I’m sitting here in my apartment in Bologna sipping on a glass of Chianti Classico from the Tuscany area north of Sienna (I’ll arrive there in 2 weeks) and munching on some potato chips feeling very satisfied with my good fortune. The table is littered with my gear and I have the quiet pleasure of knowing that I don’t have to pack it all up again tonight in preparation to walk in the morning. I really am on vacation!
There is a washing machine in this apartment, but when I pushed various buttons nothing happened. This isn’t unusual for me or apparently others I’ve met. So I let everything soak in the kitchen sink and after rinsing I hung it all out on my deck to dry. It’s very warm, still over 30° at 6:30 pm. So I expect my clothes will dry very quickly.
This one bedroom apartment might be the sort of thing that an Italian couple or individual might live in. I really don’t have a feel for this sort of thing of course, but it seems a reasonable guess. What I do know is that I will be quite comfortable for the next two nights, before moving onto another apartment in Parma. The apartments in the cities are fairly expensive, so I bought food to cook tonight for dinner, and for breakfast tomorrow. This will help to reduce the overall expense. Besides, it’s nice to hang out in your own place in the evenings instead of going to a restaurant by yourself. It feels a little like being at home.
At my hotel this morning I was surprised to find a pretty nice breakfast laid out. I had two hard-boiled eggs, a little ham, some yoghurt and a chocolate croissant. You’d think I was already on vacation!
I had to walk through town to the other side before I found the trail.
I gave the sun an ‘A’ for effort this morning as it tried to burn off the cloud. It didn’t have a lot of luck as it was cloudy most of the day. However, it was still very warm. The heat isn’t bothering me very much now as I’m fully acclimatized. There’s been a lot of hot days on this walk and it’s quite amazing how the body adapts to it.
I found myself a little bit off course early this morning not far out of town. I looked at my maps and figured out a way across the farmers field where there was supposed to be a trail. However, said trail wasn’t there having been ploughed into the ground. So I followed a narrow string of trees across the heavily plowed field and back onto the route. About 10 minutes later I spied in the distance another pilgrim who I initially thought was Stefan. The closer I got though, the less the figure looked like a man, and in fact it was my ‘old’ friend Kelly who I hadn’t seen since we had dinner together in Etrouble. It was lovely to reconnect and we decided to walk together for the stage. She has been coming and going from the VF having taken a side trip to Genoa and she jumped a few sections of the flat Po valley as well.
I gave the sun an ‘A’ for effort this morning as it tried to burn off the cloud. It didn’t have a lot of luck as it was cloudy most of the day. However, it was still very warm. The heat isn’t bothering me very much now as I’m fully acclimatized. There’s been a lot of hot days on this walk and it’s quite amazing how the body adapts to it.
I found myself a little bit off course early this morning not far out of town. I looked at my maps and figured out a way across the farmers field where there was supposed to be a trail. However, said trail wasn’t there having been ploughed into the ground. So I followed a narrow string of trees across the heavily plowed field and back onto the route. About 10 minutes later I spied in the distance another pilgrim who I initially thought was Stefan. The closer I got though, the less the figure looked like a man, and in fact it was my ‘old’ friend Kelly who I hadn’t seen since we had dinner together in Etrouble. It was lovely to reconnect and we decided to walk together for the stage. She has been coming and going from the VF having taken a side trip to Genoa and she jumped a few sections of the flat Po valley as well.
I’m always a bit surprised how paths can cross and cross again on the Camino. One of the walking community joys. Word of others not seen can flow up and down the Camino, and this is happening here on a daily basis. There are very few of us walking this area, yet somehow we are all accounted for every few days. I will be sorry to loose touch with several folks in the coming days, but I believe this is temporary.
Dinner Intermission! It’s been a long day and I’m getting to the blog later than usual. I need to make an omelet and then I’ll continue.
Dinner Intermission! It’s been a long day and I’m getting to the blog later than usual. I need to make an omelet and then I’ll continue.
We walked on to the church at the Abbey of Chiaravalle della Colombia, founded in 1136. It was sacked and burned a few times early on, and most of the building dates from the 15th C.
The best part is the 13th C cloisters which remained intact.
A real treat.
We walked on.
The distance to Rome matches my guidebook. Still a little ways to go, and I’m in no particular rush with expectations to reach there in just over 4 weeks.
It was nice having a friend with me as we are able to share photo ops with each other.
A bathroom search helped us to find this unexpected gem.
From there we walked to the train station in Fidenza where we basically said, “thanks for the nice day and hope to see you again”. One just never knows where paths will cross again.
I lucked out as within 10 minutes of arriving I found myself on a train bound for Bologna. I presented my credential at the ticket window because pilgrims get a 10% train price reduction if they have a credential. The fellow behind the glass window was excited to see my credential and asked me if I wanted a stamp for it. I was delighted to see that the stamp was a Via Francigena friendly stamp!
For the next hour I enjoyed the train ride to Bologna where, after a few WhatsApp challenges, I was finally able to get into my apartment. A really nice day here in Italy.
Unfortunately, it was not quite as nice a day at home as we learned this morning (our time) that our brother-in-law Leo experienced a severe stroke and was emergency airlifted to Vancouver. He’s in stable condition with obviously a long road ahead. Our thoughts are with Leo, Lia and their whole family at this time. Fortunately there is family in Vancouver who are pitching in to help during this particularly critical time. Fingers crossed.
I’m happy you can keep going despite the bad news. Ken
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken. It’s a very difficult situation for everyone. Annemarie will be there tomorrow and our daughter and extended family are already there. There would be little I could do to assist with so many capable people there. I’ll continue and wait for hopefully positive updates.
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