21 km — 29oC, cloudy, and muggy — We saw 6 new pilgrims today, on their way to Rome.
(By Jim)
As I lie on my bed at Ostello Villa Santa Maria Casa di Esercizi Spirituali and slowly cool down and decompress, I am overcome with gratitude for a day that began with the kindness of Michaela and finished with the kindness of Emmanuel.
We arose at 5:00, packed, tidied our room and went down to the dining room for breakfast. Michaela, a young Franciscan nun who took care of us while we stayed at the Comunita di Betania, made us coffee and provided us with biscuits before bidding us farewell. Faith, charity, kindness, grace, and peace were on display and lived here. Laurel and I both experienced and were moved by the sincerity of the nuns and friars. It gave us pause for thought as we climbed what we thought would be our only big hill of the day.
The hills provide us with an undulating, ever changing landscape and multiple perspectives from which to view it. Our present climb brought us to a ridge which showed us the VF past and future as we looked back towards the Alps and forward towards the Apennines. Sunflowers, cattails, and grapes lined a path that looked out over fields of clover and baled straw; horse farms replaced hog operations. Off in the distant Po Valley we could see the city of Parma and isolated rain showers offering temporary relief from the ongoing drought in the region.
After passing through Medesano, the path flattened out and took a route through a dry scrubby forest that eventually followed the Taro River into Fornovo di Taro. Cloud cover kept the temperatures tolerable, while well-spaced bars kept us hydrated. In one such bar, just across the river from our destination, I decided to confess my gratitude, while at the same time expanding my Italian vocabulary. After using the toilet, I noticed how clean it looked and smelled so when I returned the key to the barkeep I told her in my best Italian, “your toilet is very clean—thank you.” She looked surprised and then repeated what I said to the four patrons sitting at a table and they all had a pretty good laugh. I guess I should be grateful for potty humour?
Arriving at the the church square, Laurel went to tourist information while I checked out the ancient stone carvings that adorn Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta (Church). The TI host helping Laurel walked us from her office to the nearby hostel and rang the bell. We discovered that the hospitalero and her family had come down with covid and that the ostello was closed. All bookings were transferred to Ostello Villa Santa Maria Casa di Esercizi Spirituali, a spiritual center 2 km out of town atop a high hill. The TI host offered to drive us there but we regretfully declined as we needed to get lunch and buy groceries for the coming days. Besides, it probably doesn’t sit well with hospitaleros and other pilgrims to see us pull up in an Alfa Romeo.
After lunch we began our hardest trek of the day 2 km up to our hostel. When we arrived, Emmauel, the hospitalero, welcomed us and took us to a double room with private bath. He imagined (correctly) that as a married couple, we would appreciate it. I am quite sure anyone would have appreciated some privacy to shower, cool down, and air out, but we were grateful none the less.
A statue of St. Francis looks out over Comunita di Betania. Michaela, our Franciscan host.
The first hill was a big one.
Roadside attractions: sunflowers, cattails and grapes.
The path was very dry.
Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Fornovo di Taro
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