So Day #2 on the Via Francigena has come to an end. And I’ve got to say today was a bit tougher than I had expected.
After I posted yesterday’s blog, I realised that none of the restaurants in the small village I was staying in were open, hence I went without dinner last night. So first thing this morning was to walk about 4.5kms to visit a COOP supermarket (a little similar to SPAR back home). €7 later and Chef Wilde carefully constructed the “VF Breakfast of Champions” – beautiful mortadella from the Chianti region, some amazing cheese, and the crunchiest buns. With some yoghurt for dessert.
The song of the day made an early showing. To get a better variation, each day I download a six to eight hour audio block from a great online radio station that I often listen to – Radio Paradise. A lot of the songs on the mix I’ve never heard of so it’s a great way to experience new musical genres. But the first song that played this morning as I left my accommodation was very familiar – ACDCs “Long Way to the Top”. That said, in my mind the lyrics changed very quickly from “it’s a long way to the top, if you want a rock and roll!” to a more VF-appropriate “it’s a long way to the Pope, if you want to walk to Rome!”. A close second was the very apropo ‘Walk this Way’ by Aerosmith.
The Breakfast of Champions really did hit the spot and I’m glad I fuelled up because the next few hours were up and down some pretty steep terrain. But despite the sweat (no tears) I was able to walk across the top of the range at times and the views were just spectacular.
And then the heat kicked in big time. Coupled to this were some pretty arduous sections of the path, which were just entirely made up of large rocks (see picture below). So my feet did get a bit mangled through that process with a blister forming. I’ve just popped down to the COOP in my new town, Buonconvento, to grab a few soft pads to control the blister going forward.
Only saw one other pilgrim walking today, a young university student that’s studying communications and journalism. When I asked where, he said…Israel. I made sure that our conversation stuck to VF-related themes. And then we said our goodbyes, and off I went.
I’m sure I’ll sleep tonight. Looking at another 20kms tomorrow, followed by a rest day…which is well needed, due to the heat.
Buon Cammino!
VF Breakfast of Champions!
