The Way of St. Francis, ITALY

 September 14, 2022 10 miles 1700 feet of elevation gain I awoke with mixed feelings this morning. Sorry to be ending our camino, the beautiful views, wonderful people, mindless routine of walking, eating, sleeping. But also glad to be ending, glad to have accomplished this and glad to be able to rest a little. We met Alberto in the town bar for a quick coffee and croissant and we were on our way. We talked politics a little, and I got the feeling that Alberto didn’t think too highly of America. Not just trump, but America’s place in the world and its influence on other countries. It was interesting to hear a perspective from a European. Assisi can be seen from quite a distance away and as we got closer, we saw there was a very steep climb into the city. It’s always disorienting to come into a new city, but today felt especially so because it was full of tourists which felt a little claustrophobic after the small towns and wild forests we’ve been walking through. We had booked a ho...

 September 13, 2022 14 miles 2400 feet of elevation gain Luigi had breakfast ready by 7:00 this morning so we could all get an early start. Of course, he wanted to say a prayer for us in the chapel before we left, but no more feet washing. We walked away knowing we had experienced something very special there. We started walking in the wrong direction because we were busy talking with Alberto, who was walking with us. We ended up walking the entire distance with him and later Pieta, talking about politics, our country’s customs, our families and life stories, and our experiences and feelings about this camino. Since today is our next to last day walking, it was a nice wrap-up of the adventure. In the area we walked through today, there were large animal prints that looked like a wolf. There is a legend that during the Middle Ages  there was a village that was being tormented by a wolf. The wolf was attacking and killing humans. So the villagers called on St. Francis to interve...

 September 12, 2022 10.3 miles 1150 feet of gain We let ourselves out the back door of the vacant hotel and started on our way. Quickly, we met up with two Italian men, Alberto, who made the reservation for our lodging tonight and his friend, Mikela, both from northern Italy. Then we came upon Pia and another woman from Germany, Pieta. It was one of the most beautiful days of hiking, maybe because it felt so short compared to the past two days of 18 miles, and I could relax and enjoy it. We arrived at our lodging, a convent called Eremo San Pietro in Vigneto, in the middle of the countryside. The only people here were our pilgrim friends and another Italian couple (her name is Roberta, Birds!), so we all went into the sleeping room and chose a bunk. Showered, laundry and then suddenly a man, Luigi, drove up with food for lunch: two different pastas, rice, eggs, olives, cheese, ham, cake, wine and beer. Like manna from heaven. So we sat for a few hours eating and talking. A couple f...

 September 11, 2022 17 miles 2300 feet of elevation gain Early morning departure today since we were anticipating another long day. On the way out of town we stopped in a bar for a coffee and croissant. Pia came in with 3 other pilgrims we hadn’t met yet. We started talking about how we had no place to stay tomorrow night and if we had to walk to the nearest town with accommodations it would be 20 miles. One of the pilgrims, an Italian man named Alberto said that he was staying in a convent about halfway. He reached for his phone and said he would give us the number to reserve beds, but when I looked over, he was already calling the convent. Pia asked him to reserve her a bed too and he ended up reserving beds for all of us. So all of our lodging for the trip is now taken care of except our last two nights in Rome. We thought the day would be somewhat easier than yesterday, but it turned out to be almost the same distance. Most of it was through that beautiful Italian countryside t...

 September 10, 2022 18.3 miles 2700 feet of elevation gain We left Hotel Umbria early in the morning because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. We walked 1.5 miles just to get out of town and then another 4 miles along a road before hitting the turnoff for the trail. As we walked, the Australians went by in a cab, skipping the 5.5 miles on the road. We met up with Pia and walked with her for a few miles, but she’s 19 years old, with long legs so she soon took off and was quickly far ahead of us. There were some hills to climb, but the hardest thing about today’s walk was the distance. It was just really long. Even Enrique’s feet hurt and he doesn’t usually have problems with them. Pietralunga is built on the top of a hill, as are most towns here.  After walking 18 miles, the greatest injustice was that we had to climb a huge amount of stairs to get into town. I wish I had counted them, but I had no idea there would be so many. We found our lodging, B&B Gaigo, and after...

 September 9, 2022 9.5 miles 1500 feet of elevation gain Our walk began in Florence in the Tuscany region, following  the Arno River Valley and into the Apennine Mountains. Now we have left Tuscany and entered the region of Umbria, following the Tiber River. The landscape has also changed dramatically. At the beginning of our walk we went through vineyards and olive groves and then into rugged mountains that had few towns or villages along the way. Now we are seeing agricultural valleys and more towns. It seems more civilized now. Yesterday we walked 5 km past the end of that day’s itinerary which shortened today’s walk by 5 km. Because the walk was shorter, we could sleep in and have breakfast at 8:00 at our albergo. Patricia, the owner, doted on us since we were the only ones staying other than a woman who was not a pilgrim. Patricia is an excellent cook and spoiled us with dinner and a huge breakfast this morning. She even lent me a pair of slippers to wear during my stay b...

 September 8, 2022 11 miles 1500 feet of elevation gain The day started with an unusually large breakfast. We had to say goodbye to Inken and I was sad knowing we would not see her again. She has become a good trail friend. Our plans are to finish our walk in Assisi and go to the Amalfi Coast for a few days of relaxation. We have an Airbnb booked for September 16th, and since we want to spend a full day in Assisi sightseeing, we have to arrive there on the 14th. Since there are 15 days of hiking to get there, we had to skip one day somewhere and decided that would be today. It will put us a day ahead of the people  we have gotten to know on the trail. After breakfast we walked down the street to the bus stop. When the bus came, we got on and Enrique started to hand money to the driver, but he said (in Italian) that we had to buy a ticket before getting on the bus and he pointed down a street. He said he would wait five minutes for Enrique to go and get the ticket. Enrique...

 September 7, 2022 10 miles  1000 feet of elevation gain After our tough day yesterday, today felt like a walk in the park. Ten easy miles, most of it a gradual downhill with some forest and some open vistas. We arrived in Santo Stefano and found a good-sized town, staying in Hotel Santo Stefano. It’s a modern hotel without the charm of the medieval buildings we’ve been staying in, but the bathroom is big and modern (although the shower is still tiny. All showers in Europe seem to be small.) We walked to the city center and found people furiously working on setting up for a festival tonight. So after dinner we walked downtown. As we stood on the bank of the Tiber River (very small here near its origin), talking in English with some other pilgrims, a local woman overheard us and started talking to us in English. She got her MA in England and worked as a translator, so we lucked out and were able to get the history behind the festival. On September 8th, in the 1500s, there was s...

 September 6, 2022 12.6 miles 3,700 feet of elevation gain The namesake of this camino is St. Frances of Assisi, a patron saint of Italy who believed in caring for the Earth and all of its creatures. The Camino goes through many places that were important in his life. One of the most important places was La Verna, which was our destination today. La Verna is considered the most spiritual place in Italy, not a town, but just a huge monastery built into a rock cliff. In La Verna, in 1214, St. Francis got sharp, nail-like wounds on his hands, feet and sides called stigmata, like Jesus Christ. He told only his closest friends about them, but when he died witnesses said they saw the marks. As we walked today, I couldn’t help but think that surely St. Francis could have found an easier way get to La Verna. We had three extremely steep climbs and two equally brutal descents. A few miles into the hike, Enrique pointed to the highest point on this mountain range and said that was our destin...

 September 5, 2022 5.5 miles 1700 feet of elevation gain There is a psychological pattern appearing on our walks. Miles 1 and 2, I’m feeling elated, strong and enjoying the fresh morning air. Miles 3 and 4, I’m feeling less elated, but still joyful. Miles 5 and 6, we’re usually around the halfway mark, and it’s starting to feel like I have done some serious miles. Around mile 6 or 7, we usually stop for a much needed rest and a snack. At this point, I put in my earbuds and start listening to an audiobook. It’s a treat to myself for making it this far and helps to distract me. Miles 8 and 9, my legs are heavy and the pack is heavier. By mile 10, I’m silently cursing and wondering what the hell I’m doing in the middle of Italy. The last mile is total will power, as I strain my eyes for a glimpse of our destination. In Spain, we could see the towns off in the distance with their church steeples, but here, we’re practically in town before we even see it. So today was totally different....

 September 4, 2022 11 miles 2500 ft of gain My first thought every morning when I wake up is, “Ugh, I can’t do this again.” But once I’m up, it’s fine and I’m ready to go. So we headed out on a beautiful morning, uphill, of course. There was dense forest, but also open vistas. A bit of every landscape. Five miles in, we came upon our German friend, Inken, trying to tape her feet because she has blisters, so we stopped to help her. She is cutting her walk short today to rest her feet and we will see her at our next stop tomorrow. Our walks are through very rural Italian countryside. There are no towns in between our nightly spots, and the “towns” we stop in for the night are quite small. Today’s stop in Camaldoli is in a town with a monastery from the Middle Ages, our albergo, Lacanda dei Baroni, a restaurant and two cafes. But the place is packed with people visiting on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe because it’s in the middle of a national forest?  Our albergo was built in 1040, a...