Day 55: Lucca - Altopascio, mixed & windy, 20°

Even A ‘Spontaneous’ Adventure Needs A Little Planning!

And that’s what today was all about, that and getting  back to Altopascio. 

I promised myself that I’d get out for dinner last night, so I headed across to the arena where the ancient Roman gladiator fights have today been replaced by some epic restaurant struggles for the modern day tourist’s shekels! 

Using the rating system on Google Maps I selected a restaurant that was rated 4.8/5. I must say, some of the restaurants were rated very poorly, but nonetheless most seemed to be attracting patrons. Based on the food I received, I give full marks to Google Maps!

A musician complete with flashing lights and speakers set up shop in the centre of the arena piazza (beside the ‘peanut’ Ken) and sang popular English songs from Gordon Lightfoot all the way to Pink Floyd. He was actually pretty good and made an otherwise solo experience a bit more enjoyable. Thanks for that! Also my server was intent on helping me with my Italian. He said most people make little effort beyond saying Grazie. I guess he appreciated my stumbling efforts. I explained that they might have been better if I hadn’t walked so far today. As it was I was just happy to get the basic words out! Costanza, I did try!

This morning as usual at my hotel in Lucca I couldn’t get breakfast until 8:30. So I packed up the majority of my gear. I have no idea how it got so spread out? I then headed out in search of a stamp (timbro) for my credential. I’d read that one could be had at a museum church I’d previously visited. 

I was first in line ahead of numerous tour groups when it opened at 10:00. The young lady dug out the stamp and let me affix the seal. As you can see I’m well on my way down the back side of the credential. I have 36 spaces left to be used during the final 17 stages and 2 rest days in Siena. The trick is to make it into Vatican City with just a couple of spaces left for THAT final trimbro! It’s important towards the end to be on top of things like this😂 My credential is looking more pilgrimage-like the closer to Roma I walk. Pretty special. We pilgrims live for our next timbro!

The reception told me that as a pilgrim I could get in to the church for free, so in I went! So quiet and beautiful for the 10 minutes I had it to myself. A nice moment. 

Of course I’d seen all the special wall art and religious relics before, so like a small child I was easily distracted. Look, nice colours!

I know that Annemarie will confirm the pleasure I get from photographing the colours cast by the sun light transmitted through and slightly distorted by the stain-glass windows. I probably have enough photographs from various churches throughout Europe to put on an exhibition somewhere. But who would come?

I then went in search of a small bar on the fringes of old town where I could get a cold drink and sort through some planning issues for the coming week.

I was trying to find a little place where the tourists wouldn’t be present in numbers. It was about 11:30 when I found a little place that I thought met my needs, and I ordered an iced tea. I then pulled out my walking guide, the second volume of a two volume set that I’ve been carrying at the expense of many calories  all the way from England. 

Using the route guide and a couple of mapping apps that I refer to I sorted out three different options to get from Monteriggioni to Siena. You might recall that my accommodation in the former was cancelled without explanation. What I figured out is that there’s a road side bus stop by the autostrada that’s a possibility. The other two options involve walking further to two different towns both off the VF where I can pick up a train. The easier option would be the bus, and I figure that if the bus isn’t running when I stop and check the schedule at the roadside stand then I can walk along a small trail a further 3 km north to the train station in Castellina Scalo. 

I also sorted out a couple of variants that I’ve been thinking about for quite some time. After confirming all my accommodations I looked around and saw that the outside tables had all filled up with a German tour. It was lunch time! I knew that I wouldn’t get any food until almost 8 pm so I ordered a really nice salad. I’m not getting enough green leafy food types these days, so this was perfect. Smoked salmon, sun dried tomatoes and buffalo cheese on top of rocket lettuce with olive oil and pepper! 

Having already sorted out the train schedule to Altopascio I passed under the city walls on my way to the train station. 

I knew I was cutting it tight when I went to the ticket machine. As a matter of fact the machine warned me that I only had three minutes until train departure, and asked if I wanted to continue. I impatiently said yes, and let the machine go slowly through its process. Ticket in hand and validated I headed as fast as I could to the departure screens and then onwards to platform 5. Basically I jumped on the train and it pulled out, direction Florence. I only pulled off this great escape because yesterday when I was in Altopascio I saw the Florence train stop there three times during the 90 minutes I waited. Using my less than adequate Italian I asked two women if this train was going to my destination. One of them with a full on American accent responded she would check her phone app. Haha! Seems she and her girlfriend who are from Michigan were on a two week trip of a lifetime to Italy. That made me again think about just how fortunate I am to be on my own travel for almost 3 months. So fortunate. 

We all decided that I was in fact on the correct train, and I sat back as they told me about their various Italian travel experiences. Good for them to travel independently! 

Freed from the train I walked into town in search of my little hotel. It’s not really a hotel it’s more like a couple of rooms above a bar/spaghetti restaurant. I’ll be going there tonight and I’ll let you know how that goes. I’m due for a nice plate of spaghetti!

That’s my place at the foot of the tower and just to the right of the big arch.

This is the front of the bar, and when I went inside to inquire about my room I noticed that every table was occupied by a local and they all were eating what looked to be fabulous spaghetti dishes. I can’t wait until 7:30!

Where I stayed in Lucca was ok, expensive enough but didn’t have any windows to the outside. Not my preferred type of accommodation. This little place is just perfect and I have my own bathroom just outside my door to the left. I’ll be staying in a special ostello a couple of nights from now, and while I have stayed in many albergues, ostellos and gites this is generally my preferred type of accommodation. Simple, inexpensive and clean. No one snoring too! Well perhaps except me on occasion, but that doesn’t bother me 😂

Tomorrow the stage is supposed to be quite beautiful. I’m now entering the Toscana countryside complete with hill towns at the end of each stage. If the rain holds off this 28 km stage promises to be memorable. Apparently there are even better stages ahead between here and Siena. 

I need to wrap this up now and go to a little grocery store to find some bananas and other supplies for my walk tomorrow. And then an hour from now it’ll be spaghetti time!

And that’s how a quiet planning day typically goes.