slept a little bit more hours last night.. got my gear together. Left the key on a hook downstairs and checked out, which of the four possible places in town, was open for coffee.. the tourist buro was still closed so I could not get bearings for getting to next destination.
I went to the same place I had dinner, it was women servers in the morning. For some reason the main lady pulled attitude, which I made worse by ordering a non traditional coffee drink.. I was also put out by her snobbishness and let her know.. had coffee..could not see anything savory for breakfast ..just sweet cakes.. and I cant eat sugar first thing... After that kind of ickiness, I went into the church just to settle and set my motivation and clear my head for the day ahead... then out I went looking for a friendlier place to get something in my stomach and water for the walk... a new place had opened I went in and was about to order when this man spoke to his wife with a german accent refering to me as a Piligrino... I smiled. He asked me where I was from and I asked him in turn.. he was from Austria. We got to talking. He had walked from the french start of the pilgrimage to santiago in one month. He told me he regretted doing it so fast and would do it different if he did it again. He also told me that he was surprised at how many americans he met who were doing it. He had no answer for that nor did I. Every time I had mentioned the pilgrimage to my american friends no one knew what I was talking about. He also said that he met people who were doing it for all sorts of reasons. Some just for the sport some for spiritual reasons. He met totally atheists who did it. But he said, his eyes watering, “No one who does the walk, is not transformed by the experience-regardless of why they started”... my eyes welled up too, upon hearing this..part of me half joking in my head...'you mean the blisters will be worth it?' He told me 'perhaps you can already sense some of this?!” as I got teary, I nodded.... seriously, I was very moved by what he said. I think I needed to hear and I needed to hear it that day... it really gave me renewed resolve. He took a picture of me to show his friend who he wants to cox to the the Franciscan walk that I was in part on right now.. we wished each other well ..
I went into the Albergo to get my barrings since tourist office still not open.. then out onto the road.. I descended the town slowly since my feet still dont like the down hills... I connected with a dirt road and clear signage. I believe I was taking the slightly longer way to my next destination but it was more peaceful since it will be on walking trails and minor roads for the most part. There was even pilgrim route signs here. I was doing fine for the first 40 min but then the signs confused me since the main sign pointed in direction I was dubious of, I followed... I realized again around 20 min in I was approaching a highway, this was wrong.. so back again.. as I came back to the fork, I saw the tiny sign I had missed before for the 'my' pilgrimage route.. .that was the only miss-turn that day, fortunately...
I notice I dont see as much life stock as I would expect..considering that I see plenty of dairy and meat at eating establishments. I ve seen mostly sheep but today a few pigs... the route was flat... and one side was farm the other side was a hill covered in still fallow trees... I stopped at a tiny village called Abbadia Isola, it was part of the Franciscan pilgrimage walk there was a cute sign in italian and english describing all the types of people one would meet on the road in the days of old...including farmers and of course pilgrims.. took a little photo for the narrative.
I had another coffee and gave in and had a fruit tart...then across the street to inside the old town to pay my respects at the little church. It looked like much of the town was sealed off from wanderers and renovation was taking place... then I hit the road again... as the day progressed I still took breaks about hourly ..the small dirt road turned into a two lane road which eventually turned into a local highway... traffic was not as horrendous and seemed a little more gentle than the Sienna area... I still dont have stamina to go as long as what I would like... as I approached Colle di Val d'Elsa, I was yet again seduced by the allure of an ancient town, I knew I would spend the night there. Via the main road I had only gone 11kms but since I took the long way I think it was more like 14kms... I got a room in a slightly old hotel.. the bright auburn haired woman running the place... gave me a discount from her own account.. I dumped my stuff in my room... rested for maybe an hour then headed out again to explore the old town. The town was split in two..the lower half had giant piazza and also was a bit more modern or so it the seems... it had a nice grand church as well. Apparently this region specializes in crystal wears judging from the shops. .. I had gotten instructions on how to get to the higher up village.. one takes an elevator! I dont know how many stories but thought that it was a rather posh addition... the old town was as promised slightly less touristy then some places I've been... also if you arrive during the long lunch break things are shut down and quiet which helps that feel of un-touristy. It's a long narrow town.. it housed maybe two plus churches on top and two maybe three museums. I could only get into one of the churches dark and cool... and I decided to not do the museum. Not thinking I was in the right mood to appreciate. I had some pizza and sat outside enjoying the ambiance... found a pharmacy too and new dr scholl foot inserts.. yey...
then back down to the lower part of town.. I spend a lot of time in the hotel lobby, the only place where the wifi reached ...updating blogs and posting sillyness on facebook. Outside was a spectacular pour down of rain..., I hoped I did not have to walk in something like that the next day... I tried the restaurant bellow the hotel but I was not getting service at all, it was late so I gave up, I think I hit it totally at the wrong time, they were too busy..... so I went to a near by pizzaria and grabbed slices to go.. I picked ones covered in veggies. Since I feel I am eating mostly bread and cheese here. Then back to my room..bushed... I notice that this town is a bit more ethnically diverse than some of the other towns.. I think once a town has a population above a certain number and also has more modern sections then it seems towns get greater population of immigrants. Also, and I am not sure how scientific this finding is... the women seem a little bit more self possessed here, a little tougher, friendly but also sure of themselves... not hiding behind the over-feminized ditsy facade i've run across among the younger women.
Oh and on the news of course, the icelandic volcano, spewing what sounds like mostly invisible ash that is grounding planes in most of northern europe and making alternative travel by train or bus very frustrating.. I think my parents are still in germany, wonder if they will be able to leave? Funny how unaffected I feel by all this...because of the walking thing... it's nice not to stress about things like that.
also saw some news blur about young people who will 'run' across Tunisian dessert with heavy looking backpacks in ten or so days covering 50 to 60 kms a day...boy do i feel like a light weight compared to that.
No comments:
Post a Comment