I woke up to rain, I had been warned by some german news channel the night before. It looked pretty bad. I also had some more internet minutes to use up...so it took more than the usual while to leave my room... I am more or less doing a little bit of hand washed laundry per night... it takes a bloody three days for socks to dry...i thought 'smart wool' would be smarter than that...Breakfast I talked to my friend again. I asked him about the maze on the walls outside the main duomo, he went and looked it up for me. Apparently there was reference to the cretian maze and how only one person was ever successful at finding their way out of the maze. But no explanation why a prechristian pagan maze was on a mideaval church. He tried to help me find a walking path more foot friendly but did not know he referred me to the tourist info on my way out of town. He agreed that there was no road in italy really good for walking. I had told him about the walk to Lucca and how the beginning had been so aweful. He immediately sighted Pisa again, saying that the surrounding areas around Pisa were really bad. I laughed again. He said 'no no... I do like pisa, well I do like the tower, but the areas around pisa not good and the further I would get from pisa the better. He wished me luck on my journey and asked that when I return home to my family and friends I would tell them the important difference between Lucca and Pisa and how Pisa's tower is not strong... I assured him I had mentioned it on face book and would document it in my blog. We both laughed, and I was on my way. He had been so helpful explaining history and sights so much it was a surprise that he thought he was not good in history, his favorite period in history was the last two hundred years, WW1 and WW2 because they did so much to shape the way italy is today. As per instructions I walked along the wall till I found the tourist info, there the people were also not of much help they did not have any walking maps. I had checked the book stores the day before and had no luck there. They also had no info on the 'franciscan pilgrimage walk' either. I was told also that the signs for that path were infrequent which has been my experience. I have found out that the official franciscan pilgrimage walk starts in Canterbury and ends in Rome, i've been walking parts of it on and off in reverse for a while. They did try and get me to more arterial roads and armed me with a slightly more detailed regional map. Though I suspect that the scale is off. I left town and reached the river which was suppose to walk along for an hour and half I did so, I did walk on the other side from what had been suggested but it was a non-car road meant for bicyles mostly, judging from the sinage. This always makes me happy...It was pleasant but also raining. I worried about my shoes soaking through, if I stepped in one puddle too many.... but over all they held up till the end of the day. The rain had been a drizzel it, eventually would get worse. Having walked on the other side of what had been recommended to me, I overshot one of the branch off roads. But I could still hook up with my desired goal on another road. I asked a pharmacist and she let me know once I moved northwards from the river I was on the right road. Again I struggeled with narrow roads and oncomming traffic. I stopped at a cafe for a little bit of refuge, rain was picking up. Then onwards again. I saw signs for turn offs and asked someone.. he made it seem I had to stay on the main road. This turned out to be wrong. some car stopped and two people were saying things in italian to me, i was not sure of the motive, then i realized they were encouring me on as a Pilgrim, i smiled and waved at them..I was walking again along a minor highway and as time went on, I realized I would not be meeting up with my chosen town, unless I went out of my way... since my general route was now towards the coast and north, I was not going in the wrong direction but this was the first time that I was off the mark from the premapped path i'd been following since I started the walk. I was again winding first up a hill and six kms later back down... tight zigzag turns down, i could not believe how tight they design turns here..
at a modanna shrine obviously known for it's power of fertility(judging from all the left behind birth announcment markers) a couple tried to offer me a ride, I declined politly the woman was really surprised. I am not really thinking when I say no and I really did not take any vows perventing me from taking rides. But I think I am just in this singel minded space where it is just easier to keep it pure and walk from place to place.. easier mentally not neccesarly on my feet. The hill felt almost jungel-like, I think it was mostly the rain, but everything seemed so lush... also moving more towards summer and the coast... I stopped at another cafe..this seemed like the local 'men's club' ..the place was full of mostly old men playing cards and being boisterous with each other. Only the woman behind the counter and I were female bodied. I kind of enjoyed it. I had a sandwich and a creamy hot chocolate, to recover a bit from the constant rain....short while later, some old italian man on the side of the road, was yelling about rain in german at me and kinda let me know that i was crazy for walking in it... after that I started looking for accommodations. I had to walk another hour, I wound up in Massarosa and found a place. The lady who was running the place was young and fashionable, she seemed grumpy but was quite chatty as well. She'd been to Miami and NY quite a few times. Today was suppose to be the birthday celebrations with her friends but it was raining meaning the places they would be going would be crowded since everyone would be indoors. She seemed bummed about that. I walked to the nearby superstore and enjoyed my shopping experience, bought food but also things that seem to be overpriced at pharmacies, like skin lotion and deodorant. Even got some liner socks to hopefully help reduce blisters...went back to my room had a picnic and watched italian dubbed american shows... still not learning the language through osmosis, apparently it requires a bit more effort than that.
No comments:
Post a Comment