Day 24 - Pontremoli to Aulla - Wednesday July 8, 2015

We went to bed around 11pm last night, and even though it was very hot, we both slept very well. The B&B I Choisi was well out of town and very quiet.

We had decided last night to take the train to Aulla. We are both pretty worn out from the terrain since Fornovo (actually Fidenza but that was a day off) and although we could arrange to shave any amount, say 10km, off today’s 33.5km, we decided a day of recovery was in order. It was 36 degrees today, it would have been another brutal day of ascending and descending, making this a really good decision.

We slept in to 7:30am, and when we got up I announced that I thought we should get a ride with the baggage transfer. The benefit of that is that we would end up at our hotel, rather than a) trying to figure out where it was without the route notes (not that they have proved to be much help so far) or the gps; b) having to walk there from the train station; and, c) getting there with our luggage (this was going to be the washing all our clothes at a laundromat day).

I waited until after 8am to call the B&B lady, because I knew she was busy with her baby until then. She didn’t really talk English but I got across the request to get a ride with the baggage transfer, and asked if she wanted us to have breakfast there now that 8:30 was ok. She wanted us to go to the bar because she hadn’t prepared to serve us breakfast, and we agreed to get a ride with the baggage taxi at 10am.

We set off to the bar and there was a market set up in the Piazza Duomo and Piazza Republicca.

 This was a bit of a blessing. Here comes a raunchy part of the blog, but it’s been so hot that after about an hour on the Way your undergarments and soaked causing discomfort and a rash. At the market I was able to buy some very minimal undergarments. This intrigued the sales person, because I was probably way outside the age range of the target market for this stuff. Looking forward to seeing how this work tomorrow, Kristine would be proud of me!

The via Francigena sort of twisted around the SS62 today, so we pretty much followed the route in the cab. We kept seeing via Francigena signs crisscrossing the highway. The major historical attraction today was the Castle Castello di Terrarossa, which we saw as we drove by. It was at km31 so I’m pretty sure we would have been too exhausted by then to do more than just walk by it.

It took the cab 30 minutes to get here, so it would have been very far to walk.

The hotel Demy we are staying in today is a gorgeous hotel. Marble staircases, very grand, and a beautiful patio outside the room with tables and gazebos. 

The room has air conditioning, even though it wasn’t mentioned, and it works! Should be a great sleep tonight.

We went to the laundromat and washed everything. So we have a nice fresh start!

We got groceries, tomorrow it says there is no food along the way, so we are going to be prepared for that.

This town was totally destroyed by bombing in WWII, so everything is quite fresh and new. We walked to the Abbazia di San Caprasio church for the church stamp. Recent renovations have brought back to life interesting remains from the bombing. The lady that gave us the stamp also gave us a card with the pilgrim prayer of San Caprisio, the guardian saint of pilgrim’s for this area. There is a hostel there, and the lady asked if we wanted a space, but we said we were staying at Hotel Demy (the Ritz in comparison). We then saw the pilgrim we met yesterday sitting in the museum. He looked totally exhausted, in spite of the fact that he said he had made a mistake in the route which saved him 10km today! We were looking pretty fresh and relaxed and he asked when we had arrived. We told him we had taken the day off and got a ride here. I tried to justify this by telling him all our rooms were booked for 49 days, and we needed to take a break once in a while. He is going to Sarzana tomorrow, where we are going, and we hope to see him there again.

He was staying at the hostel and the lady asked if we would like to see it, which we did. It was very clean and nice, with a kitchen for the pilgrims. Our friend was the first pilgrim to arrive (and possibly the last) today. There were two bathrooms, and we thought that if the hostel was full (like on the Camino), that would be a challenge!

We thought about his reason for doing this, to learn about his country, and decided there must be more to it than that, it is just too hard for that!

We got a new package from Macs today for week 5 and 6. I can’t believe we have completed 4 weeks already!

I am really starting to enjoy this. Russell said he just finds it too hard, too hot, and too frustrating getting lost all the time and not being able to find our accommodation. He is also getting discouraged by all the run down churches the locals can’t afford to maintain now that people don’t believe any more!

He said all my complaining is getting him down, but I pointed out that my complaining has all been nothing but physical complaints. It is very hard. Much more physically demanding than the Camino ever was. Of course, we did the Camino in September, not during a July heat wave in Europe. But it is very satisfying that we can actually do it (within defined limits).

Well, there is nothing that can break my enthusiasm now. The country is beautiful, the few pilgrims we have met uplifting, and we are in the final stretch to Rome.

I thought we had entered Tuscany a few days ago, but we are in Lunigiana. Aulla was one of the most important stops on the Francigena marking the passage from Northern Italy to Tuscany. Tomorrow we will be able to see the Mediterranean. That will be a treat.