Via Francigena nel Sud Day 16: Faicchio - Telese Terme

Road to from Rome Day 16: Faicchio - Telese Terme

17 km + half-day of rest

Total since Rome: 302 km

Having separated from the main group, Alfredo and I were finally able to take advantage of our tendency to wake up early in the morning: we set off as soon as it was light and were well on our way before the sun rose. We stopped at a bar in Faicchio for cappuccino and croissants as we had left our accommodations too early for the breakfast service. At the table next to us, a group of older men sat chatting in the local dialect; we got talking to them and I explained that we were walking the Via Francigena, which starts in Canterbury. I pronounced it CanTERbury as the Italians do, and as I have learned to do here to make myself understood; one of the men at the next table corrected me, saying in perfect BBC English: "You mean CANterbury?" It turns out his family moved to the UK when he was a child, just after the war, and he has lived in London ever since, but comes back every year to help his friends with the olive harvest!

What were the odds of meeting a Londoner at a small café in Faicchio, a small village in the Italian province of Benevento, at seven o'clock in the morning?? 

Further along the way we spoke to an olive grower driving a tractor with a trailer full of rocks, on his way to repair a wall. He said the olives are small this year and won't yield much oil, due to the drought. They looked big enough to me, compared to the tiny olives we have in Liguria, but I guess they are normally even bigger here!

The olive farmer told us a "shortcut" down to the Abbey of San Salvatore Telesino, which in any case coincided with the route of the Via Francigena. Today again we did not see a single signpost or waymarker, so I had to pay close attention to the GPS track. Our guide for the past week, Annalisa Galloni of Anime Erranti, had sent me the most up-to-date GPS tracks for this route. As the Via Francigena nel Sud is still under definition, it's important to make sure you have information on the latest route!

In any case, the Abbey was closed: it had been opened on appointment especially for our friends of the group that passed by yesterday, but does not have regular opening hours for passing visitors or pilgrims.

So today's stage was memorable mainly for its natural beauty, walking through olive groves and vineyards, munching on grapes from vines that had clearly been abandoned, overgrown with wild plants and therefore definitely not treated with any chemicals! The last stretch was through the forest, right up to the entrance to the town of Telese Terme. We were standing trying to decide what to do next in front of the spa that gives the town its name - which unfortunately closed for the season only a couple of days before we arrived - when we spotted the President of the European Association of the Vie Francigene coming towards us. Another amazing coincidence! He suggested we join the rest of the group at the Grand Hotel, and we did, for, despite its impressive name and appearance, the Grand Hotel Telese is actually very economical!

Pilgrim laundry in the Grand Hotel