Day 2: Stage 1: Pontassieve: 22 kms, cool 18°

Walking The Arno! 

I enjoyed a leisurely morning before starting as the stage wasn’t too long and I couldn’t have access to my room where I’m staying tonight until 14:00. Besides, when I woke up this morning, it was raining outside, and as usual, I was in no rush to start under those circumstances. After a light breakfast, I did eventually get out the door at about nine and walked across town towards the Arno river.

As I walked, I couldn’t help but reflect on other cities I’ve walked out of at the beginning of a long Camino: St John Pied de Port, France; Seville, Spain; Leon, Spain; Coimbra, Portugal; Le Puy en Velay, France; Tokushima, Japan; London/Canterbury, England; Palermo, Sicily; Montpelier, France; and now Florence, Italy is added to the list. Walking distance has taken me to some amazing cities and places! 

I passed in front of the Basilica where I’d received my first credential stamp yesterday morning. It was a good thing I took care of this yesterday, because the Basilica wasn’t open yet.
Soon afterwards, I reached the Arno. I was surprised to see that the river level seemed even higher than it had yesterday! Perhaps I was imagining things given I’m still fighting off jet lag, but I’m pretty sure it was higher today. 

Whatever the answer is, the river is flowing with a significant volume and moving very quickly. This has resulted from the heavy rains experienced these past days up in the mountains where I’m heading tomorrow.

As I walked, I kept a close eye out watching for the first trail marker. There were lots of other interesting stickers on the polls, but it took quite a while until I finally found my first sticker. This wasn’t it.!
But this was.

About halfway through the stage, I stopped to take my cycling vest off. It had sprinkled a little bit, but it was clear that there wasn’t going to be any major rain while I was on the trail. I also ate a huge apple that I had taken from breakfast. A very fine apple! 
From here I headed inland and began a modest climb out of the river valley. 

I came across this little cat and thought of my friends Ken and Costanza who both stop to admire, and if possible, pet each cat they see. 


One of the things that I love about walking in the spring are the multitudes of flowers that line the roads and trails. 
The poppies were in bloom all along the route today! They always remind me of other walks in France, Spain and Sicily. Bright dots of colour and often even fields of red to carry me along my way. 
And then it was time to head down and back towards the river. I was never very far away from the Arno all day. 

The trail again turned in land, and lead me up through some beautiful vineyards that no doubt were flowering a short time ago. What a change from last year, when I could simply reach out and taste the grapes as I passed by.🙂

I had my first experience with heavy mud as I walked through the vineyards. I don’t have any pictures, but I can assure you that it was gumbo-like mud that stuck to everything. The tips of my polls were soon covered in great balls of mud! It took me some time after crossing this field to get my boots relatively clean.
Simply stunning!

I thought this place looked a little out of character for the surroundings🤣 It was a little different to the cowboy bar on the Camino de Santiago, but both seem to be out of place.
A short time later, I arrived into town and stopped for a late lunch in a small bar and pastry shop, all under one roof! An interesting mix! The food was great, and I think I’ll stop there for breakfast on my way out. While today is rated as a somewhat easy stage, the opposite can be said for tomorrow’s stage. It’s only about 17 km long, but it’s the first real climbing stage in the mountains with almost 1200 m of vertical. That should definitely keep me busy! Hopefully I won’t find any rain up there, but I’m not too optimistic at this time. When I asked about tomorrow’s weather in the bar, there was a generally unanimous agreement that I could expect to find rain. I plan to call ahead to the ostello where I’ll stay tomorrow night. The operator there is very involved with the Cammino in this area, and he should be able to advise me about the state of the trail. 

I’ve struggled to stay awake while writing today’s post.😂 That darn jet lag has sapped my usual energy level a little. I’m hopeful that some sleep tonight on what feels like an extremely hard mattress will help me too push through it. I wish I could be a little more optimistic about this. I will report the outcome tomorrow! 

PS. I checked with my next host and he told me that the trail is open, the streams are high and the walking is good. Onward! 

Day 1: Florence, Italy; Some Rain, a little Sun 20°

Florence, Home Of The Renaissance!

I am sitting here in Florence, trying to figure out where a day went. I flew out of Victoria on Sunday afternoon and today is Tuesday, but I’ve only had one night in a bed.🤔 Of course, I remind myself, the first night was spent sleeping on a plane, well sort of.

Preparing to take off from Vancouver they made an announcement that there were seats with more legroom available at the front of the plane. My neighbour Tim from Portland, Oregon and I were having a nice chat when we were told that the seats were rented for $140. My new friend Tim being a rather large man said that he was tempted to move where there was more space, but that he was nicely settled in to his seat and $140 seemed a bit too much. I reminded him that with the exchange difference the seat would only cost him about US $100. Several passengers around us were discussing the seats when he suddenly decided that he was going to try to obtain one of the spacious seats. I suggested that he should head forward immediately in order to secure said seat. Tim did just that, and returned to tell me that he had been successful! Of course had my own agenda because I knew that if he moved forward then I would have two seats all to myself for the nine hour redeye to Zürich. Tim would’ve actually been a great guy to talk with, but the opportunity to scratch out a little sleep was just too good to pass up. 😇

It took quite a while to get out of Vancouver. The flight was initially delayed an hour, and then, just before takeoff we had to return to the airport because a passenger had become quite ill. There was a lengthy delay as they remove the passenger, and then of course they had to find and remove his luggage from the hold. By the time we were airborne I think we were about an hour and a half behind schedule. No fear, I had a 4 1/2 hour wait in Zürich to look forward to. Now that wait would be shorter and I would catch a quick meal and a little snooze in one of the nice airport lounges. That perk comes via one of my credit cards. Thanks for the idea Rob! We eventually took off from Zürich on time.
It was raining hard in Zürich, and frankly, I don’t remember the first 2/3 of the flight because I immediately fell asleep. I woke to bluer skies and great views of Italy!
Those mountains in the distance to the north are the Apennine Mountains that Costanza and I crossed together last September. That means that Lucca lies somewhere in the distance.
It all went quite smoothly as I quickly transited from the airport, found my little second-floor hotel and went out to find a simple, but filling meal in a small bistro. 

I must admit that it felt wonderful to be back in Italy. My limited Italian vocabulary came quickly back, and I found that as before people were quite receptive to my efforts. Everyone speaks English in Florence because most of the tourists speak English. Feeling quite jet lagged I went for a walk to have a look around. 

I woke this morning to the sound of rain. This was expected, but I had lots to do today, so I was up for breakfast after a well-deserved shower. With all that’s been going on at home these past months, I forgot to pack an electrical adapter, suitable for Europe. So after recharging my cellular plan (70G €20) I went back to the train station where I found a little shop that sold international adapters. Phew! I was pretty tired when I discovered this oversight last night, and jet lagged the problem appeared to be much larger than it actually was. Ain’t that always the case?

A working phone in hand and a newly purchased umbrella I set off on a walk to see the sights. I hadn’t been here since 2005 with our daughter Caitlin and before that 1981 with Annemarie. Last time I was here with a then 17 year old Caitlin (now a mother of 2), I spent most of my visit in a Renaissance hospital passing a kidney stone! Ouch!! But pass it did, though I didn’t have much time left to wander the streets of Florence. Having seen the majority of the special attractions here in 1981 I decided to mostly just walk today. Besides, the lines, correction, the very long lines were not at all attractive. The tourists have returned with a vengeance this year. 

The rain soon stopped falling, and stayed that way the rest of the morning.

I find there’s something quite magical about the Ponte Vecchio. It’s full of high-end gold and jewellery stores, but the bridge itself is a pleasure to view and experience. 

The experience brought back a flood of good memories which the presence of numerous large tour groups couldn’t dampen. There’s something I find kind of interesting about being a solo spectator as one wanders through all the happenings. Not being distracted I hear and observe more as I pass by. I pick up bits and pieces of conversations and I see small details in the architecture that I might otherwise miss.
Having more sites to see in business to attend to, I wandered along the Arno river in search of the Piazza di Saint Croce where are there is a church of the same name where I would obtain my first stamp in my credential. Always an exciting moment!

And there it is!
The church itself is quite striking inside, and contains the burial sites of many historically important people, including Michelangelo and Galileo. This is Galileo’s tomb.

And this is where Michelangelo’s been laid to rest
I really took my time walking through this church. There’s just so much to see, and so many interesting historical pieces.
I arrived here early, just after it opened. The many tour groups still gathered outside in the Piazza to be briefed on what this special church holds. As they began entering, I was able to stay more or less one step ahead as I’ve visited the Medici Chapel and wondered at the many beautiful works of art on the walls. As our daughter Erin the art historian always reminds me, in Italy, everywhere, and almost everything is a work of art! Here are just a few;

I continued on to the Piazza della Republica where I satisfied myself by looking at all the statues in the Square.

Yup, a teacher in the US was recently fired for allowing his students to see David. How totally misguided and ignorant is that?


I moved on. For Saiorse, Avery and Caira. I sent them a video! 

This is the Medici’s residence. 
Inside. I didn’t want to spend the exorbitant fee to see the actual home, so it must’ve been very interesting. Had AM been here I’m sure we would have gone through. 
I have noticed the Medici seal on many doors in Florence
Add this point I was starting to get a little sleepy from the jet lag. So I stopped to find a sandwich and Coke in a little café before heading back to my room. This blog just about finished, I need to get all my gear organized to start walking tomorrow. Today definitely felt like a little holiday, but tomorrow the main event gets started! Hopefully the rain holds off and I can enjoy a pleasant walk along the Arno River. Stay tuned!

Italy Ain't Done With Me Yet!!

La Via di Francesco aka The Way of St. Francis 

I've been doing a little reading about the history of the Way of St. Francis and it's good to appreciate that while pilgrims have been walking to Rome and Assisi for centuries, the Way of St. Francis is not a typical historical pilgrimage route such as the primary Camino de Santiago where pilgrims have been crossing northern Spain for over a thousand years. Rather it's a modern route cobbled together from a series of much older pilgrimage routes running between La Verna, Assisi and Rome with pilgrims having criss-crossed this land for centuries. This is well illustrated in the route map posted at the top of this page where multiple routes are identified. There are also other historical pilgrimage routes from distant places that cross the Way of St. Francis. These include the Via Romea Germanica which starts in northern Germany eventually crossing the Way of St. Francis at the Franciscan Sanctuary at La Verna before merging with the Via Francigena at Montefiascone where Rob and I stayed last year just 130 kms north of Rome. 

The central character of this route is of course St. Francis, a much loved figure well known for his interactions with nature. In 1979 Pope John Paul II renamed St. Francis as the Patron Saint of Ecology, and I think that it was when I read more about this part of his life that I finally committed myself to this route.  St. Francis's story goes back to the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a time of city-states where safety was often found behind the walls of hilltop towns and cities. Yup, once again I will be finishing many stages with steep climbs! I know that my buddy Rob really, really wishes that he was going to be there to share this with me.😂 Of course the rugged beauty of Umbria and the fact that Umbria is not as popular with tourists as is its neighbouring sister states Tuscany and Lazio definitely had a bearing on my decision.

Looking at the map above, I'll essentially be following the big thick red line, initially along the Via di Francesco in Toscana from Florence to La Verna. There I'll hopefully join a few other folks as this is the generally accepted "starting point" to walk the traditional northern pilgrimage route to Assisi which is the section that most people walk. As was the case last year when walking the North Downs Way and the Via Francigena, I won't necessarily confine myself to the official route. I plan to briefly leave the accepted path at Gubbio for a two day crossing to Perugia to see this beautiful historic city before walking a day eastward to Assisi where I will then start the southern part of the Way of St. Francis southward to Rome. I expect to take 4 extra days in the cities of Gubbio, Perugia, Assisi and later Spoleto where there is apparently much to be enjoyed, tasted and experienced. However, I get a little ahead of myself. There's loads of walking to be done first!

I'm just about ready to go. I just have to get all this gear into my 30 litre pack. As I'm in the mountains for much of this journey, I've worked diligently to reduce the weight of my pack to as light as I've ever managed, 11.5 lbs (5.2 kg) before food and water. This is a full 4 lbs lighter than I walked with last year on the Via Francigena. I'm not getting any younger! 😇 With food and water my pack could weigh as much as 16.5-17 lbs (7 kg).

I fly off to Florence tomorrow afternoon (May 14th) arriving late Monday night. I plan to spend one quick day in Florence and then follow the trail eastwards.

Oddly after walking some 10,000+ kilometres through 10 different countries, I still get a little bit anxious in the last couple of days before beginning. I know from experience that this is a normal part of my process, and that this feeling will simply evaporate with my first steps. 

I can't wait to have my first morning tea with a couple of cornetti! "Due cornetti al cioccolato e crema pasticcera per favore!" Molto bene!!😊

If you are interested in leaving a comment at the end of my posts (and I hope you are) please don't forget to leave your first name or initials to help me to identify you. Thanks for your support! And yes Louise, NOW I'm getting excited!!!

Buon viaggio! Buon Camino!

Geoff