Day 13: Eremo San Pieto to Valfabbrica

 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 intervene. They watched as he met with the wolf and saw the wolf raise one paw as if to shake on a deal. St. Francis came back to the villagers and told them that the wolf had agreed to leave the people alone if they would feed him. So every day for the next two years, the wolf went to a different house and received food. When he died, the wolf was buried under a church foundation. In later years, the area was excavated and a wolf skeleton discovered. We passed by this statue commemorating the legend:

More up and down today in a large horseshoe shape around a lake/reservoir. Probably 3 miles as the crow flies, but 14 miles on the road.

As always, the last mile or two were the worst, but we finally arrived in the town of Valfabbrica and our hotel, Camare Villa Verde. After a rest, we met Pia, Pieta, Alberto, and another pilgrim from Denmark, Tony, for a delicious pasta dinner. Having our Italian friend, Alberto, translating the menu for us was very helpful. We shared our favorite experience from our caminos. Everyone who had stayed at San Pieto last night agreed that was the highlight of the trip, but we all had another experience to share. Right now the journey is a blur of places and sights and food and people that I will have to think about more carefully in the weeks ahead.