Day68 Fidenza to Medesano – Hills have appeared

The morning started early and we were out walking at 7 am. Of course we had to make a couple of stops at bakery and a cafe for breakfast and a lunch too. “Slices of pizza” for a well rounded diet. That is how the saying goes, right?

Morning Update

The big city of Fidenza is quite lively. All walks of life are visible within a few city blocks. It was actually nice to walk amongst the middle-school kids heading off to class, to see the moms dropping off the younger ones at primary school and to walk past the more senior citizens walking or resting in the park. It seemed alive.

https://youtube.com/shorts/9SZjPJMgTHA?feature=share

Finally we walked out of the city, off of pavement, and onto soft dirt trails. All my body parts gave a sigh of relief. Plus we began climbing hills and could see the mountains we will be climbing for the next two days. What beauty the mountains provide.

The sunrise was beautiful. And we stumbled across a church dedicated to Thomas Becket, who visited here back-in-the-day. Images of walking in. Canterbury flooded back into our minds. Unfortunately, the church was locked. We had to satisfy ourselves with the information plaque. It was a shame because it sounded interesting.

• 

• 

• 

As we are walking, we try to be present and not always looking at maps on the phone etc, There are times we do glance at the GPS. Sometimes, the map clearly shows an easier route than the one we’ve trodden. It seems pilgrims are chosen to climb the biggest and steepest hill in the village. Some communities must have a meeting to determine where it would be fun to send the pilgrims next. Today one village obviously must have enjoyed watching us practice stretching our climbing muscles as we went straight up a steep hillside and then along a ridge only to come right back down the same hill. Haha…”Fun with Pilgrims”.

Oh, by the way….we have a BIG announcement!!!

We climbed the last hill into the town of Medesano where our lodging is for the night and promptly found a bench in the shade to have our late lunch. Cold pizza and an apple was on the menu today. While we were eating, Paolo from Portugal walked into town. It was nice to chat for a few minutes but soon he was off, walking more kilometers before we finished lunch.

The village had all the necessities along the Main Street: a grocery, a cafe and bar, and our place of lodging. After grocery shopping, we headed down the street to our place of lodging. Whil waiting for our hospice to open Paulo from Lisbon walked past. When we walked in the door to check in, Stephen from Belgium was already inside, signing in for the night. It is fun to see familiar faces of fellow pilgrims.