Suddenly I had the feeling that I was walking without thinking. That I was no longer consciously taking my steps, but rather that I was just walking. It was as if there was an inner being inside me that was moving me forward. That was telling me where to put my feet. From the outside I seemed to be doing it intuitively, from the inside it felt like I was being remote controlled. I was a little bit beside myself, but on the other hand I was fitting in wonderfully with this universe that surrounded me. I was obeying a cosmic order and was playing my part in it, taking my designated place there, completely normally. Where else should I be, and what else should I do?
- Dagmar Höner, 111 Gründe, Pilgern zu gehen (111 reasons to go on a pilgrimage)
Twenty-five kilometres along a cycling track. All flat, along the valley floor, beside the river Brenta, just a small stream here, so close to its place of origin in Lake Caldonazzo. With cyclists whizzing by in both directions, passing too quickly for any interaction beyond a wave of the hand or a quick hello.
Unless they fall off! Three small boys passed me on their bikes, going the opposite way; their dad was up ahead of them. The last little boy went over a pothole and wiped out. I turned back to make sure he was OK; just a grazed knee. The other boys called out for dad to come back, and we got talking; dad is also a long-distance walker, and has just come back from walking the Via Vandelli, a week-long hike connecting Modena with Massa. "Too hot at this time of year," he said. "I should have started out earlier." I couldn't help agreeing!
This was about the only encounter I had today, on this "Way of Encounters", until I got to Borgo Valsugana, around eleven thirty. There, a man asked me where I was going, and warned me insistently about the dangers of walking with poles. Your body gets used to having them, he claimed, and then you need to walk with poles all the time. Somehow I can't see that happening. After all, I only use poles when walking a Long Walk, not on day hikes with a light backpack, and certainly not when walking around town and doing my shopping. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion! I pretended to be interested in an exhibition in the courtyard of the town hall, just to shake off the anti-pole man. Then I stopped in at the tourist information office to get a stamp on my pilgrim credential and asked for recommendations for what I could see in Borgo Valsugana with half an hour to one hour of time to spend.
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| The Venetian bridge |
Borgo Valsugana
The Roman town of Ausugum, now Borgo Valsugana, developed around the river Brenta in a particularly narrow part of the valley. Its location on the Roman Via Claudia Augusta has made it an important point of connection between Trentino and Veneto since ancient times. In 1862 a major fire destroyed a vast portion of the town, which was rebuilt but suffered terrible damage again during the First World War, when the town found itself right on the front. About a third of the buildings in the city were destroyed, while the other two thirds were badly damaged.
Despite this dramatic history, Borgo Valsugana still has a bridge in Venetian style, built in 1498, and a number of historic buildings, including its churches, town hall and castle, high up on the hill behind the town.
After my whirlwind tour of town, and a stop by the grocery store for dinner supplies, I went into a café for a bowl of refreshing gazpacho soup made with watermelon and strawberries. Not exactly local cuisine, but it hit the spot! 😋
I had eight more kilometres to walk, and Silvia, my hostess at B&B La Casa di Campagna, had to go out at three in the afternoon. So I returned to the cycling track and set off speed-walking towards Ospedaletto. The route along the river was very pretty, and the strong breeze blowing through the valley made the heat tolerable. Though it also blew the brim of my sunhat up all the time, so I eventually gave up and took it off, walking with the sun in my face. That and a pebble in my shoe made me very grateful to see the farmhouse by the cycling track come into view!
I have the whole apartment to myself, as no-one has booked the other room. Silvia even put a beer in the fridge for me, along with some of their own cheese and eggs from their chickens. Cheese omelette for breakfast tomorrow!!! I asked for a spot of milk to put in my coffee, and Silvia said I'd have to wait until the evening milking, as they'd used all the morning milk to make cheese. - Her husband has just knocked on the door, bearing a jug of fresh milk and wearing a straw hat, the very image of a mountain farmer! 😄
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| B & B La Casa di Campagna |
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| The view from my room - with laundry |
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