DAY 103 – FIDENZA TO COLLECCHIO

We left our hotel in drizzle with an overcast sky, and it rained nearly all day. We’ve done very well with the weather so far, starting off with days of sunshine and temperatures of 23 degrees centigrade, at least until the sun went down when an autumn chill descended. We’ve been comfortable walking in shorts and shirts most days, which is remarkable for November. At the same time, we’ve been very aware that the countryside is in need of a good soaking, and that November is generally a wetter month here. All in all, we can’t really complain about a rainy day today even though we’d have liked to see the views around us.

Making our way out of a soggy Fidenza

We had the usual tramping if streets to get out of town, but it took only about half an hour. There was just one unpleasantness on our way out of town with a woman holding three dogs on leads which she allowed to bark furiously with bared teeth and strain on their leads to get at us. Perhaps we should be grateful she didn’t let go of the leads, but we rather felt she was unfit to have dogs if she couldn’t do a better job of keeping them under control in a public place. We have been very glad to have walking poles on several occasions due to out of control dogs. Not to mention their seemingly unrepentant owners.

Our sense of outrage about the dogs was quickly dispelled by the warm and friendly greeting of another woman, and her words of encouragement for our walk. Towards the edge of town we were onto a tarmac cycling/walking path along an avenue of trees in all their autumn glory. It has felt like autumn suddenly arrived over the last few days, changing from just a few leaves turning to almost all in autumn hues.

Just as we turned off onto our first track of the day we spotted this box sitting on a post and the invitation to write about our pilgrimage in the enclosed book, which we duly did. It is always interesting to see who has gone before you, and where they came from – usually from far and wide. There were not many British walkers, most having come from across Europe. And not many had passed this way recently as the pilgrim season ended last month, save for a few (fool?) hardy types like us!

Setting off into countryside

We were soon into our first incline of the day – a welcome change after nearly two week crossing the Po plains, and another sign that we are making progress. On a small hillock we were surprised to find a small Romanesque church dedicated to St Thomas Becket: evidence of yet another historical link with England. Unfortunately, the church was closed but the sign outside stated that it has several very old frescoes.

After crossing a major road we were onto farm tracks or very minor roads, and began climbing gently into the rolling foothills of the Apennines. We couldn’t see far due to the rain and low cloud, but imagine there are probably good and extensive views to be seen in better weather. From what we could see the countryside looked very attractive, with many more trees in a gently rolling landscape and more grassy pastures than we’ve seen for a while. Our impression was also that the farmsteads here are larger and better maintained than further north, and it looked like there were more second homes. Several older properties were being renovated, and there were also new-builds going up on greenfield sites.

We were horrified to see a notice up about expenditure of EU money on an agriturismo business. They had erected four sets of huge wrought iron gates on stone pillars, tarmac driveways with ornate streetlights across the fields, an enormous house and several large sheds, and a 2m high chain link fence around it. There was no sign of any active farming going on or of anyone working. We wondered what benefit this EU investment had brought to the local community.

The large farm development with its one of several sets of big gates visible on the horizon

The route took us through several small villages where no one seemed to be around but there were the usual barking dogs. As the rain occasionally lifted we had tantalising glimpses of bigger views, before the murk came back down.

At midday we found ourselves at a farmstead with an open fronted shed, a stack of plastic garden chairs, no one at home and, more importantly, no barking dogs….so we used the garden chairs in the shelter of the shed to sit and eat our sandwiches sheltered from the rain. We left things exactly as we found them, and hope the owners would not have begrudged us this small comfort on such a miserable day.

Olive grove to the left, vines to the right, and garden chairs in the shed, pilgrims for the use of

Down the road we passed one of several small shrines, this one not only padlocked against marauding pilgrims but with a sign telling us not to stop there. It looked well maintained, but what is the point of a shrine situated in a public place if you can’t even stop to appreciate it?

At 2pm, having taken several shortcuts, we arrived on the edge of the sprawl that is the town of Modesano and immediately spotted a trattoria with a cafe/bar. As we were making good time, due a rest break, and feeling a bit cold, we decided to stop by for a glass of hot milk (too late in the day for a big dose of caffeine!) and a piece of fruit tart, all of which went down nicely. The trattoria across the corridor was doing a roaring trade in lunches, with people queuing to get a table.

Modesano’s brutalist Municipio building

Onwards through Modesano, we opted to take a slightly longer route to Collechio using a smaller road initially, and were glad we did as even that was busy with speeding cars and there was nowhere for pedestrians to walk other than at the side of the road. We found that if we walked on opposite sides of the road, about 100 metres apart, it forced cars to give us more clearance. And probably annoyed some drivers forced to slow down before passing us!

Sign for a pedigree Friesian herd – reminding Julie of growing up with her parents’ herd of pedigree Friesians

The approach to Cellechio entailed about 6 kilometres walking alongside a major road bridge across the A15 motorway and the wide flood plain of the river Taro, followed by a long drag around a busy ring road taking traffic to and from Parma, the nearest big city. We reckon the bridge is about a kilometre long.


The braided channels of the Taro river reminded Tom of rivers he’s fished in New Zealand. It seems very low for November, but obviously takes a massive volume of water at times
Cycle and pedestrian track towards Collecchio – which ran out at a service station!

Our hotel is the other side of town, so we had to plod through the centre to reach it. Our impression is that Collecchio is designed for cars rather than for people walking. We were relieved to arrive and get out of our soggy clothes and boots. The hotel has a bar and restaurant, so we just needed to totter downstairs for restorative beer/G&T and supper, before falling into bed for a good long sleep.

Fortunately tomorrow is a rest day, and we really feel we need it!

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