27 km according to GPS tracker, but it missed some pretty substantial bits so I'd say it's more like 30.
At least, this is what my legs are telling me this evening!!!
I departed the pilgrims' hostel in Altopascio quite early in the morning - pilgrims all get up at dawn. Sava was off at 5:30 am and I haven't seen him since, despite his sore feet! Davide and Simone took the train back home to get on with more ordinary tasks (such as moving beehives and attending the first day of classes at university - well, maybe not so ordinary!)
The present-day pilgrims' hostel is the yellow building in the middle on the right side of this picture
The view from the hostel
Altopascio was practically built to meet the needs of pilgrims. All of the old town was originally one big hostel complex; the restaurant where we ate last night was where the pilgrims dined.
Leaving Altopascio
A section of the old Via Francigena with the original pavement
New boots tread old roads
The GPS signal was interrupted coming out of Altopascio, and also I unintentionally stopped the track when using the map to find my way after briefly losing the Via Francigena!
Part one above (before I got lost), part two below (after I found my way again)!
Wild cyclamens were everywhere in the woods
Ready for the harvest
Ponte a Cappiano, where there is a hostel right on the bridge. It looked lovely, but it was too early to turn in for the night!
Ponte a Cappiano
Fucecchio - a ghost town at 2 on a Saturday afternoon
Lots of stuff in this house in Fucecchio - Indro Montanelli's home, the headquarters of various associations, and the bar and clubhouse of one of the contrade
They have a palio in Fucecchio too
That's the tower at San Miniato off in the distance - and I need to be there before nightfall!
Crossing the Arno - a major milestone
Grape harvest on the way to San Miniato
It's still a long way up there!
But they're flying my flag, so I plod on uphill
This is it! The monastery of San Francesco. Built on the spot where the saint himself stopped in 1219
Pilgrims at dinner in the monastery refectory
Silentium! I should sleep well here!
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