anticipation & preparation: northern italy & the via francigena

The Via Francigena

It all started when Mike and I were driving through Tuscany in 2019. We came across a trail through a lovely slice of farmland and a signpost for “The Via Francigena.” I had no idea what that was, but it piqued my curiosity. After all, the countryside in Tuscany is stunning and I thought the area would be wonderful to hike through. When I returned home, I started doing research and found that the Via Francigena is actually an ancient road and pilgrimage route that goes from the Cathedral of Canterbury in England, through France, Switzerland, and Italy to Rome, and then on to Apulia, Italy, from where medieval pilgrims once embarked to the Holy Land in Jerusalem. In the Middle Ages The Via was an important road and pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.

In 990, the newly appointed archbishop of Canterbury, Sigeric the Serious, set out to see the Pope and receive his pallium, the simple woolen cloak embroidered with a cross that symbolized both his rise to archbishop and his allegiance to Rome. He took notes on his journey that propelled him into the history books, but it is thought he was a rather undistinguished church leader who was making a routine journey on a well-trod road that was originally established as a trade route between Brittania and Ancient Rome. 

The entire route from Canterbury to Rome is over 2000km, and is estimated to take hikers about 90 days. The route is divided into stages; I wanted only to do the Tuscan route, starting in Lucca and ending in Rome. The total distance of this route is 410.5km (255.07 mi), but we will be skipping some of the stages and thus will walk only 83% of the path, 340.8km, or 211.77 miles.  I’ll be walking with my Slovakian friend Darina, who I met on the Camino de Santiago in 2018. Because she is a teacher, and we are limited to the summer holidays, we will be walking in July, admittedly the hottest part of the year in Tuscany.

It was a long time in coming, but in 1994 the Via Francigena was recognized as an official “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.” Though some infrastructure has been built up around it, it is apparently nowhere near as developed as the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Darina and I started planning in March, developed our entire route, and booked all our accommodations from Lucca to Rome. 

Here are some links on The Via Francigena:

• The Via Francigena: History
• Discover Tuscany: Via Francigena Pilgrim Passport & Testimonium.
• Discover Tuscany: Via Francigena: A Road Map
• The New York Times: On the Via Francigena in Tuscany, Monasteries and Fellowship
• My Travel in Tuscany: Map and Itinerary of Via Francigena in Tuscany
• Walking in Tuscany: The Via Francigena in Tuscany

Here are some of the books about Tuscany and the Via Francigena. The ones in green are books I own but haven’t yet read. The ones with star ratings and links are ones I’ve read; they link to Goodreads. 

• Tuscany
  1. The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen ****
  2. My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith (Montalcino)
  3. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes ****
  4. Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes ***
  5. Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes
  6. See You in the Piazza by Frances Mayes
     
  7. A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure (Italian Memoirs) by Marlena de Blasi **
  8. Home to Italy by Peter Pezzelli
  9. That Month in Tuscany by Inglath Cooper
  10. The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman
  11. A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
  12. Vanilla Beans & Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany by Isabella Dusi * (DNF)
• Via Francigena
  1. Pilgrim Route: Walking the Via Francigena Part 3 Lucca to Rome by Sandy Brown ****
  2. A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of Faith by Timothy Egan ****
  3. Via Francigena: A Tuscan Pilgrimage Lucca to Rome by Carla Mackey ***
  4. Walking to Rome: Preparing and Packing for the Tuscan Via Francigena by Ryan Tandler ****
  5. Return to Glow: A Pilgrimage of Transformation in Italy by Chandi Wyant

Training for the Via Francigena

When I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2018, I went in September, which was hot, but as my walk spilled into October, the weather got progressively cooler. This time we will have to contend with the heat, meaning we will need to carry a lot of water. Also, the infrastructure is not as good on the Via Francigena. On the Camino, I was able to send my pack ahead each day with a transport company for 5€. On the Via Francigena there are two transport services, Bags Free and SloWays. These services cost 20€ or 15€ per day, respectively, to transport the bag, but they cannot transport it to an Airbnb or anywhere where there is not a full-time reception area. This does present issues as there are not as many pilgrim hostels on the path and many times we will be staying in apartments. Thus I have to be prepared to carry my pack, in the heat, the entire way. It is possible I can send the pack ahead 2-3 days. I have spent a lot of time training, but as far as I can tell, it will be a big challenge for me, even with training, due to the heat and the amount of water I’ll have to carry.

Venice, the Dolomites, Verano, & Bergamo

Of course, Mike and I wanted to do a trip that added on to Darina’s and my walk on the Via Francigena. Once we established the dates Darina would wrap up her school year, Mike and I decided we would go to Venice, the Dolomites, Verano, Bergamo and finally to Lucca in the three weeks preceding the walk. I have always wanted to go to Venice, although the idea of huge crowds of people, which we will certainly encounter in mid-June, does not appeal to me. Mike went to Venice inn 1984 with his first wife, Kerri, who died of cancer in 1987. He is not enthralled with the idea of Venice in summer, but we will stay only 4 nights there and then head north to the Dolomites, where we will spend seven nights between Dobbiaco and Bolzano/Renon. We hope to spend a lot of time walking in the mountains on the many trails there.

Finally, we need to make our way slowly to Lucca, so we will spend three nights in Verona, stopping at Lago di Garda, and three nights in Bergamo, stopping at Lago d’Iseo on the way.

Finally, we’ll arrive in Lucca after a brief stop in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, and spend two nights there. Darina will meet us on our second day and we hope to ride bicycles around the city walls. Mike and Darina are looking forward to meeting each other. Mike and I were impressed with Lucca when we were there in 2019 and we would like to return to our favorite restaurant “Des Arts” Bistrot e Winebar for dinner. After our two nights in Lucca, Mike will fly home via Pisa and Darina and I will skip a few stages through the suburbs of Lucca and begin our walk the next day in Fucecchio.

I have established quite a reading list of books about Italy. Many I have read in prior years. It seems I will never get through the books I hoped to read this year.

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert *****
2. The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner *****
3. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway *****
4. The Miracles of Santo Fico by D.L. Smith ****
5. The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Hellenga *****
6. The Italian Lover by Robert Hellenga
7. The Confessions of Frances Godwin by Robert Hellenga
8. An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser ****
9. Born Twice by Giuseppe Ponliggia ***
10. The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian *****
11. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (& Hollywood. Sandpoint, ID. Edinburgh.) ****
12. Cucina: A Novel of Rapture by Lily Prior
13. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
14. The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
15. A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
16. Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
17. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
18. My Brilliant Friend (The Neopolitan Novels, #1) by Elena Ferrante
19. The Story of a New Name (The Neopolitan Novels, #2) by Elena Ferrante
20. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (The Neopolitan Novels, #3) by Elena Ferrante
21. The Story of the Lost Child (The Neopolitan Novels, #4) by Elena Ferrante
22. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
23. The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
24. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (Kindle)
    
25. Love & Gelato (Love & Gelato #1) by Jenna Evans Welch
26. Love & Luck (Love & Gelato #2) by Jenna Evans Welch
27. Love & Olives (Love & Gelato #3) by Jenna Evans Welch
28. A Harvest of Secrets by Roland Merullo
29. Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
30. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
31. From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home by Tembi Locke
32. Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris
33. Finding Myself in Puglia: A Journey of Self-Discovery Under the Warm Southern Italian Sun by Laine B. Brown
34. Naked (in Italy): A Memoir About the Pitfalls of La Dolce Vita by M.E. Evans
35. Revamp: a Memoir of Travel and Obsessive Renovation by Pamela Reynolds
36. Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center by Michelle Damiani
37. Solo in Salento by Donna Keel Armer
38. The Secrets of Villa Rosso by Linn B. Halton
39. Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst
40. Summer at the Lake by Erica James
41. The Homecoming Party by Carmine Abate
42. From the Land of the Moon by Milena Agus
43. The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman
44. Christ Stopped at Eboli: The Story of a Year by Carlo Levi
45. The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
46. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
47. A Room with a View by E.M Forster
48. Vila Triste by Lucretia Grindle
49. The Lady in the Palazzo: At Home in Umbria by Marlena de Blasi
50. The Umbrian Thursday Night Supper Club by Marlena de Blasi
51. Lost Hearts in Italy by Andrea Lee
52. Extra Virgin (Italy Series, #1) by Annie Hawes
53. The Villa in Italy (A Vintage Mystery) by Elizabeth Edmonson
54. Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy by Michael Tucker
55. A Kiss from Maddalena by Christopher Castellani
56. All This Talk of Love: A Novel by Christopher Castellani
57. Been Here a Thousand Years by Mariolina Venezia, Marina Harss (Translator)
58. A Chill in the Air by Iris Origo
59. Italy Out of Hand: A Capricious Tour by Barbara Hodgson
60. A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, translated by Ann Goldstein
61. A Traveller’s History of Italy by Valerio Lintner
62. The Italian Alps (not quite the Dolomites but close enough)
    
    1. The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani (currently reading)
       
63. Rome
    1. Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr ****
64. Venice
    1. As It Is in Heaven by Niall Williams (mostly in Ireland) ****
    2. The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen ****
    3. The City of Fallen Angels by John Berendt
    4. A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi
    5. Venice by Jan Morris

Of course there are a lot of great Italian movies. Here are some I’ve either seen or would like to see:

1. Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) ***
2. La Dolce Vita (1960)
3. Come September (1961)
4. The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
5. A Room With a View (1985) *****
6. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
7. Il Postino: The Postman (1994)
8. Stealing Beauty (1996)
9. The English Patient (1996) ***** (Egypt, Libya)
10. Life is Beautiful (1997) *****
11. Besieged (1998) ****
12. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) **
13. Tea with Mussolini (1999)
14. Bread & Tulips (Venice) (2000) *****
15. Malèna (2000) *****
16. Italian for Beginners (2000) **
17. The Son’s Room (2001) *****
18. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) ****
19. The Best of Youth (2003)
20. A Good Woman (2004)
21. Agatha and the Storm (2004) ****
22. Angels & Demons (2009)
23. I am Love (2009)
24. Letters to Juliet (Verona) (2010) ****
25. The Tourist (2010) **
26. To Rome with Love (2012) ***
27. The Great Beauty (2013)
28. The Trip to Italy (2014) *
29. A Bigger Splash (2015) **
30. Call Me by Your Name (2017) ***
31. My Brilliant Friend (Naples) (TV series 2018 – ) *****
32. An Astrological Guide for Broken Hearts (TV series) (Turin) (2021-2022) ****
33. Toscana (Tuscany) (2022) ****
34. From Scratch (TV Mini-series) (Sicily) (2022) ****
35. Love in the Villa (Verona) (2022) ***
36. Book Club: The Next Chapter (Rome, Venice, Tuscany) (2023)

I created one journal to take with me through northern Italy and a smaller and lighter one to take on the Via Francigena.

I’m hoping for good health, strength, decent weather and personal growth on our upcoming adventure through Italy. 🙂