We have 20km today, and it’s going to be 26 degrees. We haven’t had any rain since Day 3.
We walked at a moving speed of 5km an hour for a total
distance of 21.4km 4 hours and 15 minutes. In total elapsed time it took us 5
hours and 18 minutes. Comparatively little uphill climb, just 568 meters. We
passed by five lakes and walked along the Morainic landscape that surrounds the
town of Ivrea (glacial dump). Passing by numerous churches and endless
vineyards.
At about 8km, we stopped for a coffee and met a pilgrim from
Ireland. He was one of the two pilgrims that had passed us yesterday when we
were having the gelato. We walked with
him to Piverone, at km 16, where he was going to stay at a hostel. He said he
had 5 weeks holiday, and had started the via Francigena at the San Gran
Bernardo Pass. He has done numerous pilgrimages, including the Camino three
times. He said he was thinking of
leaving and going to Spain soon and doing the Camino again for the rest of his
vacation. We have not met many pilgrims on the via Francigena, and neither has
he, and I think he misses the comraderie. We all commented on how difficult the
via Francigena was, both in terms of figuring out where to go and the climbing. Our Lightfoot cultural guide had said the
Camino was a great pilgrimage to start with, whereas the via Francigena was
‘hard core’. We are beginning to understand what that meant! Although, for the
last few days the trail has been very well sign posted!
It turns out he is an addictions counsellor, with a
background that allows him to understand a lot about the affliction! We had a
very interesting conversation along the way, and hope to see him again
tomorrow.
He had an excellent guide which he says he got at an
information center in Italy on the via Francigena, put out by the same people
we got our t-shirts etc. from.
Definitely hope we are able to find one. We are going to tell Macs about
it and suggest they include it with their packs.
We were walking on asphalt a lot today, and my bursitis was
really bad. We have now walked 8 days in a row. I think I would benefit greatly
from a day off.
When we got to our hotel today the outside door was locked,
so we went back up to a bar we had passed where a lot of people were sitting.
They said the bar was closed, but everyone had drinks! We explained our predicament and one fellow
tried calling the hotel. Another fellow asked if we wanted a drink, which was
very welcome. After about an hour we asked what time they thought the hotel
would open, and they seemed to think it wouldn’t. We showed them our voucher
and one fellow led us down to a restaurant /pizzeria and we discovered there
was an open door on a different side of the hotel! Live and learn! We were
thrown off a bit because when we got to our hotel yesterday at 4pm the lady
said we were just lucky she was there, because she doesn’t usually get there
until 5. She then asked if Macs had told us what to do if there was no one
there when we arrived, and we said ‘no’. She said she had given them detailed
instructions and they should have passed them on. She also said a lot of hotels
in Italy might be closed in the afternoon. We are learning.
The hotel is right on the boardwalk of the biggest of the 5
lakes. It has a pool but we don’t have bathing suits. This place is probably
swarming with people in the summer. Dinner was excellent, a salad, grilled
vegetables and a wonderful steak. Too much food! We ate at the restaurant
across the boardwalk, but breakfast is in the hotel. We could have wandered around the boardwalk,
but my feet are too sore!
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