Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the Day: Mess is Mine — Vance Joy

This is a song with a special connection to this area for me. After I graduated college I spent some time traveling on my own in Italy, and came to Viterbo for a week. I ended up befriending my Airbnb host, Alberto, who was only a few years older than me and who had a friend in town. I was planning to take the bus to visit Civita di Bagnoregio, but the two of them offered to drive me instead.

So, the three of us piled into Alberto’s Cinquecento and set off. His radio didn’t work anymore, so his friend Valentino played music from a bluetooth speaker in the backseat. As we flew through the Lazio countryside in the direction of Montefiascone, this song played. I still vividly associate this song with the feeling of the wind in my hair, fields dotted with bales of hay whizzing past. It was a period of such joy and opportunity in my life — done with college, about to start my first job, with a summer of complete freedom ahead of me. So, it’s only fitting to use this song on the day I returned, in a similar period of transition in my life more than 5 years later.

“See you in the marketplace / Walking round at 8am / Got two hours before my flight / Luck be on my side, tonight…”

I had big plans to watch the sunrise this morning from the viewpoint at the top of Montefiascone on my way out of town. So I was up early again, dressing in the dark and whispering a quick goodbye to Giovanni and Sergio. I stopped for a coffee and cornetto in a bar and ran into the two Italian men I had seen before Bolsena. They are from Piemonte, and are named Franco and Luca. We got to chatting and ended up walking together up the hill to the top of the city. I paused for awhile to admire the “view” which, in reality, was almost completely obscured in a cloud. Not letting that stop me, I snapped some photos with the pilgrim monument there before continuing on, where I quickly caught up with them.

We chatted for awhile about my VF experience, about the Camino de Santiago, and about life in general. They are only walking the Radicofani-Viterbo section and then will head home, but were interested to hear more about the other parts of the VF in Italy.

I continued on ahead of them and soon came to what was a highlight of the walking part of the day: a few miles where the Via Francigena trail overlaps with the ancient Via Cassia. I’ve walked on other Roman roads on this journey, but somehow this time it felt different, more exciting. The Via Cassia was paved in wide, flat, dark stones that, even 2000 years later, were relatively level and made for easy walking. I could only imagine how it must have felt for a Roman soldier walking from England to arrive here, knowing they were only a few days from the capital. Or, conversely, Archbishop Sigeric, who almost certainly would have walked (or ridden a horse, or whatever) along this section of road. At that time the road would have been about 1000 years old — so he would be looking back on its creation with the same distance that I now look back on his journey.

It was a beautiful autumn day as the clouds began to clear. The sun rose, peeking through the olive trees that lined the trail. Puffy cotton ball clouds ambled across the horizon, and a nice breeze kept me from overheating. I ambled along, enjoying the morning and the truly perfect walking weather.

Around 10, my hips were starting to ache as I hadn’t stopped at all. Around this time my mind began to wander to what lay beyond Rome for me: going back to the states, visiting friends and family, moving to France — oh right, moving to France! Frantically I pulled up my email and remembered that I need to start my French visa applications process, and get a few other things in motion ahead of the start of business school in January. Fueled by adrenaline, I spent the next 20 minutes or so walking head down, shooting out a few emails and otherwise trying to get myself set up so I could get what I needed done in Viterbo this afternoon. Once I was satisfied that I was in a decent spot, I tried once again to focus on the walk itself.

The last hills were basically behind me by now, and I was crossing flat fields in the direction of Viterbo. An Italian military Chinook helicopter buzzed overhead, the noise rebounding off Mount Cimino which sat in the distance. And as I passed the small Viterbo airport, I heard a noise behind me and watched a Learjet, flying low, prepare for landing.

After about an hour in the fields, my legs were really aching, and I was starting to worry once again about my blistered heel. But I also was very hungry and low on food, so decided to push on till civilization so I could get a snack. This ended up being a bit longer than expected as much of the next hour was navigating through the industrial outskirts of Viterbo, where there was (thankfully) a sidewalk, but no bars to be seen. I ended up stopping at a sort of fancy supermarket run by a local farm to pick up a bar of chocolate to tide me over.

At a certain point, I had the distinct realization that I knew where I was. Those who know me well know that my memory works best for places and geography, so I recognized the busy street leading to the large Porta Fiorentina. Yes, there was the road leading to a cafe I went to for breakfast, next to a bookstore where I had purchased an Italian copy of The Sun Also Rises that I never read. I followed the VF through a Piazza that had last hosted a market when I had seen it last, then down a hill and back up to Piazza del Plebescito. I saw with satisfaction that the Piadineria I had eaten at was still here, and went to see my favorite spot in town — the terrace of the Palazzo dei Priori. Then I sat for a coffe in Piazza Plebescito to wait for my hotel’s check in to open.

After checking in and my normal chores — I could even hang my clothes out to dry on the line because my room had a terrace(!) — I headed out in search of lunch. At a trattoria nearby in the centro storico I sat down to a plate of lombrichelli alla Viterbese. To be honest, I couldn’t really figure out how this was different from an Amatriciana, but all the same it was tasty.

After lunch I ran into Domenico, who was doing a rapid lap of the city to make sure he saw everything. As he continued on I meandered into the main piazza in front of the Palazzo dei Papi, the palace that once served as the seat of the papacy. Viterbo shares this honor with only two other cities: Rome and Avignon. As I started to walk towards the ticket office, I ran into Jeremy and Ruth, so stopped to talk to them for a bit. Ken had unfortunately been called back to Canada for work, so their group was down to 4, with only Ian deciding to make the walk from Montefiascone. Jeremy and Joanna had also decided to cut their pilgrimage a bit short and were planning to leave tomorrow morning for the Amalfi Coast.

Jeremy went to go meet Joanna inside the Cathedral and Ruth and I chatted a bit longer. Soon Franco and Luca arrived and came over to say hi, and then I looked up and saw Sergio limping into the piazza. I called out to him, and he also came to chat. As we stood for a while talking about the days walk, we looked up to see Marisa, also limping, headed towards us! Sergio and I jogged over to give her a hug. I stood back for a moment taking in the scene — how crazy to run into so many people I know in a city where I don’t live. The idea of a fluid, transitory, “pilgrim community” with the people walking around you is a very interesting aspect of the trail.

As the pilgrims dispersed from the piazza, I headed into the Palazzo dei Papi museum. I took a quick spin through the art museum and Cathedral, and then visited the Palazzo itself. This is where Popes would come to visit and which ultimately was the seat of the papacy. Famously, in the 13th century, the cardinals came together here to elect a new pope. However, the deliberations dragged on for years — meanwhile, the Viterbese were providing food and wine while they debated. Tired of having their resources drained by the cardinals, the Viterbese took the roof off off the palace (“to better let in the Holy Spirit,” allegedly), and limited rations to bread and water. Even so, it took over a year for the carnivals to finally agree on the man who would become Pope Gregory the 10th. The palazzo has a letter written by the cardinals, imploring the Viterbese to let one of their own out as he was sick — promising that they could still select a pope without him. With 700 years of distance, it’s quite a funny missive.

After this nice dose of history it was back to the hotel to do some administrative stuff for my French visa. As it started to get dark I made my way back to the main medieval quarter to meet up with Marisa for a aperitivo. As we ordered two large beers, I got a message from Alberto (I had written to let him know I was in town). He agreed to join us, and Sergio came for drinks as well. So, the four of us sat chatting about Alberto’s last 5 years, about the VF, and about life. Alberto and Sergio joked about the ways they have been slighted when it comes to the preparation of Italian food — recounting some tales of being offended by French and American university students cooking pasta with (shudder) ketchup. “How could you do that to me, in front of my face, when you know I am Italian??”

We then headed to dinner at an osteria nearby, where Alberto — who knows everyone in town — was allowed to give us a tour of the tunnels under the restaurant which were once part of a network of 12th century tunnels connecting the whole town underground. Very cool — the benefits of a a local guide!

After a lovely dinner (I ordered a truffle pasta, but the whole table sampled Alberto’s soup of chickpeas and chestnuts) I said warm goodbyes to Marisa and Alberto, and headed back to the hotel. It was a lovely evening, and a good way to cap an altogether lovely day in a city that I really enjoy.

Final mileage: 11.19 mi
Walking time: 4h 7m
Elevation gain: 735 ft

Accommodation: Nazareth Residence, a B&B that is somehow religiously affiliated. A good price for a nice room with a terrace and — crucially — a very solid breakfast included in the price.