Today started very foggy, but the sun eventually broke through around midday. We made an early start, taking a train back to Santa Cristina where we had left off walking two days ago. This morning’s train was a little newer than the one we took back to Pavia the other evening, and the graffiti ‘artists’ had not (yet) sprayed all over this one.
About half an hour’s train ride through Pavian suburbs and countryside brought us back to Santa Cristina, and we then set off on a grassy track alongside a drainage channel running parallel to the railway.
After about a kilometre the path departed from the railway line and headed across farmland towards the sizeable village of Miradolo Terme. Because of the fog there was little to see, but as the terrain is flat there was probably little to be seen anyway!
At Miradolo Terme the cemetery, which as usual was on the outskirts of the village, was beautifully adorned with flowers and evidently well tended. We spent a few minutes talking to a couple who were there tending graves, and they were very encouraging about our long walk.
There was no convenient cafe along the streets we passed, but towards the end of the village we found a bench in a small park to sit and enjoy a sweet biscuit left over from breakfast. As we were resting there an elderly man hailed us from the first floor balcony of the adjacent block of flats. We spent several minutes talking to him about where we’d been and where we’re going. He told us he is now 84 years old, and had previously worked in Germany for several years. He seemed a bit disappointed that we speak no German, but we got by with a mix of basic English and Italian.
The route from Miradolo Terme to Camporinaldo followed the tarmac road by way of a fenced off tarmac path with intermittent benches. It was good to be kept separate from the traffic, but we wondered how the construction costs had been justified. In Camporinaldo there was a cafe open in the main street so we stopped by for a capuccino (cafe latte was not an option on offer here) and got into conversation with a man sitting at the adjacent table whose two daughters are both in London. He declared London to be the best city in the world! We were not able to visit the church as a funeral was about to get under way.
Back onto farmland tracks we continued until our path descended to the edge of the village of Chignolo Po, taking us from the level of one river terrace to a lower level terrace.
We passed the Castello Chignolo Po, which is a very impressive country house now used by an ‘advoccato’ for his legal office. He must have a very successful practice!
More road walking took us back up onto a higher level river terrace and into Lambrinia. It seems strange to have ups and downs in the terrain after so many days of walking on the flat! The road into the village leads directly along a long avenue of trees to the church, which is visible from some distance away, but sadly it was closed. However, there were several benches alongside the route, and we chose one for our lunch stop. For the last few days we have resorted to buying supermarket sandwiches as there is less to carry than if we make up our own packed lunches. The bought sandwiches have not been very appetising, but they have sufficed when supplemented with fresh oranges.
Lambrinia held two surprises: one an old Lamboughini tractor still going strong, and the other a fishing tackle shop where Tom was only able to window shop as opening hours didn’t coincide with the time we were passing through. He was most impressed by the photographs of sturgeon and catfish that he saw through the window. We are, of course, now quite close to the main Po river.
From here we had a bit more road walking to get to the only bridge crossing of the Lambro, a tributary of the Po, for many miles in either direction. We were very glad to get off tarmac roads and away from traffic once we were on the other side of the bridge.
The path then followed a meandering course on a high raised bank, crossing fields running down to the banks of the Lambro, eventually taking us to Orio Litta. This is where our day’s walk should have ended, but as there was no accommodation to be had there we walked on to the next village which has an hotel.
The church at Orio Litta is dedicated to St John the Baptist and boasts of its Roman origins. The original church was built in 1033 but when the bell tower fell down the whole church was rebuilt in 1601. According to a notice outside there are some interesting modern frescoes inside, but this church too was locked.
On the road between Orio Litta and Ospedaletto Lodigiana we passed a farm with home-made horse jumps, reminding Julie of the ones her father had made for her and her sister using old tyres, oil drums, and bales of straw, rather like these. We also noted that a restaurant marked on our maps was all boarded up – not a promising sign.
When we found our hotel it too was all locked up, but someone appeared to let us into our room just as Julie was trying to get hold of them by phone. We then learned that the restaurant is no longer functioning, despite the advertising stating that we would be able to get supper here. Yet again Booking.com has let us down with inaccurate information and failing to pass on messages. The person who showed us our room clearly felt that if we hadn’t received her message saying the restaurant is closed tonight it wasn’t her problem. She said there is a restaurant down the road but she didn’t know whether it would be open tonight or not. What a contrast with the very helpful manager of the hotel at Viverone who recognised that we needed to eat and couldn’t walk far to find supper.
Fortunately we found a small grocery shop down the road which was open and were able to buy food for a picnic supper in our room. Passing a cafe/bar on the way back we were able to drop in for an apéritif, so all was not lost!