For the third time we walk part of the Via Francigena. We travel by train from Bologna to Parma where we start the day after, the walking tour. It is true that we walked part of the route earlier. In March 2019 we walked from Lucca to Siena. It was still early in the season and the fields were still bare. Now there are flowers everywhere, flowering hawthorn, poppies and buttercups. The vines have their first leaf… We notice that the hiking season has started; we meet many more people; French, Swiss, Canadians, Finns…

It has been dry for a while. But when we arrive in Italy it rains. The farmers are happy. For us, it’s not quite what we hoped. And yet it’s not just annoying. In thick fog we cross the Apennines via the Passo della Cisa. The highest point is formed by a wide bare ridge. When the weather is clear, we must have had a magnificent view of the landscape. Now we can see no further than a few meters. It is blowing and raining hard. Slightly descended we come to the pass. The restaurant is closed, but the shop with local products is open. Tired of clambering through the mud, and cold and hungry, we go inside to buy a sandwich. Freshly cut slices of bread, topped with mountain cheese… Next to the burning wood stove is a bench where we can warm up. There is no coffee, but there is a glass of lambrusco. An Italian living in America, who travels through his motherland out of homesickness, also noticeably enjoys the warming place. For dessert we can taste the real pecorino from the region. It might be our best lunch in Italy.

When we descend after the pass, the view becomes wider. We have reserved an overnight stay at Temperanza in the mountain village of Groppodalosio. We sleep there in the room for pellegrinos. The wood-fired stone stove is burning. They cook for us and the next morning a nice breakfast is ready for us. When we leave, walking over the Roman bridge, the bad weather of the previous day is no longer noticeable.

Our route: Parma, Sala Baganza, Calestano, Berceto, Groppodalosio, Filetto, Aulla, Molicciara, Massa, Pietrasanta, Montemagno, Lucca, San Miniato, Gambassi Terme, Gimignano, Val d’Elsa, Siena
and by bus we drove to Perugia where we stayed one last day.

Also read:

Via Francigena – Valle d’Aosta

Cherry picking op de Via Francigena

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