Lucca
From Camaiore to Lucca Luca is located on a low plain below the foothills of the Apuan Alps, so the walk from Camaiore is a process of dropping out of the hills onto the plain, which means that the landscape becomes less dramatic – still beautiful, but less dramatic. In the village of Valpromaro, I […]
Aulla/Sarzana/Massa/Camaiore – 73km
As I was leaving Aulla, I bumped into Viktor, a pilgrim from France who spoke English, but the trail immediately headed up a steep hill, and it was clear that his pace was was well in excess of mine, so I let him carry on ahead of me. Curiously, I did see him that evening […]
Pontremoli to Filetto and on to Aulla
The trail from Pontremoli to Filetto had a disproportionate amount of road walking, and it was a pretty hot day, so my photos from that stretch are limited. The heat may have gotten to me by early afternoon, but I did believe that an evil forest spirit might be emerging from this tree stump. Filetto […]
Berceto to Pontremoli
The walk from Berceto to Pontremoli may have been both my most challenging day on the Via Francigena and my favorite day. It started at 5:00 a.m. walking into the mountains by headlamp, and it ended at 5:00 p.m. when I checked into a castle for the night in Pontremoli. The 12 hours in between […]
Into the Apennines: From Felegara to Berceto
I haven’t posted since last Wednesday, July 15, because I learned that cell service and WiFi in the Apennines are both very spotty to non-existent. I also learned: 1) The Apennines are real mountains, 2) Ostellos (hostels) can be wonderful places to stay, but they don’t always have WiFi, and 3) Medieval stone buildings weren’t […]
Trudging Across the Po Valley from Piacenza to Felegara (≈90km)
Day 1: Piacenza to Roveleto I couldn’t find a room or even a bed on the Via Francigena between Piacenza and the next official stop, so I had to take a room off the VF in Roveleto, which required a long slog on Sunday morning on a busy highway. The good news was that there […]
From Pavia to Piacenza (with stops in Belgioioso and Orio Litta)
I didn’t leave Pavia until 8:15 a.m. on Thursday because my walk to Belgioioso (way too many vowels!) was officially only 16.2km, although it ended up being over 22km by the time I arrived at my room for the night. The route was flat and uninspiring since the first five or six kilometers were just […]
Pavia, One of the Most Historic Cities on the Via Francigena
Pavia’s history is so incredibly rich that I hesitate to describe any of it, but a few things stood out for me. St. Augustine The remains of St. Augustine, who died in 430, are housed in an elaborately carved marble ark at the 14th-century Basilica of San Pietro in Pavia. They were brought to the […]
From Mortara to Pavia with a stop in Garlasco
Mortara Mortara was a hard town for me to love for several reasons: I did see a sticker applied on top of a Via Francigena marker that made me smile, even if it was a bit crude. The Po Valley’s endless rice and corn fields have their own beauty, but they are harder to capture […]
Vercelli to Mortara
A little more Notte Bianca I wandered through the streets of Vercelli for a while Saturday night after Notte Bianca started to become a real party, so here are some photos and videos from the event. The last thing I expected to see was a wrestling match in the main plaza, but it was campy […]