Pilgrims process

I’m tempted to boast that in the last week, we’ve walked 50 miles through Tuscany. In fact, we have, and for the most part, it’s been wonderful, with beautiful views, comfortable accommodations, yummy food and wine, perfect weather and lots of time in nature, which I love.

But what about the pilgrimage part? What have I learned from walking for seven consecutive days from  town to town? First I’m grateful that we have the ability to make the walk, that we have time away from earning a living, and that we have the physical and mental health to challenge ourselves in this way. I’m glad that we are walking because we want to, not because we have no home, because we are refugees, or displaced people.

For us, pilgrimage has been a privilege. We have been welcomed wherever we have wandered. People along the route have been friendly and helpful. In a few places, pilgrimage has afforded us discounted admission or a free bus ride. 

The first two days were the hardest, the farthest, the biggest hills. Now we are accustomed to waking up, packing up, fueling up and hitting the road. The paths are well marked, and we have traveled place to place in daylight, arriving in time for afternoon coffee, beer, wine or spritz. 

Walking has taught me to be more patient, to take my time, to appreciate the journey as much as the destination. It has helped me appreciate what my body can still do at 64 and 360-plus days. It has made me think about my feet and all the places they have taken me, what a privilege it is to be able to walk, despite blisters and sore ankles. 

Yes, we’ve been in many churches along the way, but being outside every day has felt like one big church of trees and rivers, sun and shade, birdsong and agriculture, clay and volcanic lava under foot, and persistent annoying mosquitos. 

We’ve walked with intention and attention. Walking makes the days longer, time slows down on foot. You can’t rush or hurry. It takes as much time as it takes to arrive to your destination. We’ve walked all week for our friend Patrick, who is dying, lit candles in every church, prayed in our unreligious way for him and Randy and Alex. Our hearts are heavy but also full. We are tired but also wide awake.

We’ve talked a lot about death along the way, and have often felt the presence of Dante Alighieri, who walked these same paths after he was banished from his home in Florence, which led him to write his allegory about purgatory, hell and paradise. One can choose to live in purgatory or hell, or live for the promise of paradise after death. I prefer to live in paradise now, to make every day as close to paradise as possible. I wish that for you, too, and may peace be with you on your journey.

Siena

Siena is a big city on the Via Francigena and attracts many tourists, but when you see how beautiful it is, it’s clear why everyone comes here, including hundreds of nuns on trips celebrating the Jubilee year.

A view around every corner

Even the local fruitcakes are dressed up pretty

Il Campo plaza

The Duomo, which was intended to be the largest and most spectacular in Europe until the Black Death and structural problems put an end to construction in 1348. 

Church of St Catherine of San Domenico, patron saint of Italy and Europe

City view

St Catherine’s severed thumb in a reliquary. Her severed head is also on display.

Narrow streets and arched passageways

And some images inside the basilica, where I was fortunate to attend a short Saturday morning mass with a mass of nuns, or…

Nuns en masse

Arrivederci, Siena. We love you.

Walking back in time

I missed one day of posting to the blog and now I have millennia to report.

Let’s start here with John on the Via Francigena in 2025

He starts the morning on the route, which takes us through thick woods, open fields and tree-lined roads marked by ancient stone walls.

After a short time, we enter an old church in Abbadia Isola. 

It is a church dedicated to saints Cirino and Salvatore.

Dating back to the second half of the 12th century, it was built upon a more ancient complex that goes back to the 11th century.

The place has an ancient glow to it as sun streams thru tiny windows.

Once a monastery, the building next door now houses the Monteriggioni ancient history museum that documents medieval and Etruscan treasures found under the ground we stood on.

Pottery in clay

Etruscan coffins

More gorgeous urns and perfume vases

We stayed in medieval times as we continued to Monteriggioni, a fortress high on a hill, and in a nod to the 21st century, the inspiration for the locale of the video game Assasins Creed.

We stopped for a quick drink, and then hopped a local bus to Siena. Check the next post about our time in Siena. 

Another full day on the road to find out

Today has been an eclectic experience on the Via Francigena. Beginning in Colle Val d’Este, we stumbled upon an underground space called an oratorio, which upon close investigation, led us to a better understanding of a word we’ve seen in several places. At first, it seemed that the word “misericordia” had something to do with ambulances or health clinics. The word comes from Latin words "misereo" which means I have pity and "cordis" which means heart, or my heart pushes me to pity, mercy. Apparently, what we are seeing all over are acts of mercy by The Confraternities of Mercy, the oldest form of volunteer work in the world that remains extremely vibrant today. Founded in 1244 in Florence, they bring together ordinary citizens of all social classes and ages, committed "to honoring God with works of mercy toward others," all in absolute anonymity and completely free of charge.

The oratorio we saw was the place where this fraternity cared for people who died. 

The men carried the bodies on this bed-like stretcher.

Once downstairs in the oratorio, the bodies were welcomed by skeletons on the walls

To protect their anonymity, the misericordia volunteers once dressed in hooded garments. According to materials in the oratorio, the garments went from red to black during the plagues so they wouldn’t show stains from pus-filled corpses.

Ok, enough of that…

Much of today’s route took us along and across the Elsa River.

Brief picnic and water stop.

The water was clear enough to see fish, and an unusual light turquoise color.

Signs keep us on the route

Through woods and fields

Six and a half miles later, we arrive to the Castel Pietraio for a wine tasting and an overnight stay.

Not quite a real pilgrim experience. Sort of a 21st century, upscale pilgrimage with benefits.  🍷🥐☕️😉

Day 3 on the Via Francigena

Being a pilgrim, walking miles each day, allows one to see the world at a slower pace, reminds one of how big the world is and how small, how time and history are both very long and very short, and how a good way to spend each day is to pay attention and also to let go.

Today we departed the tourist-infested San Gimignano for an 8-mile, 5-hour walk up and down the Tuscan hills to Colle Val d’Este.

Leaving through the Porta San Giovanni, the imposing stone gate dating back to the 13th century

South of the city, you can see the city’s fortified walls. From inside the night before, we looked out thru the fortress's skinny pass through windows…

We also saw Dante, orating from his Divine Comedy. Then we ate pizza and gelato. 

This morning, we forded some streams…

Visited some churches and old monasteries…

And found evidence in the dirt that, in fact, millions of years ago, Tuscany was under the sea, which we learned accounts for the composition of the soil that produces tasty wine grapes.

Tonight’s stay is behind the walls of this castle below. It has been a popular destination for pilgrims and other wanderers since the Middle Ages.

So many beautiful views…

The campanile, or bell tower, on an empty street

Once again, the Madonna and Dante have the last word.

Dear Madonna, whoever seeks divine grace without first calling out to you would be like someone hoping to fly without wings. May you all find your grace and your wings.