Today was as wonderful as the others but for different reasons. Today was a free day. It was random, unplanned and easy. A play day. We woke up when we felt like it and started our day with coffee and gluten free toast in our communal kitchen. We seemed to be the only ones using it and that was ok. Our host was kind enough to let us leave our bags in the apartment so we could enjoy the day.
We started with a walk to Guinigi Tower. It's a tower with a tree garden at the top and panoramic views of Lucca.
We paid our admission and Julie, already anxious, was ready to give it her best. Julie is claustrophobic and a little apprehensive about heights. She indeed gave it her best and made it half way until the stairs became narrow and the elevation quite obvious. She backed out with grace and I carried on, promising to bring back prize winning photos.
The stairs became increasingly narrow with every turn. Nearing the top, my hips grazed the railings on both sides, open to the many floors below.
As I surfaced, I was blessed with blue skies, views of the hills in the distance, towers and every rooftop in Lucca.
It was worth the climb and the 5€. I came down quickly and together we went to the Cathedral of San Martino. Here we acquired our pilgrim passports (proof of our journey with stamps from churches and establishments along the way). It ensures a certificate upon completion of our journey in Rome. Immediately we received our first stamp and free entrance to the Cathedral. It was magnificent.
We woke up to sunny skies but by noon the skies weren't sure if they wanted to be bright or gloomy.... sunshine prevailed.
We walked at least half of the wall perimeter of Lucca but after a while felt aimless and had the urge to retrieve our belongings and move on to our next town.
We enjoyed one last cappuccino and made our way through town to the train station.
I bought us train tickets online with an app that I LOVE. It's called Rome2Rio and has helped me navigate my options on every Camino... this one being no exception.
We had tickets within minutes and soon after, we were on a train with the high school kids heading home from Lucca. We arrived 9 mins later in Altopascio and found another stamp at the local library. We both agreed that finding a bathroom was a priority and we could not make each other laugh until we found one. As if my brain took that as a challenge, I pointed out that the trees here in Tuscany look like giant broccoli florets.
We still had not eaten and just like yesterday it had reached 2pm. We searched but found nowhere to eat that was open. So we decided to taxi to our hotel and walk north from there without our packs. Seemed like a great idea but who knew getting a taxi in Altopascio was as likely as winning the lottery. We tried one number but couldn't get an answer. They called us back 5 minutes after our first two attempts to tell us they were too busy. Julie looked at me and said, "then why the hell are they calling us back??"
We laughed and went for a coffee to figure things out. We sat on a sunny patio chatting and snacking and we stopped worrying about taxis and food for awhile. We were directed by our grumpy waitress to backtrack a bit to a garage. Seemed sketch to me but we trusted and when we arrived at the garage to a closed shop, we saw a business card taped to a window with a taxi number on it. Jules called and the driver said he was on his way. He was a sweet, older man and charged us a fraction of what we were expecting to pay.
Check in was a breeze at our new hotel, only 7kms from Altopascio. I planned to start from Galleno to shorten the first day. Originally the first day was a big one at 31kms but I knew if Julie's first day was too long, it would discourage her. So tomorrow will now be 24kms. We even backtracked without packs today to be able to walk a few kms on a section of an ancient Roman road.
We did not want to skip a stage.
I needed to walk today to recover from the disappointment I felt when I realized that in less than 6 hours of having my pilgrim passport... I managed to lose it. Clearly I am not the responsible one. What a bummer though ... ugh. Now I have to wait until we get to Monteriggioni to get a new one. I was really mad at myself for being so careless. Julie, being empathetic, desperately tried to give me hers to make things better. I just love her.
We have a large room with 2 beds, a balcony and a huge bathroom. It's plain but big and it serves it's purpose. The weirdest part is the toilet seat is so high that my feet don't touch the ground. Hahaha... I imagine this is what it feels like to be a potty training 2 year old.
Shortly after settling in, we headed back out and walked along the forested track with the old Roman stones barely visible with the green grass growing over top. It was quiet aside from the birds singing as the sun was sinking closer to the horizon. Before turning back we spent a few minutes petting horses at an Equine Hospital.
The last one I walked away from had a temper tantrum when we left him. He reared up and then stomped his feet in frustration. If he only knew how much I appreciated him and his beauty.
We goofed off a little being the only ones on the trail. I'm curious about meeting other pilgrims and wonder if we might just be the only ones this early in the season. We'll see after we get into a rhythm.
We made it back to Galleno for sunset and shenanigans.
We ate very little today so when we arrived at our restaurant shortly after 7pm, we ordered right away from our friendly waiter.
The food was amazing once again. Julie had a pizza and a salad. I had a fantastic steak, mixed veggies and potatoes. We shared a half litre of grape juice and our waiter surprised us with a shot of limoncello for dessert.
We took a picture with our new friends here in Galleno before saying "arrivederci and grazie".
We are organized, calm and ready to find our way in the early morning.
Buona Notte xx
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