Walk Like An Italiana

June - July 2022
Hiking The Way of St. Francis from Florence to Rome, Italy…
  • 12footprints
  • 1countries
  • 14days
  • 192photos
  • 0videos
  • 273miles
  • Day 1

    Departure & Arrival

    June 20, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    And, we are off!

    After over 24 hours of traveling, we arrived in Florence. We decided to get out of a long line for taxis and walked ourselves to the train. Google maps was wrong (what’s new?), but we found our way to The B & B Hotel Eden (they may have oversold their name a tad bit with the “Eden” and “Breakfast” parts of the title).

    Bonus! There was no charge for the added security system!!!
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  • Day 3

    Florence

    June 22, 2022 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 82 °F

    We decided to stay 2 nights in Florence to allow our body clocks to catch up to the 9 hour time difference. And, why not get a few more steps in before we start our 350 mile hike? We took a walking tour of this historic Tuscan city and learned much about the Medici family and their role in the history of Florence and the Renaissance period.

    By the way, David seemed happy to see us.
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  • Day 3

    Well, Ciao Pilgrim!

    June 22, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 91 °F

    After our walking tour in Florence (“Firenze” to us now), we felt we needed to do some more training for our hike, so we set out to discover a few historical landmarks. We found the Ponte Vecchio (which translates to “Old Bridge”), built in 1345 to cross the Arno River and is one of many engineering achievements in Florence from the Middle Ages. People still live in apartments on that bridge!

    We became a bit turned around and lost for an hour or so, but finally found the Basilica of Santa Croce, sometimes called, “the Mausoleum of Italy.” There were so many people dying to get in, that we felt lucky enough to skip the line and walk our Credenziale del Pellegrino (Pilgrim Credential/Passport for The Way of Saint Frances) up for our very first pilgrim stamp. We didn’t feel a thing… and only 35 more to go!

    We even fit in a little tour of Dante’s childhood home. And, that place was no joke! It was hell to get there. (That’s divine comedy, people!)

    After paying our respects at the tombs of Galileo Galilei, Machiavelli and Michelangelo, we left the cathedral ready to carbo-load today and hike tomorrow.

    p.s. If anyone reading this post is worried about our mapping skills (Travis, Jen R, our families, the citizens of Italy…), don’t worry! We are too.
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  • Day 5

    On to Pontassieve

    June 24, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    We arrived in Pontassieve today! This beautiful little town has been around since the Middle Ages, but unfortunately almost every structure from that time period was bombed by Allied forces in World War II.

    What remains, or has been built since, is so gorgeous. Even the cappuccino is bellissima
    (see the hiker in there?)!

    We made our way up the hill to stay at Toscani da sempre (“Always Tuscan”) where the chef, Stefano, kept food and drink on everyone’s table except ours, since we have to be up early and didn’t join the many people downstairs who apparently don’t know about curfews, whispering, or even how to close a door quietly (until 2am!!!).

    A few of these pictures capture the Arno River, as it flows through Pontassieve to Florence, and offers a little bit for everyone.

    Tomorrow’s stage of the hike is rated, “hard” with an ascent over 3k feet, only one spot to stop for “provisions” (don’t we sound rugged?!), and a reminder that this part of the hike is best left to “experienced” hikers.

    Let’s ask that well-timed question again, “What could possibly go wrong?”
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  • Day 6

    Small Steps

    June 25, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    “Small steps in the right direction are better than big steps in the wrong one.”
    ~Every Hiker Out Here (Actually, just us)

    Whoever said that has pretty much summed up our last 72 hours (each of our phones has not had cellular service because of issues with international data).

    Instead of telling you the whole story, because who has time for that? We decided, instead, to just put together this “Bottom 6 List That Actually Became The Top 6 Things” about this journey so far:

    6. Spent hours ascending a “hard” route on this trek, only to realize we were off track by MANY steps (both small and large with an etch-a-sketch recording of this attached!).

    As a result, we met the most lovely Italiana who kindly chatted with us and pointed us in the correct (and opposite than we were going) direction.

    5. Our solar chargers stopped working and we had no way to charge our quickly-depleting phones to guide us through to the next point. And it was getting late in the day.

    As a result, we had to hang out at a “bar” to wait for a bus to take us down the last stretch of the walk. While waiting, we met several citizens of Diacetto and enjoyed gelato with them.

    4. Italy has a great public transportation system. And we weren’t afraid to use it (that’s a lie, we were terrified and had no choice). The bus we took runs through this valley of little villages all over “the island.” While enjoying the Tuscan views around us, we didn’t notice that we should have changed buses at a stop.

    As a result, we arrived safely, hours later, in the quaint and locals-filled piazza of Consuma ready to walk to our B & B.

    3. Unfortunately, the B&B was farther from the piazza than we realized. There were no more buses running and no taxis in this little town.

    As a result, we met a shopkeeper, his 2 customers and a high school student wanting to practice her English skills, who not only helped us figure out where to go, but drove us there as well. Who knew talking to strangers could be a good thing?!

    2. Our phones were now dead. Once dropped off, we were in front of a legit Tuscan villa and knocked on the door (with the keys still in the lock), rang the doorbell, and could hear a phone ringing in the background. No one was home. This was beginning to feel like an episode of Dateline. Finally, a neighbor, probably wanting the pounding noises to stop, got the owner who had left because he thought we weren’t showing up.

    As a result, the owner gave us a tour of his gorgeous estate, checked us into a lovely room, and then left some snacks out for us, knowing we were hungry.

    1. The owner then told us he was leaving for the night and that we would be there all alone. Forget Dateline, this was now moving toward a Stephen King finale. We went to our room, put the mace next to our beds, and propped our trekking poles against the door handle. When the owner showed up a few hours later, we probably frightened him as much as he scared us. Spoiler alert: we survived.

    As a result, we woke up the next morning to an amazing breakfast outdoors with another view of the Tuscan countryside. Unfortunately, we realized too late that we had on very similar outfits. Awkward.

    Whatever could go wrong, did go wrong almost every step of the way. And, as a result, it was another great day in Italy…
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  • Day 7

    It’s All Our Falterona

    June 26, 2022 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    “Ognuno e’ alla ricera
    un po’ di pone
    un po’ di ajjetta
    e di sentirsi a casa
    da qualche parte.”

    “Everyone is looking for some affection and to feel at home.”
    ~Sign found at the Parish of San Pietro

    After leaving our vacant Italian villa alive, we walked towards the town of Stia Pratevecchio. On our way, we visited the Castello di Romena, where Dante was inspired to write about the 9 circles of hell after he observed the interior of the Prison Tower during his stay at the castle in the mid-1200s.

    From there, we took a long road down and stumbled (probably literally, if you know us) upon the Parish Church of San Pietro, home to the Fraternita di Romena. a retreat center. As you can see from the pictures, we were welcomed in by several kind and funny women who showed us around, told us about the history of the church dating back to 1152, showed us the hidden spots in the Romanesque architecture, made us laugh with their halting English and our nearly non-existent Italian and then fed us the best (gluten-free) lunch. We were very much made to feel “at home.”

    After another few hours of walking, we arrived safely at the Hotel Falterona, named after the mountain that the Arno River, the one we’ve walked with, flows from.

    This seemed to be just about the perfect day… until it wasn’t. Since we took our time visiting and walking, we subsequently missed getting food to eat for the next day (p.s. there are no markets open late and most close early, or aren’t open at all, on Sunday). The crackers, candy, and protein bars would have to do. Once we got settled into the room, the AC and refrigerator decided to quit. In a fit of overheated problem-solving brilliance, one of us pulled a business card out of an electrical-looking thing on the wall (thinking that must be the issue because what would a local restaurant’s business card be doing in a wall socket?!!) annnnnnnd, then the power in the room went out. Our multi-tasking skills were on full display as we were also on the phone with AT&T trying to fix more cellular issues.

    Through no FAULT of our own, our day in Stia at the Hotel FALTerona (see what we did there?!) ended up being a pretty good one.

    Resilience, grit, growth mindset… whatever you call it - those are the real muscles we used again today.

    Ciao for now!
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  • Day 8

    Speaking of Fault…

    June 27, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    We aren’t here to blame anyone, but it might feel better if we could.

    Today we arrived in Camadoli. As we walked into the front desk of our hotel, Borgo I Tre Baroni (The Hotel of the 3 Barons, or in this case, brothers who run this with their wives), something didn’t feel right. There was a full bar to our left, and a lovely dining room with a full library to our right. This place felt a bit fancier than anywhere we’d stayed yet (including the villa). When we asked Martha, the hotel’s co-owner and person checking us in, if there were other hikers from the same route staying here, she gently replied, “On no, madames, that is the OTHER Baroni, only 10 kilometers (that would be “only” another 6.2 miles UPHILL) away. I believe that you thought that this was on the trail you’re following?”

    Wait? There’s a trail? (Just kidding. We knew that.)

    “Do we have a reservation?” We asked hopefully, verging on desperately.

    “Well, madames, no, no you do not. There is a room available, it has no air conditioning, but there are twin beds. Interessanta?”

    The look on her face captured what she probably saw on ours. Horror. Worry. Exhaustion.

    She stopped, held up her hands, and said, “Basta! This is no problem, madames. We will find you something that will make a wonderful night for you. In my language we have a saying that goes something like this, ‘the soul has energy and motivation for what the body does not.’”

    “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry...” were the only words in our heads at that particular moment. Until we closed the door to our room.

    Once we got ourselves together (because there’s no crying on the trail!) we wondered about the next stages of the hike’s lodging, since these were booked for us by a travel agent/company.

    “Should we check?” We asked each other.
    “Nah, let’s wait until tomorrow!”

    Later that night…

    Who can sleep with thoughts about lodging dancing in their heads? Not us. So, we got online and began double-checking the dates against our itinerary. Unbelievably, the lodging was off in ways that made no sense. How did we miss this? The booking agent was not available that late, so we started looking online at substitute lodging options. Even with our limited Italian skills, we knew what “tutto completo”” (“no vacancy”) means at Every. Single. One.

    Then, we had an epiphany. Let’s get into some of those hiker chat room/Facebook groups and find out what other hikers do for last-minute lodging: “knock on a door, most citizens are so generous and will let you stay with them!” (true, but not willing to find out, thank you very much) , or “sleep in a park or whenever you become exhausted!” (ummmmm, also no thank you. Plus camping is illegal in Italy unless in very designated spaces), and, finally, “keep walking until you find someone willing to help!” (also a hard no).

    So, what do we do? “What could go wrong?” we have often asked ourselves these past few weeks. Short of getting lost in the forest for weeks, losing our identifications or access to funds, or becoming very sick - actually, having no lodging for the next 3+ weeks could very well be the answer to that question.

    However, we decided not to overreact and, instead, paused for a moment and said out loud, “we are ‘accidentale’ booked into a fabulous resort in Tuscany - what could go RIGHT?!!!”

    So, here is what DID go right today… Martha ended up putting us into a big room WITH air conditioning. And, then, as we were getting ourselves together the next morning, she came to tell us that there had been a cancellation and the bigger, air-conditioned room we were in would be available for another night. “Interessante?” “SI!”we nearly screamed.

    So, for today, we are safe, VERY comfortable and loving every view we take in. Tomorrow, we plan….

    Ciao for now!
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  • Day 9

    A New Direction

    June 28, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F

    We knew when we started this journey it would be one that would take us to places way beyond each day’s destination.

    We finished up our stay in Camadoli (and Tuscany) with a hike that took us into the Foreste Casentinesi. The path serpentined up for a few miles into a long road that we decided to take. We saw someone working outside and approached him asking if it was okay that we keep walking on the property. He didn’t seem to understand our question, so we asked it again (NOT more loudly, by the way - we were assuming it was our Italian that was the cause for his lack of response). When he didn’t answer for a third time, we just smiled and kept walking. When we were out of earshot of this person, we wondered (actually we assessed and diagnosed - as a teacher and counselor are prone to do) if maybe he was having trouble hearing us, or perhaps there was some other issue that he was dealing with, “poor guy,” we thought. Anyway, we continued on.

    As we made our way down the long road to a few old buildings, we noticed the words, “il silenzio e lode al signore” (“silence and praise to the lord”).

    A bit later, we turned to each other with a simultaneous epiphany as we finally realized that we were on the grounds of a silent monastery and those words were telling us why the man did not answer, despite our most awkward and pushy attempts to get him to do so. We were on the grounds of the Monastero di Camaldoli. Yes, we had tried (repeatedly, we might add) to get a SILENT monk to talk. Who needs to be assessed and diagnosed now?!

    (As you can see from the picture, waving is allowed!)

    From there, we decided to take the train to Arezzo. In order to make the train on time, we arranged for a taxi to get us to the station. Our taxi driver, Francesco, drove us to the train station and was more than helpful in getting us situated. (FYI - the person taking this picture of the very kind and very strong Francesco carrying one of our backpacks was just jealous, hence the photo op).

    We were surprised and so excited to see our new friend, Maria Grazia (from the Parish Church of San Pietro), standing across the train platform. We chatted for a bit until her train arrived (you may be able to see her behind the orange train doors blowing kisses and waving goodbye over and over and over again).

    We took the train to Arezzo (then had to change trains in Foligno and then had another change in Fossato). Despite being exhausted, we decided to continue on to Gubbio by bus. We arrived late into this beautiful Umbrian city; even darkness can’t hide its beauty.

    As you can see from our use of transportation, we have decided to change the direction, and length, of our trip. Because of the lodging issues, and a few other impactful variables, we have shortened our hiking time. Instead we will arrive in Roma this weekend - by train, by bus, and, finally, on foot.

    We have had the most amazing experiences at every, right or left, turn. When things felt wrong or hopeless or scary, something right and good and safe happened every single time. We will wrap up this little travel blog, and our incredible journey, this weekend since we have decided to head home then.

    La vita è bella!
    💚🤍❤️
    (Life is beautiful!)
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  • Day 10

    Crazy For Gubbio, Part I

    June 29, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    We have arrived in Gubbio, in the Umbria Region. Today we will upload 2 separate posts because we could not decide which pictures best capture this amazing city!

    Gubbio was founded in the 3rd Century BC, and, according to legend, was the place that the Romans would send their “lunatics.” So, doesn’t it make sense that we instantly felt at home here?

    Gubbio is also known for being the place where ceramics were first made to be shiny, where there still exists one of the original aqueducts, and this town is home to the world’s largest light installation in the shape of a Christmas tree that extends all the way up the mountainside.

    The highlight for today was walking allllll the way up to the highest duomo (cathedral) and finding that there was a little “bar” (in Italy, that sadly just means restaurant) to sit at and actually watch the bell be rung on the hour and every quarter hour. Who knew that staying long enough for two meals (and many, many bell chimes) is not “buone maniere”?! We enjoyed relaxing with carbs and chimes regardless.

    As you know, we decided to change our journey from getting from place to place by only hiking, to one that more closely resembles 2 young and optimistic college kids backpacking around Europe (minus the young and optimistic parts, of course). So, to get to Gubbio we hiked, then took a taxi, then a train (twice), then a bus, and finally another short hike to the hotel.

    To quote John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.” We spent so much time planning and training for this trip this past year, that having our itinerary shift so drastically has been an unexpected gift. It has allowed us to bend our expectations and expose ourselves to vulnerability far from the comfort of home. We have stopped the planning and thrown caution to the scirocco (the wind, not the car, because that could get messy).

    Next stop… Assisi!

    Ciao for now. 💚🤍❤️
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