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.

We woke late and were pleased to see that it has stopped raining. There was a little sunshine in the middle of the day, but otherwise it has been overcast all day. But we really didn’t care what the weather did today as we weren’t planning on doing much!

Breakfast, blog, emails, and laundry done we strolled out into town to find a good lunch. As we have found elsewhere in Italy (and in France too) most eating places seem to be pizzerias with little else on offer. Pizza seems to us to be overrated, especially if eaten day after day! However, spying a busy cafe in the town centre we were delighted to find that it offered salads, cold meats (prosciutto di Parma in particular) and a hot meal of bass and vegetables, plus glasses of wine and a very good not-too-sweet tiramisu to follow.

It turned out that one of the chefs spoke good English and the proprietor had previously worked in London – and wanted to know which football team Tom supports…?! The chef told us he had walked to Santiago di Compostella on pilgrimage and proudly showed us the tattoo on his arm. He also said he’d seen us plodding along the road into Collecchio yesterday. We hoped he wasn’t one of the drivers at whom we’d waved our sticks for coming too close! Noting that the cafe sells filled focaccia, with an impressive array of delicious looking cooked meats hung behind the counter, we have arranged to call in there tomorrow morning when they open at 0700 to buy our lunch.

Collecchio itself is not particularly interesting compared with the towns we have visited so far. Wikipedia tells us that it has prehistoric origins and was a Roman trading centre. In medieval times it was ruled by the bishops of nearby Parma, and was later fought over by various warring noble families, but otherwise it has little notable history. Today Collecchio is a commercial centre for the huge agricultural industry in the area, including the production of charcuterie and dairy products. Most of the buildings look to be relatively new, including the mixed residential and commercial area where our hotel is situated.

Collecchio’s main claim to fame is that in 2015 it mandated the use of silent fireworks, out of consideration for animals, for which it gained international recognition. That has to be suitably obscure information for a quiz question!

Perhaps the next thing they might consider is the welfare of people who arrive in Collecchio on foot, as yesterday’s experience was neither very pleasant nor entirely safe.

On 27 April 1945 Collecchio was liberated from the occupying German Nazi army by the Brazilian Expeditionary Force after a two day battle. We weren’t previously aware of Brazilian involvement in liberating Italy and will need to do some reading up when we get home. The local people who were involved in wartime resistance activities are commemorated on an information board and a memorial in the town, and we learned that at Passo della Cisa, where we will be in a couple of days’ time, there was also a significant liberation battle.

On the way back to our hotel for the customary siesta we called in at the supermarket to stock up on food for lunches for the couple of days we will be in the mountains. It has been difficult to ascertain whether there are going to be any shops or cafes on our route, and anyway we are now wary of inaccurate or out-of-date information on the internet having got caught out several times.

With the fresh sandwiches to be bought at the Cafe Centrale tomorrow morning we are now well prepared for the next few days. All we need now is some clear weather to give us the mountain views we have been craving for the last couple of weeks.

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.

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!

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 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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

This morning started with full cloud cover, but it was neither cold nor raining. What a great place the Hotel Mathis is. We had slept well and breakfast was one of the best we’ve had so far. It didn’t take long to get out of Fiorenzuola and into the countryside. Again, the walking was easy and level, but mostly on tarmac and with little of scenic interest.

At the first village, Chiaravalle della Colomba, we had two encounters with dogs. The first, a very aggressive German Shepherd which not only barked and bared its teeth, but attempted to jump over a not very high garden fence to get at Tom who was simply walking past. He had to raise his stick to discourage it from trying harder to jump out. The second was much more acceptable to innocent walking pilgrims, despite it being on its hind legs baring its teeth.

We found two cafes open in the village, and chose one to pause at for a coffee and brioche. Just as we were leaving, an elderly couple sitting at the adjacent table spotted the banners on our rucksacks and were very enthusiastic about our walk to Rome, describing St Peter’s as ‘stupenda’. They also recommended a visit to the Cistercian monastery in the village.

A notice outside the monastery requested ‘decent attire’ to enter and so Julie pulled her waterproof trousers on over her shorts before going inside. It reminded her of a childhood visit to churches in Italy when all women and girls were required to cover arms and legs, and to wear a scarf or hat – a significant sartorial challenge for teenage girls out of school! This is the first time we’ve come across an explicit request about attire before entering churches during this trip.

We weren’t able to spend long exploring the monastery’s museum, and were a tad challenged anyway as everything was in Italian only, but we did note that the abbey was dedicated to St Bernard who had founded Clairvaux Abbey which we visited on our route back in June. It has been fascinating to learn just how much people of influence, such as St Bernard and St Anselm, moved around Europe in medieval times, with consequent intermingling of languages, cultures, trade, and ideas. And of course at that time our kings were Norman Frenchmen.

As we were leaving the monastery we met a couple of pilgrims from Lausanne who had started out from Vercelli and only able to take a week off work. As they said, each pilgrim does things their own way. They were using ‘donativo’ or specific pilgrim accommodation where you’re invited to make a donation to cover the costs of your stay according to your means.

A short walk past the monastery grounds brought us to a bridge across the main A1 motorway (which runs from Milan to Rome and Naples) and a railway line, and then a long stretch of walking through farmland again.

We were just bemoaning the lack of places to sit to eat our lunch, other than in a ditch on the side of the road or an abandoned farmyard where the flies descended on us as soon as we stopped, and then Tom spotted a pilgrim friendly house and Julie spotted the notice inviting us to make use of their garden table and benches. So we did, very gratefully.

There was a notice from the owners stating that if they were at home they would share a glass of wine or a coffee with us, but sadly they weren’t there. What a shame, we’d have enjoyed meeting them.

The remainder of the day was spent walking along minor roads. We arrived in Fidenza just as the sun was going down.

We found our hotel without difficulty and, having showered and changed into clean clothes, went in search of a supermarket to stock up on items for lunch. By this time the cathedral had closed and so we saw only the floodlit outside of it. It has some interesting carved friezes on the west end, which include a depiction of pilgrims on the way to Rome – particularly poignant for us. The cathedral certainly looks worth a proper visit on another occasion.

Supper in the hotel restaurant wasn’t special, but the pasta we had enabled us to stock up on carbohydrates for tomorrow’s very long walk of over 30 kilometres.

Today’s highlight was the monastery, and the tantalising prospect of seeing inside Fidenza’s cathedral at another time.

We were loath to get up and leave our lodgings this morning, such was the luxury of our room. Moreover Piacenza seemed like our sort of place. After a campers’ breakfast in our room (breakfast is served late on a Sunday), we dragged ourselves away.

The streets were Sunday-empty as we headed on our way eastwards. There was little sign of life other than the occasional Turkish Kebab joint cleaning out and getting ready for the day’s business. Very soon what fog there had been had burned off and the slowly rising sun warmed our faces. As with so many cities and large towns we’ve passed through, it took an age to clear the built up area; in this case more than an hour. Even then we were very soon into a satellite village with an extensive light industrial zone.

After several false hopes, we found a bench for the first of the day’s rest stops, inside a fenced dog agility compound. As there were no dogs, let alone any owners needing exercise, we thought it fair game to go inside and occupy a bench in the sun for a few minutes. No sooner had we entered the compound than a dog and its owner appeared and very nicely tried to persuade us to sit across the road on a seat under a canopy which would not be so wet with dew. Preferring the seat in the sun, we turned down his suggestion.

After leaving the industrial area we had an unpleasant couple of kilometres walk along a busy road with nowhere for pedestrians except a minimal hard shoulder. Crossing the bridge over the Torrente Nure we were disappointed to see that there was no water flowing and the riverbed was completely dry. We were reminded of the farmer we met yesterday checking his winter wheat who commented that his crop hasn’t had the rain it needs so far this autumn.

Leaving the busy road, with considerable relief, we walked around several fields, still on a tarmac path, and into the small town of Pontenure. Two elderly gentlemen wearing jackets with the Guardie Ambientale d’Italia logo, who were out litter-picking, stopped us to ask where we had come from and where we were going. They were very encouraging, and one told us he had learned English when working in London.

Round the corner we found an extensive Sunday bric-a-brac market in full swing, selling (or trying to sell) every conceivable item, from clothing to books, plates to old tools and fishing reels. Just like at home, there were more browsers than buyers. At the far end of the market street a cafe was doing a good trade and we thought we should help them out, so stopped for a coffee and jam biscuit (tastier than it sounds, and not too sweet). Our two gentlemen arrived again, and having compared our ages, told us they walk in the Apennines. They thought it would take us a week to walk to Rome, so must think we are super-fit. The reality is it will take us another 38 days of walking!

Much of the rest of the day was spent walking along country roads, zig-zagging around fields and farmsteads, moving from one small hamlet to the next. Apart from the Apennines emerging on the horizon once the sun had burnt off the early morning mist there was little of note to see in the flat landscape. However, we did learn that the route we were on commemorates an Italian cyclist who won a gold medal at the London 1948 Olympics, one Guido Bernardi.

In many respects this area reminds us of northern France, with huge fields containing a small range of arable crops, few trees, no hedges, and no birds or other wildlife to be seen or heard. The key difference here is the network of drainage/irrigation channels carving up the fields.

As today was Remembrance Sunday at home – and we would usually have been singing in our local church service – at just before midday (1100 GMT) we found a roadside bench outside the Centro Pastorale Bellotta to sit in silence for two minutes for our own act of remembrance. Remembrance Day in Italy was observed a few days ago, on 04 November, the anniversary of the end of hostilities with the Austro-Hungarian armies in 1918.

On the outskirts of the village of Paderna we were able to sit by an oak tree in a field near the cemetery to eat our filled rolls and oranges, watching a farmer disking a huge field that had previously been ploughed. He worked right through lunchtime, though it was an enormous field – on a Sunday too.. We then realised that by having taken a short-cut we had missed passing the Castello owned by the Duke of Parma and Piacenza.

Whilst the sun was setting on the Apennines behind us, the main excitement of the day was a ford crossing which, on first approach, looked like it was going to involve wading through a couple of feet of water, and getting very wet feet! As we got closer we were relieved to see some large concrete blocks arranged as stepping stones, so we just had to jump the gaps without slipping into the water. Here was one blessing of the drought year.

The sun set at about 1645, leaving us with about 4-5 kilometres to walk in the gathering gloom. The head torches we’ve been carrying for weeks were finally put to use once we got into the urban area of Fiorenzuola to try to make sure car drivers could see us as there was no street lighting in the outskirts of town.

As our hotel is owned by a family which runs a second hotel we had to go to the other hotel to check in and would have to return there for breakfast. Fortunately we were able to get a room in the hotel serving breakfast, and it was very comfortable. Unfortunately their restaurant was closed for Sunday night, but the hotel manager was very helpful with advice on other places we could eat.

The best thing about today’s very long walk of over 30 kilometres was completing it! …….and the Weiss Beer at the restaurant in the evening.

Last night’s lodgings were not one of the best. Apart from the restaurant being closed, the wifi didn’t work, the beds were small and hard, the room wasn’t very clean, and the sound-proofing between rooms was poor. The man in the adjacent room held a long and loud telephone conversation all evening until well after we were trying to sleep. Breakfast was a perfunctory coffee and croissant, served without a smile. We were pleased to leave, and got away by 0745.

Today was another overcast and foggy autumn day, with a slight northerly wind which was quite cold when we stopped to rest. We started by walking back through the village, waving to the helpful man in the grocery shop who’d helped us find something for supper the previous evening.

The church was closed today, and the adjacent former monastery looked as though it had closed some time ago. Our path out of the village took us down an avenue of trees separated from the traffic, first to the cemetery and then onto the next village of Senna Lodigiana.

From there we headed across farmland to rejoin the official Via Francigena footpath which runs jointly with the cycle VF on a tarmac path atop a high flood defence bank.

A little less than two hours after starting out we got our first glimpse of the river Po, merging into the mist. It wasn’t quite as impressive as we had been anticipating, in part because the water level is low after an exceptionally dry summer, but it is certainly a big river with a huge flood plain which clearly requires sophisticated water management systems to protect crops and people.

By late morning we were heading away from the river and into the village of Valloria, dreaming of a cafe to have a second breakfast, but it was not to be. The church was open, but otherwise the village was asleep. Still hoping to find a cafe we walked past a couple of seats in the main street and then, finding ourselves heading out of the village, made do with an old tree trunk for our early lunch spot. We were ravenous after such an early and meagre breakfast!

We were then back on the cycle route to Piacenza and walking on tarmac, which is tough on the hips, knees and feet. It is surprising how much ‘give’ there is in an unmade track compared with the rigidity of tarmac, and we really notice the difference after several hours of walking.

The last 3-4 kilometres into Piacenza followed the cycle track alongside a busy main road. It was not pleasant walking, and seemed endless, with little of interest to see, but it did at least keep us safe from speeding motorists – and there were plenty of those!

After negotiating an underpass taking us back on ourselves we ended up the other side of the busy main road, following it on a long elevated section across the river flood plain. Although crossing the Po is a significant landmark on our journey it had none of the thrill or scenic advantages of crossing the Grand St Bernard pass. It did, however, get us from Lombardia into Emilia Romagna, so we’re making progress.

The Via Francigena entry into Piacenza is nothing like as impressive or pleasant as coming into Parvia through the riverside nature reserve and crossing the river Ticino via the Porto Coperto, but it does bring you immediately into the old centre of Piacenza with its wonderful historic buildings and cobbled streets.

We soon found our accommodation tucked away off the busy shopping streets but still close to restaurants. What a contrast with last night! A host who offered a map of the centre and volunteered advice on things to see and places to eat, and a very comfortable room with interesting artistic decor: mostly not to our taste, but stylish nonetheless.

Having arrived earlier than anticipated, we got showered and changed before venturing out to buy lunch for tomorrow and see the cathedral. In fact, as we entered the cathedral we realised there was a eucharist service just starting so we joined the congregation. Our very minimal Italian, was just about enough to follow the liturgy with the help of a service sheet. It’s so sad that they have so little music to accompany worship, especially given the huge history of Italian church music. We found we could understand bits of the sermon, or at least recognised what bits were about but no more. More a lesson in Italian than RE, perhaps!

This year, Piacenza cathedral is celebrating 900 years since its foundation in 1122, and so its architectural style is romanesque and relatively plain. Unfortunately, as it was due to close not long after the service ended, we were not able to do it justice by our fleeting visit today. It is certainly worth another visit when we have more time.

Just across the piazza from the cathedral we found a nice little trattoria for supper, and then stumbled back to our accommodation exhausted. We have an even longer day ahead of us tomorrow but hope to sleep much better in a comfortable bed tonight.

Overall, today’s walk was not very interesting, and the river Po was scenically disappointing, but it was an important landmark in our long journey. Moreover it was also the 100th day of our pilgrimage!

Piacenza is definitely on our list of places to come back to explore further.

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!

We were very much in need of our rest today! We remembered to re-set our watch alarms, but were woken at 0700 anyway when the workmen started resurfacing the road outside our window. Fortunately the combination of double glazing and shutters keeps out the worst of the noise. Laundry done and spread out on and hung above radiators to dry, we set out to find somewhere to have a nice lunch. We found it at a small cafe on Corso Cavour where we ate a delightful salad of tuna, mozzarella di buffa, avocado and olives, with a glass of local white wine.

After lunch we set off to visit the Cathedral or Duomo, dedicated to St Stephen Martyr and St Mary of the Assumption. The building of this cathedral was begun in the 15th century, replacing two earlier churches. It is still incomplete as the intended marble cladding has yet to be added, although we rather like the decorative brickwork. The dome is the third largest in Italy after St Peter’s in Rome (not strictly in Italy, but Vatican City) and Florence, and very impressive it is. We could see the dome on the skyline well before we got to Pavia a couple of days ago, and inside the building it is breathtakingly huge. The dome is in the shape of an irregular octagon measuring 97 metres high and 34 metres wide, and is said to weigh some 20,000 tonnes. Supporting pillars recently required some additional reinforcement because of the huge load they carry.

One of the other features of the cathedral is a set of tombs of the early bishops, which we found slightly gruesome. Also commemorated here are several notable people associated with Pavia, including Ioannes Volta (1745-1827) who (amongst other things) invented the battery (known initially as a voltaic pile) and discovered that igniting a mixture of methane and air causes an explosion – the basis for the combustion engine. The University of Pavia was one of the oldest and most prestigious places of learning in medieval and Renaissance Europe, and still teaches vast numbers of students today.

One of the reasons we’ve been particularly interested to visit Pavia is the link with Lanfranc, former Archbishop of Canterbury (1070-1089). Lanfranc, who was the predecessor and very much the mentor of Saint Anselm, both at Bec Abbey in Normandy and as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born in Pavia in the early years of the 11th Century. The son of a magistrate, he was trained in the liberal arts and as a jurist, but gave this all up for a monastic life. He joined Bec Abbey in Normandy where he set up a school before becoming Abbot. His subsequent appointment to the Archbishopric of Canterbury coincided with a period of significant disagreement with the English King over control of the church and its property, which continued on after his death and the appointment of his pupil Anselm. See the blog entry for Aosta. A statue of Lanfranc can be seen over the south west door of Canterbury Cathedral.

It was while visiting Pavia Cathedral that we found reference to the Chiesa (Basilica) San Lanfranco: a former abbey on the west side of Pavia. Since we’d found no reference to our Lanfranc at the Cathedral, which of course was founded nearly a century after his death, we decided to take a bus out and have a look for ourselves to see what links we could find.

First, we went to the tourist office to get our pilgrim passports stamped, and to check how the local buses work, ie where to get tickets, and were assisted by a very helpful young man. We had a long and interesting conversation about Italian politics, the benefits of working abroad and travelling, and of learning about other cultures and languages. The younger generation of Italians is just as concerned about the reemergence of the extreme right-wing in Italy as is the rest of Europe. He was worried that people, especially the older ones, are voting for people they find entertaining, rather than for the policies they represent. Like us, he felt that the media representation of policies is too shallow. He pointed out that Italy is as it is now because of decisions made by his parents’ generation, and yet they bemoan the very changes they have brought about. Meanwhile, their children are just trying to navigate life as they find it to be now. There are some lessons for us all there.

Disappointingly for us, it seems that the San Lanfranco (Lanfranco Beccari) after whom the Basilica was dedicated, lived some hundred years after our Archbishop Lanfranc, and therefore this church didn’t provide the link we were hoping for. However we did find the remnants of a fresco depicting the murder of Thomas a Becket on the nave wall.

There are many other places of interest in Pavia but we have had limited time and energy for sightseeing during this visit. We will need to make another early start tomorrow to make the most of the shorter daylight hours for walking. Time now to go out to find somewhere to have supper!

We felt quite daunted at the prospect of today’s walk of about 30 kilometres after a long and tiring day yesterday, but hauled ourselves out of bed soon after the alarm went off at 6am. The good part was that we were going to be able to carry just daypacks, leaving most of our stuff at the B&B. The not so good part was that it was grey and drizzling as we set out, though not heavily, and it would take us the best part of two hours to get clear of urban Pavia, once we’d faffed around trying to find somewhere to buy a sandwich for lunch.

It was to be a day spent hammering our feet, knees and hips almost entirely on roads and pavements, often with cars and trucks whizzing past too close for comfort. It seems to be convention in Italy that when there is no walkway, pedestrians walk on the same side as the traffic. This means that one has to keep one’s wits about one when vehicles approach from behind and to put a stick out in order to get them to give you a wide clearance. If you don’t your left shoulder gets a very close shave: and often at a fair speed!

The church in the first village of San Leonardo was open, and quite grand for such a small community. Outside there was an information board about the Via Francigena, and the other places of interest that we would be passing along the road.

Ospedaletto was another small village of houses strung out along a busy road where no one driving through appeared to observe the 50kph speed limit, regardless of warning notices about speed cameras.

Just outside the village Tom spotted an opportunity to take a short cut along farm tracks and get us off tarmac roads for a while. We have been more hesitant about taking our own routes in Italy, partly because we’ve not wanted to have to back-track because of an irrigation channel we can’t bridge or jump over, and partly because there seems to be no right to roam in Italy as there is in France. So, on the whole, we have been sticking to the signed paths.

At San Giacomo there is a very interesting looking romanesque church, but sadly it was locked. According to the noticeboard outside it has been an important place for pilgrims since medieval times. However, the local community has provided a very good resting place for modern day pilgrims, with roofed table and seats, water tap, litter bin, and solar powered cellular charging point.

We then had another long stretch of road walking in the mizzle to get to Santa Margharita, where we found a recently erected pilgrim resting place, just like the one at San Giacomo and just right for a lunch stop.

After lunch, on leaving Santa Margherita, we passed through a flood defence wall and gate, reminding ourselves that this seemingly endless flat land is the vast Po valley flood plain. The defences had been erected in 2019. Today it was hard to imagine the enormous amount of water it would take to cover and flood this area, but clearly it has happened for the money to have been spent on protecting this village.

The sprawl that is Belgioioso was notable only for its barking dogs, the bane of a walking pilgrim’s life. On the other hand, it is Belgioioso’s municipality which has organised the very good pilgrim resting places in the local communes, which we much appreciated, not least for their supplies of fresh drinking water and a proper seat.

Continuing along the road for several more kilometres we eventually turned off onto a farm track adjacent to what we think was a huge grain drying facility as we could hear the roar like a jet engine and we had been walking past acres of wheat stubble.

The rest of the day’s walk was on unsealed tracks at last! Initially this was to circumvent a vast area of sand/gravel pits excavated out of the river terrace. Judging by the depth and area of the workings this must have provided most of the aggregate for construction of modern Pavia.

And then to get around fields bounded by irrigation channels which seemed to go on for ever!

After many twists and turns we eventually got to Santa Cristina, entering the village past its sewerage works (oof!) and small paddocks of various animals, including goats and horses. There was also an intriguing collection of old farm machinery with covers over them. Later, in the village itself, we passed what looked like a museum of rural life, so we guess the two may be connected. Unfortunately we were too late arriving to find out more.

We arrived at the railway station about a quarter of an hour before the hourly train was due, and were mightily relieved to sit in a warm train back to Pavia having completed the day’s walk. Tomorrow is a rest day and we are very much looking forward to it after two hard days of walking in a row. All in all this was one of the least interesting so far.

The manager of our hotel was very helpful and suggested two restaurants within a short walk which were open on Mondays, when many places are closed. We had to negotiate a road improvement scheme to get there, with no provision at all for pedestrians, so it was tricky to say the least! The seafood place we opted for was a good choice and worth the risks of getting there.

This morning’s breakfast was good and available from 0700, so we were able to make another early start, heading back into town to pick up the Via Francigena. The streets were busy with children being dropped off at school and adults heads down on the way to work.

Once out of town we were back into farmland and following farm tracks, walking under a grey sky which also meant it was warmer than the last few clear mornings. There seemed to be even more hedges and woodland than yesterday, providing more variety of scenery than the flat expanses of rice paddies further north.

After a kilometre or so we joined a path alongside the Cavour canal, which we later learned was constructed in the 1860s. It made for easy level walking, and we made good progress.

At around 1000 we arrived in Gropello Cairoli and were spoiled for choice of cafes, with at least four along the main street. We turned down the suggestion of croissants filled with flavoured cream (too sweet) but opted instead for a slightly tart jam biscuit which goes down well with cafe latte.

At the end of the main street the 17th century church of San Rocco confessore serves as a roundabout, which makes getting to it a bit tricky as there is no provision for pedestrians. It appeared well cared for, and had some elaborate murals. We were intrigued by the four silver-gilt busts behind the altar, and wondered whether they are perhaps of popes or cardinals?

Immediately behind the church we came upon two police cars with flashing lights, two policeman redirecting traffic, two men in orange hi-viz jackets, and three other men…one of whom was marking up a hole in the road. How many men does it take to mark up a pothole? Seven apparently!! What a contrast with the roadworks in Garlasco which must have broken all health and safety rules and certainly didn’t keep pedestrians safe.

Back out in farmland Tom saw some chub 6-10 inches long in one of the streams, the Roggia Castellana. These were the first fish we’d seen anywhere in the Po valley so far. The chub were rising to something that Tom was unable to identify. Further downstream on the same river there were also carp weighing 2-4 pounds. Unfortunately the i-pad lens wasn’t able to produce a convincing picture!

After another couple of kilometres we were surprised to be confronted by a village on a hill, the first higher ground we’ve seen in several days. We were going to sit by the bridge below the village to eat our sandwiches, but as soon we as sat down and opened up our sandwiches the flies descended on us so we carried on up the hill into the village.

Villanova d’Ardenghi was very quiet as it was by now lunchtime, but the church was open. Again, it looked to be well used and well cared for. Behind the altar were the same four busts we’d seen in Gropello, still without anything to identify who they represent.

Along the main street we were about to sit on a bench to eat our sandwiches when a van parked right in front of it. Slightly miffed, we decided to walk on, but were greeted warmly by the driver who turned out to be a very interesting man. Claudio told us he had worked in the Congo where he had offered his skills to train locals in construction skills. He had to learn some French, and was amused to have been a student alongside school age children. Claudio said he had been invited to stay in the most simple of homes, and commented on the generosity of people who have the least material wealth. He told us that he was not in good health now and asked us to say a prayer for him when we get to Rome, and we will gladly be doing that for him.

Down the road we saw one of the few butterflies still around and making the most of the late autumn sunshine. This one was sufficiently sluggish to allow its photograph to be taken – unlike those we saw back in the summer which flitted away before we could get close enough.

After another short stretch of walking on roads through farmland the route took us off-road into the Carbonara Al Ticino: not a type of pasta(!) but an extensive area of woodland nature reserve alongside the Ticino river, a tributary of the river Po.

After about 6 kilometres walking alongside or close to the river the nature reserve morphed into parkland on the outskirts of Pavia. There were several active canoe clubs near the city, with tramlines and winches for lowering in and hauling out the boats, and signs warning us not to trip over the ferrata.

The pedestrian entry to Pavia is via the Ponte Coperto, the covered bridge first erected in Roman times, but this one is a reconstruction of a 1351 rebuild. Apparently there is still a central pillar of the Roman bridge visible at low water, indicating that the river has changed its course over time. The medieval bridge was heavily damaged by bombing during the Second World War but was faithfully rebuilt. It has a plaque commemorating a visit by Albert Einstein who stayed with his parents here in Pavia for a short time.

Our B&B was a short walk through cobbled back streets, to the north west of the Duomo, near to the main railway station. As is common here, the apartment is tucked away on a courtyard behind small suites of professional offices facing onto the street. We were pleased to get there after a fairly long day’s walk.

Highlights of the day: talking with Claudio, walking through the nature reserve alongside the river Ticino and seeing some fish in the irrigation channels at last!