Road to Home 2023 Day 87: Filetto - Bibola

Si nasce non soltanto per morire, 

ma per camminare a lungo, 

con piedi che non conoscono dimora 

e vanno oltre ogni montagna.

-  Alda Merini

The Wi-Fi at Gredo Antiche Dimore B&B in Filetto was so good last night that I was able to participate in an online yoga lesson, using the bath mat and a towel as an improvised yoga mat, squeezed into the space between the bed and the bathroom door 🙃. 

But the term B&B is used loosely in Italy, and this bed did not actually come with breakfast, so in the morning I put the kettle on and made instant coffee to wash down the extra croissant I had purchased at the bar yesterday specifically for the purpose. 

I ventured outside, and found myself in the fog! An autumn mist had risen from the Magra river. For the first time since Saint Bernard's Pass I put on my jacket, just to keep the damp out.

A short walk brought me to Virgoletta, one of the prettiest villages on the Via Francigena! The centre is slightly off the route, up a few steps, but it's well worth the detour, and it only takes ten minutes to see the village - unless you give in to the temptation to sit down and enjoy the view at one of the many picnic tables and benches in the village's squares.

Just after Virgoletta the Via Francigena passes another picnic area by a fountain, with an amazing view of the village perched above. Then the route follows a path through the forest, which becomes a narrow road paved with stones, of medieval origin, according to a signpost along the way. The uneven stone surface was hard on the feet, but not nearly as hard to walk on as the muddy ruts that followed,  in an unpaved section of the same road. The reason for paving these roads with stones was in fact to prevent the soil from being washed away with the winter rains, making the road impracticable for man or beast. 

At a rest area along the path I met up with Shaun and Ann - who had actually stayed at the same B&B as me in Filetto, though none of us realised that last night. Together we crossed a beautiful stone bridge I remembered crossing with Mariella when we walked this section in 2020 on our way to connect up with the Via del Volto Santo, the path connecting Pontremoli with Lucca on the inland side of the mountains, through the beautiful villages of the Lunigiana and Garfagnana. 

Going the opposite way on the same bridge in September 2020

The stream under the bridge

The enchanted woods with their ancient stone roads and fairy-tale bridges - you half expected a troll to emerge from underneath - finally ended with a cluster of houses that goes by the name of Fornoli.

We continued along a (modern) road to the castle at Terrarossa, and then into a busy shopping street, where we were so dazed by the modern world, after coming out of our enchanted forest, that we walked into a giant do-it-yourself store in search of groceries, thinking it was a supermarket! 😅

From Terrarossa we followed a bicycle path into Aulla. It was now noon, and we found a small restaurant in the old town centre in which to rest our weary feet and fuel up for the coming hill. Shaun and Ann had booked a room at the bed and breakfast in Ponzano Superiore, and I also decided to go on a little further, as it was only lunch time and I didn't fancy spending the whole afternoon in Aulla. I have been there twice before and pretty much exhausted the town's possibilities; there isn't that much to see, as evinced by the fact that the only photograph I took in Aulla was of my lunch! 😆

So I researched accommodations over lunch, made a couple of phone calls, and found a place to stay in Bibola, the first village at the top of the big climb after Aulla. 

What to say about the big climb? It was steep, and hot... good preparation for walking in Liguria! 😄

Climbing high above Aulla

Wild cyclamens in the woods on the way up

Finally... Bibola!

At the top, I said goodbye to Shaun and Ann and turned off the path into the village of Bibola. Like Virgoletta, it is only a little way off the path, but well worth taking a few moments to explore! Another reason to take your time on these stages of the Via Francigena. 

My accommodation was right at the very top of the village, at the foot of the castle! I have a little house all to myself, a pretty good deal as it cost the same as my room at last night's B&B! The house has one bedroom and a sofa-bed in the living room, so walkers usually book it in groups of three, four or five; holidaymakers can also book it for several days as a base from which to explore the area, so it may not always be available. It's on airbnb, though I found it in the list of pilgrim accommodations on gronze.com and called the owner directly!

View of Aulla from my window

Now that I've climbed all the way up to the castle above the town, I believe I will stop here and enjoy the silence of my little house, interrupted only by the sounds of the birds that seem to be nesting under the roof tiles. I hope to post more pictures of Bibola in the morning!

Filetto - Bibola 21 km

Almost in Liguria!!