There was a spectacular red sunrise this morning, visible to the left of our balcony, and the sky was clear over Collecchio though it was cloudy to the north-west. The weather forecasts have been contradictory, some predicting showers and some saying it will be fine today, so we just hoped for the best. On the way into the town centre we were hailed by a passing cyclist calling out a cheery ‘good morning’ having seen the banners on our rucksacks. Andrea later sent us a message of encouragement via this website.
As arranged yesterday, we called into the Cafe Centrale to pick up lunchtime filled rolls, and were generously given chunks of parmesan cheese and sweet rolls as well. A veritable feast! The cafe owner told us he had worked in Islington when he was in London, and he comes from Berceto, a village in the mountains which we will pass through in a couple of days’ time. Stocked up and in no danger of going hungry, we headed out of town in search of our path, passing one of the many large food processing plants in this area.
We were straight into a park, now a nature reserve, full of beautiful oaks, chestnuts and beeches glowing in their autumn hues. We spent the first part of the morning making our way up, down, and along woodland tracks, crunching chestnuts under our boots. The acorns had already been found and eaten by wild boar, much in evidence by lots of turned ground though we didn’t see any of them.
The park’s previous owners had created a lake in the woods. In it there are carp and a variety of turtles according to a noticeboard. We later came upon what we think was the former owners’ villa, now an exhibition space for the park, and a very extensive array of decaying buildings, some of which looked as though they may have been former estate workers’ accommodation. Perhaps we should have called into the museum to find out the facts!
The park is also hosting long term research on the impact of climate change, including measuring ozone levels. We came upon measuring stations at various places in the woods, before emerging onto a steep winding road which we followed down into a hamlet in the valley. No sign of any cafe, so we had to carry on! However, a very nice woman driver slowed right down, waved, and called out ‘buon camino’ to us as she was passing.
Up the hill on the other side of the valley was a small 12th century church dedicated to Saint Biagio which apparently has a unique barrel vault. This was a key place between Collecchio and a Cistercian monastery at Rocchetta for pilgrims passing through in medieval times. Sadly, we were not able to appreciate it as the church was locked and could only be seen by appointment, precluding most pilgrims by the nature of pilgrimage. However, we did learn that the stone carving over the west door represents the struggle between good and evil, or the weighing of souls. Note the devilish one trying to tip the balance while Archangel Michael (representing good) holds a sword.
Just around the corner Tom became so incensed by yet another barking dog rushing the fence towards him that he began trying to poke it with his walking pole, whilst Julie was calling to him to stop because a cyclist was approaching. We had a good conversation with the cyclist. Tactfully there was no mention of dogs or poles, but the cyclist told us about his own two walking pilgrimages to Rome from Firenze and from Parma. He was very encouraging and wished us a buon camino before resuming his weekly cycle ride.
For the next few kilometres we followed a ridge, having ignored a sign telling us to go downhill and instead followed our guide, and then ignored signs declaring the way barred (it wasn’t) and ‘proprieta privata’. We were glad we did because we began to see wonderful views on both sides of the ridge.
At a farmyard we walked through a dog seemed to adopt us and, although it didn’t want to come close it followed us at a distance for several kilometres. When we sat on a bank to eat our lunch it sat nearby, snapping intermittently at flies, but didn’t try to poach food. It was actually a great relief to be near a dog that didn’t bark, even if this one was a bit stand-offish.
When we rejoined a tarmac road we noticed that a sign in the other direction had been blanked out and another sign had been added saying the route was barred. In fact, this was one of several attempts we came across to divert or stop up the Via Francigena in this area, seemingly by new landowners, some of whom had even built new houses right on top of the path. With the English tradition of mass trespasses in mind we mostly ignored all these diversions and deterrents!
At a point where the track had been concreted over by the builder of a new house our path narrowed and began to descend. What came next was a complete surprise as the scenery changed dramatically. We found ourselves on a narrow clay ridge, with landslides off both sides, and the most wonderful views all around – though we had to keep a close eye on where we put our feet not to slide off the ridge!
At the end of the ridge and landslips we came across another deterrent sign stating that the path we’d just come along was closed 400 metres back – which was rubbish! Certainly it was a bit precarious at several points due to the landslips, but it was passable with care. A bit further along the ridge, now on a broad grassy section, our path turned steeply downhill, onto slippery clay, and took us slithering to the bottom of the valley.
At the bottom we meandered along the valley from one isolated homestead to another, thinking we were almost at our destination. But there was a sting in the tail, with a very steep climb of over 100 metres up the side of a field and then through woodland, bringing us up to the hamlet of Spagnano. Here there are more extensive vineyards, as well as arable crops being grown on a gently rolling plateau.
We found our B&B further along the road, with beautiful views across the valley, friendly dog called Moon, and delightful hostess who cooked us an excellent supper, and pulled out a drying rack and lit the wood burner to enable us to dry out our clothes overnight.
The highlight of the day has been the stunning views from the ridge, with the autumn colours of the densely wooded landslip area being particularly special.