Train to Lucca, and only 419 km to Rome

Check news, Wordle, shower, pack, breakfast, finish packing, pay, leave by 8:35. This could be the standard morning for a while to come (other than most things being pre-paid).

We were at the station in five minutes, then had to wait 15 minutes to see which platform our train was on. It was the milk-run through Lucca, and took 1hr 40 mins, even when late. We started in industrial wasteland, then semi-rural zones, then greenhouses and Tuscan buildings with red-tiled rooves and mostly yellow/ochre walls, plus graffiti.

Lucca was unexpected. On the train, an American asked Anne whether we were getting the bus to the city, and seemed surprised we were walking. Out the station, across a park, up onto the old city wall, then down, and around a corner to the hotel. It took 5 minutes. Walking to the bus station would have been longer. Too early to check in, but we left our bags and Anne's backpack with Pandora, and walked around Puccini's old home town. By around 1:30, we had seen most of the town, including its many churches (only a few of which were still used as churches and open).

Lunch on a bench watching people and listening to a busker, then checked into the Diana Hotel. A nice little hotel in a 250 yo building that covers half a small block, mainly because of the courtyard, and it shares the space with a sister hotel. Puccini described the building as a brothel in one of his letters, so it has a colourful past. The staff had agreed immediately to freeze Pandora's pack, so we like them.

A lot of repacking ahead of the trekking: we will carry the poles, for example, and want the bags to be roughly equal weight. They are picked up at 8am tomorrow, and then every day we are walking, so we will take them to reception when we go to breakfast... the old routine.

Late afternoon, we promenaded around Lucca on the wall. Lucca is one of the few places in Europe with its 16th C wall still intact, and surrounding the whole old town. The walk is 4.2km, and was fantastic on a warm evening. It was mostly paved, and 3-6 m wide.

As it’s the start of the Via Francigena (for us), we went to the most dignified of the several churches - smaller, quieter, less gold, more locals, fewer tourists, but just as old - and lit a candle for Amr, too. He and Rosie were the inspiration for thinking that walking hundreds of kms across Europe would be fun.

Dinner in a small trattoria near the hotel, close to a statue of Guiseppi Garibaldi. Simple and good. A walk around the main streets and churches, and back to the hotel. Tomorrow the Via Francigena!

By my data, 21,100 steps, 15.8 km and 5 flights, so a quiet day. Tomorrow is a fairly flat walk to Altopascio, which is also c 15km, and also largely on sealed paths rather than trails.

Good hotel. Breakfast fine, wifi fine, no tea/coffee, biggish room, helpful staff, and incredibly quiet at night.Read more