Camaldoli

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!Read more