crossing and once I was walking across with the green light when a woman came around a turn on a red light and nearly collected me…I was so incensed that I thought I’d hit the next car with my sticks but then thought I’d probably only damage my sticks which I needed…