Day 48: Stage 38: Aulla, 34 km, sun, 26°

Of Medieval Villages & Aulla, Where Are UUUU?

Last night we stayed in a very simple accommodation in a monastery. The beds were pretty uncomfortable, but at €15 the price was right. There was no meal service, so this morning early we headed back into town and straight to the bar for a nice breakfast of croissants and tea. 

We enjoyed staying in our medieval town, but it was time to go and we headed briskly down the highway. We had a long distance to cover, and it was supposed to be a beautiful walk today.

These are the Toscana Alps which Costanza was telling me about yesterday. They are surprisingly sharp edged mountains and very high. I wasn’t expecting to see something like this in the Apennine mountains.

My buddy Rob likes these sort of shots, so this is for you Rob!

I was on a mission today. My granddaughter Saoirse told me yesterday in her own special way that she wanted to see more videos of horses. Fortunately, I was able to deliver! As a matter of fact, I have about eight videos that I’ll ration out to her over the next couple of days. I might not see horses again for a little while, and I know how much she enjoys them. 

The first portion of the walk was actually really enjoyable as we wound through the valley bottom discovering all sorts of farm animals. It was really pleasant walking.

Aside from the animals, the joy of the day was wandering through a series of mediaeval towns. The locals had dressed up their towns and made a real effort to make them both beautiful and entertaining to the pilgrims passing through.





The stuffed figurines through town reminded me of when Annemarie and I had a similar experience walking the 88 Temples walk in Japan. There was a town that had similar displays all over the village and they engaged the Henro in a meaningful way. Lots of fun!

The voice you hear in the background is my trail friend who loves all things to do with dogs, cats and trees. We learned this about her when crossing Sicily, but I must admit that I forgotten just how engaged she becomes. When she saw all the kittens there was no holding her back! As we walk Costanza regularly stops to talk with the dogs and the cats. I’ve learned to keep moving otherwise the walking day easily could go from 7 to 14 hours! 

This was a remarkable church from the 12th century and is a great example of Romanesque architecture.

I think I posted a few pictures of the inside of the church, and the outside in my daily video at the bottom of this post.

For easy reference this is the back of the church.

Then we were into another small mediaeval town. There’s no point in listing the names of all these towns, but I have reference to them in my walking guide and notes.

And yes, Costanza did stop to visit with this grand tree! 

At one point we passed a small tractor that was pulling a full load of grapes that are just been harvested. I hoped that he would stop and let us sample, but he kept on going. We soon arrived at the source of the grapes where we found two women harvesting by hand. Wonderful to watch this timeless fall tradition. 

Again today, there were lots of ups and downs on the route. The ups and downs were not as significant as the previous two days had been, but they kept us on our toes for sure! There was some beautiful trails today with spectacular lighting effects in the trees.

And then we arrived at the next mediaeval village! They just kept coming all day long. Poor us!😂



We had planned to take a break for a snack and refreshment in this town, but our information source was incorrect and on a Tuesday none of the towns we passed through had a bar open. So with the exception of a short rest in the town square it became the third consecutive day of through walking. As a matter of fact, it occurred to me that we have walked approximately 100 km through pretty rugged terrain in the last three days. I understand that tomorrow is only a 17 km stage and we get to ‘enjoy’ two solid climbs during the first half of the stage with continuous downhill through the second half. Oh joy. I wonder how long our knees will hold up?

Most of these towns were established in the 6th C., just in case you were wondering. 

At the top of one of the climbs we bumped into this fellow and a couple of husky dogs.

And then, you guessed it, another mediaeval village. We didn’t actually walk into this village, but it has the classical construction style of a defence oriented village. High on a hill with huge defensive walls which are made up of the village buildings. I’ll be seeing more of these as I walk further south into Tuscana.



This is looking back as we continue with our climb. I never tire of these views!



And about the 27 km point we started wondering where Aulla was. We even started calling out the towns name hoping for some sort of a reply. Didn’t happen. The descent started after the final climb and as the temperature rose, we started to slowly tire. 



Closer and closer to the alps.

After what seemed like forever we finally made it to the edge of town and began the long trudge into the centre core. We found a grocery store and picked up a few vital items then experienced difficulties connecting with our host via phone. We finally managed to reach her and she picked us up to take us out to her Agroturismo. Thankfully we didn’t have to hike an additional 3 km uphill and out of town. Accommodation tonight is head and shoulders above last night. She’s bringing in a friend to make us our dinner which will be great, and will provide us with our breakfast tomorrow morning before I assume dropping us back onto the Via Francigena.

A great day today, and I think we are both looking forward to comfy beds and a little space. We are having lots of fun together and are establishing a nice walking rhythm where we are talking much of the time, but also finding time to walk a little apart, particularly late in the stage when I typically put my head down and kick on to the barn. After all, one of us needs some personal time with the dogs, the cats and the trees!