Pontremoli!

My nights lodging at the Church and Convent of the Cappuchins is sufficient. A bit minimalist with no heat and no breakfast coffee. Still, the kindness is appreciated and the price is right!

As I walk down the corridor to the restroom, I meet an Italian who already shouldered his pack and is heading for the stairwell to exit. He’s been hiking for weeks. He figures that he can make Rome if he keeps pushing himself. I slowly stuff my pack and head out the door. Across the bridge and in the town I find a small café with outdoor tables. I plop down. As I’m drinking my coffee, two older women power-walk toward me. We greet each other. “Looks like the Via Francigena goes this way” one exclaims. And their off. Like the Italian, they’ve miles to go before they stop tonight I’m sure.

I finally heave my backpack onto my shoulders. About a mile or two outside of Pontremoli, another tall, long-legged woman catches up with me. Maria is in her late-30’s, a German who has lived in Norway for almost 20 years. I learn that she is a church organist; her father is a Lutheran pastor in Germany. She is so likable. Maybe my curiosity about Scandinavian ways of living; maybe her self-demeaning manner “I’m no great organist even though I have a degree in music”; maybe because she loves how “music brings people together.” When she visits her father in Germany, she’ll tell him “Dad, more music. Too many words.” Starting in Lausanne, she loves the rhythm of walking. After meeting a local farmer, who insisted that we know that he is a socialist, we stop and eat lunch together at a church. Finishing lunch, we separate. Maria says “I’ve reserved a room in Aulla tonight. A lot of miles before I reach Aulla.” I’m staying in the town of Filetto,” It turns out that Aulla is another 8-9 miles beyond Filetto.

In Filetto, I meet my last new pilgrims for the day, Anne and Neil. We bump into each other as we stroll around little Filetto trying to find a restaurant. One restaurant is open, the pizzeria. How many pizzas will I have over the next month? Retirees from Australia, they are walking all the way from Besancon in France to Rome. Walking the Alps was a “bear.” A few days ago, they got caught in a torrential downpour. Since both still have a bad cold, they are taking a train to Sarzana to have a rest day. As two pilgrims who have walked for over a month, their advice is “take one day at a time!”

I wonder what the fellow pilgrims would be like. The six pilgrims I meet on this first day are a varied bunch! An Italian feeling rushed; two Swedish power-walkers; a delightful younger church musician Norwegian transplanted from Norway; and two retired Australians who allow me to join them for a wonderful review of their past thirty days of walking. These other pilgrims are each distinctive. On the basis of our encounters, I certainly look forward to meeting and conversing with other pilgrims.

I did see a couple eyeing me. But, they were not as talkative as my fellow pilgrims.