Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the Day: Walking in Rhythm — The Blackbyrds

“Walking in rhythm, moving in sound / humming to the music, tryna move on / I’m walking in rhythm, singing my song / Thinking bout my baby, trying to get home…It’s been so long since I’ve seen her / I’m tired and so all alone / I’ve travelled so very far / I’ve got to get back home”

A nice and easy walking song for a nice and easy day of walking, in the end…

The 6:30 alarm this morning was painful, and I groaned as I went to turn on the light and begin packing. Nathan was still out cold — a combination of jet lag and yesterday’s longer-than-expected stage, presumably — so I let him sleep in a bit as I quietly started my day. Eventually, with much protest, he was out of bed as well and beginning to pack up.

We left the convent at around 7:20. The sun was already up and the historical center of Pontremoli was still waking up. We stopped for coffees in a cafe in the main piazza and watched as vendors set up for the morning market, listening to the bells toll out 7:30am. Finishing out breakfast, our thoughts immediately turned to lunch, and we hit up one of the vendors for prosciutto, salami, pecorino, and cheese to carry with us for a picnic later. Then, we set off.

A few blocks of charming streets in the centro storico, then over a bridge and soon onto the main highway that traverses this valley, and which prevents us from taking the much shorter, direct route to Aulla. Thankfully we were quickly diverted off into a charming historical suburb of Pontremoli, and then sent back across the road through a field. Finally done with highway walking for the day, we then meandered our way through backyard gardens and olive groves.

Soon we found ourselves in the medieval borgo of Ponticello, with its lovely frescoed church (another classic case of the light-filled interior contrasting completely with the austere stone exterior) and well-preserved stone homes. We stopped for a few photos and to admire the village before continuing on our way, through more small farms and backyards. We cut across the highway again and meandered along a bike trail through a horse farm, where we stopped at length to say hi to an adorable litter of kittens.

Up till this point we had made relatively good pace, but here we started to slow down. Nathan was dealing with pain…well, everywhere, but primarily in his feet, which was impacting his ability to walk with a normal stride. I promised him a long break and a coffee in the next town, and we continued on across the highway to a stone church. We stopped here for awhile to admire it — it is a famous example of Romanesque architecture in the region, and the stone interior is very much in harmony with the exterior. Behind it were a series of grassy mounds. I wondered aloud if they were jumps for the mountain bike course and was corrected by Nathan — they were Bronze era graves. Oops.

We continued on past a small train station. Above us sat a charming down, clinging to the mountainside. I realized it before Nathan did, but as we started to climb on a steep switchbacked road it finally hit him that the promised coffee stop was 150 meters or so above us. Still, we made it to the similarly charming center of Filatierra, where we promptly collapsed into outdoor chairs at the only open bar. After a cappuccino each and some emergency chocolate, we were revived and able to continue on. Making our way through another very well-preserved medieval center, we passed a stone making the distance to Rome: only 553 km! Child’s play.

Then, quickly down a steep hill and into woods for a bit. We passed a few signs for a “Castagnabike” (chestnut bike) route, which reminded me of the “Tartufo Trail run” signs on the way into Cassio. All morning we had been smelling smoke — Nathan asked if it was a wildfire, but I said most likely someone burning something. I had walked by all sorts of rural fires in the last few weeks. We soon found our answer: a very old woman was tending to a large, smoking pile of leaves. We stopped to watch for a moment and she explained that she needed to do this to keep her driveway clean. With a confused nod we continued on into a lovely forested section (albeit with some somewhat painful up-and-downs). I promised Nathan we were almost at the next town, which was….sort of accurate.

As we crossed a small stream, hopping over a series of stones, Nathan (who had been very stoic up to this point) started to make it clear he was in pain. I suggested we go have a long sit for lunch and decide if we wanted to continue or take the train the rest of the way, as we were near the mid-point train station. He agreed, and we continued alongside a field with the loud sound of blasting Italian pop hovering in the air.

We finally discovered the source of the noise (sorry, music): a bike race, presumably the Castagnabike, was happening nearby. With no bikes in sight, Nathan and I triumphantly strode across the finish line and away from the chaos. A few blocks away we ducked under an archway and into the lovely, peaceful borgo of Filetto, a quiet medieval town. We perched on a bench in a piazza to polish off the snacks we had purchased this morning. Nathan was groaning and clutching his legs every time he moved, and I suggested that we might consider taking the train. He pondered it further, before trying to stand up once more and deciding that yep, train it was. Now that we were in no rush, we decided to have a second lunch course at the restaurant across the square.

Lunch was delicious — the restaurant was serving a fall menu featuring mushrooms and chestnuts. Wanting to try the local specialties, we split a mushroom risotto, testaroli al pesto, a glass each of local red wine made from autochthonous grapes, and a chestnut crème brûlée. All of it was delicious, but the creme brûlée was the most memorable.

We got to the train station, bought tickets, and after a coffee break were on the quick ride to Aulla. Our B&B was called “Bed & Bike.” We realized why as we arrived and saw it was the top floor of a bike shop. I was very grateful for the B&B rather than the pilgrim accomodations today — the place was clean and newly renovated, with air conditioning, and had the nicest bathroom I have seen all trip. I relished this with a hot shower, and we hung out for a few hours before heading into town. The downside of this Airbnb is that it’s a 20 minute walk into town (more if a member of your party is limping) along busy roads with no sidewalk. But, we made it with no incident. Nathan ended up buying a pair of Birkenstocks in addition to the planned purchase of pain cream, and we sat at a gelateria for an aperitivo. Afterwards, we found a restaurant with availability for dinner. Unfortunately the menu was limited, so Nathan ended up ordering a carbonara (I refused, as I’m waiting till I get to Lazio) and I got the amatriciana. Both were decent (though not fully accurate representations of the Roman pastas). We failed, despite my extended efforts, to find a taxi to bring us back to the B&B, as Nathan’s led pain was starting to get worse. So, slowly, we made our way back to the B&B and to bed.

Final mileage: 12.31 mi
Walking time: 4h 6m
Elevation gain: 798 ft

Accommodation: Bed & Bike. Very nice rooms, but adds a bit of time to the walk into down (and the next day’s walk into Sarzana) compared to the pilgrim hostel which is right in town.