Lucca to Altopascio

We had breakfast at 7:45 in the Viennese-style hotel dining room. All very good, apart from the lack of DIY coffee: the house offer was a carafe of weak, instant coffee. It was not an issue to tea-totaller Anne, who only needed to find hot water.

Pandora’s ice pack was delivered as promised, bags repacked, and we left around 8:50. Today is only 19km, but we walked first to the Cathedral because, officially, the Via Francigena section from Lucca starts there. A selfie was taken badly to prove it (and our inability to smile for, or take good, selfies: no need to comment, Al), and we set off east, as if heading back to Florence. It was roads and pavements through outer suburbs of no great interest, industrial areas (including a truck yard for massive semis: there seemed to be one arriving every minute, and they took up most of the narrow access road we had to walk on), then semi-rural zones where sunflowers (dead) were being harvested, a few small towns, and right near the end, some woodland. We reached Altapascio at 1:30 after stopping briefly in a cafe at 12, although the end of today is really the local church, which we walked to later in the afternoon.

The hotel had a big sign saying check-in was from 2:30, but a man opened the door and checked us in anyway. Our bags were there at reception. Despite the good weather, it is the end of the tourist season here ( to the extent Altopascio might have one), as indicated by the roped-off dining area (Death in Venice??) and the receptionist telling us that dinner was not in the hotel, but at a restaurant 200m away. In addition, his coffee machine is not working, so breakfast is in a cafe another 100m further on. Perhaps a taste of things to come as the camino season winds down?

We had walked around 20km up to the time we arrived at the hotel. That included walking around in Lucca, so the guide was close to right for us.

We sat around for while and rested, then walked under the Autostrada and across the trainline to see where dinner and breakfast were. Then a visit to the local church - large but "modern/simple" (say early 20th C), and saw the limited sights of Altopascio. Dinner could not be until 7pm, when the restaurant (which looked good) reopened. So we arrived at 7:05, and the owner guessed our name and gave us a QR code to scan. They had a separate (limited) menu for hotel guests, but it had all we needed. Pennette with gorgonzola and walnuts, cooked veg (spinach, it turned out) with lemon/ spaghetti carbonara and salad. Great bread. Our tourist status was confirmed by families coming in as we were leaving. Just us till then, apart from a sequence of men ordering multiple glasses of white wine. Back to the hotel at 8.

Hard to rate the hotel on meals, and no tea/ coffee facilities, but wifi works, the room is mid-size and has a balcony.

Tomorrow is longish - 30km. The next three days are sunny and warm, but then a stretch of days of grey.

Ended up at 28,995 steps, 23.3 kms and 3 flights…and 401 km to RomeRead more