Stage 1: Lucca to Altopascio

18.5 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 325m/328m
25,729 steps

We left Lucca at around 7:30AM under clear, sunny skies and a temperature of 15°C.

As is the case with most larger cities on any Camino, leaving Lucca had us walking through an urban setting, on main streets, during rush hour. Truly not the idyllic image one conjures when dreaming of hiking a Camino. In fact, about 90% of today's hike was on concrete or asphalt alongside fairly busy thoroughfares.

We had a couple of short forested trails and a couple that went through farmland,

And unlike the Portuguese Camino, which we walked four years ago, we didn’t see a single Camino directional sign until we were well outside Lucca city limits.

Ok, that's enough whining. On to the positive narration.

To be honest, I hadn't really done any training for this Camino, so I was a little concerned about how my 70 year old body would hold up. After day one, other than s small blister on the ball of my right foot , I feel pretty good! Tomorrow's stage is 29 kilometers, so I may feel that one a little more.

Today, we stopped for a macchiato, six kilometers into the walk, in Capannori. We stopped again six kilometers further along the road in Porcari for a water refill before reaching our goal in Altopascio just after noon.

We had a sandwich and a beer for lunch and checked into our hotel at 3:00. After rinsing out our clothes and showering, we went off in search of dinner to find the prices here to be worse than in Lucca. How about €12.00 for a bowl of vegetable soup? A little research led us to a restaurant just outside the tourist area, complete with red checkered tablecloths and a charming Itallian Nonna serving and prepping for the kitchen. We had gnocchi (hand made by Nonna) with pesto and zucchini, a side of canceling beans and onions, and a plate of grilled veggies with a large bottle of Morettti beer. My belly couldn't be happier.

Time for me to get my beauty sleep and rest up for tomorrow's long dail on La FrancigenaLæs mere