It’s been a bit, so it’s time to check in.
A train to Fidenza was needed. 3 days in the Po Valley with little shade and constant low-80 degree temperatures with few spots for water or food took a lot out of me.
Fidenza is a lovely town. Is it worth a visit? Hard to say, but it is one of those towns that make me glad I do these things. There is a suburban charm to it with a dose of Roman history. This is also where I have fully felt that yes, I am truly in Emilia-Romagna. And since we are in Emilia-Romagna, I naturally had to do some eating:
Trattoria La Boscherina was some good, old school stuff. The food was simple and I certainly didn’t expect the bottle to be as old as it was. I’ve had TrentoDOC in the past and enjoyed it. Was I blown away by this bottle? Not necessarily, but I did appreciate how well it held up. Most of all, I was really appreciating that I was in Emilia-Romagna and would get to at least eat my way through parts of it.
The next day would be about 28km. The climb of the mountains was starting and yet we still got a good bit of the open space of the Po valley. The day off helped and thankfully there were plenty of services along the way. FIdenza is one of the more normal starting points for people and this really is where I started to feel the Pilgrim spirit emerging (and coming across my first two Pilgrims!). The day would end in a town called Felegara which is really just a stop along the way.
While there wasn’t much to write home about with Felegara, Italy did Italy things and within that would emerge a lovely spot called Trattoria Squeri just a touch outside of Medesano:
The food I was all about. This was just the right amount of soul that was needed for a lovely 2 hour lunch break. And when I saw some Lambrusco by the half bottle on the list, I said: fuck it, let’s give this a go. Honestly, it wasn’t half bad! All I could think of was Roberto Rogness’ posts for many years where he’d espouse about Lambrusco and tbf, we do get a ton of crap here in the states. It was a fun wine to have and really fit with the meal itself.
The past week has been rough on me. This is a trial by fire and clearly a very tough trek. My legs just aren’t adjusting and now, it’s time for the mountains. I was facing a 22km day into the town of Castello di Casola and the next day, another 16km into the beautiful town of Berceto. The distance wasn’t really an issue as much as the climb and descent was. But, holy cow was I treated to some glorious views!
These two legs were tough!!! But it really seemed like each time I was getting down on myself, I’d look up and be treated to The Apenine Mountains in all of their glory.
Getting into Berceto took a lot out of me. But the town is one of those absolute gems you come across on these things. It is hard to compare, but maybe in a way it gave me the same feels as Betanzos/Estella/Viana do Castello did. There is just something about it that made me love it and feel with it. Of course, I also saw an opportunity to have some gelato in front of the Duomo:
I wish I had taken more pictures of the town to share, but really, I just wanted to take it all in. As I said, this town just resonated with me. I felt it and loved it. My legs were still screaming at me, and it was hard to walk. Thankfully, the host of my B&B was able to make a reservation at a wonderful spot called Trattoria Locanda Pasquinelli. After the past two days, I wanted to treat myself and when I looked at the list…it was Brunello time!
This meal filled my soul. And looking ahead, I knew that I needed to skip the next two stages. Last July I had a very scary and dangerous intestinal infection that required 2 surgeries to correct. Coming into this trek, yes, I wanted to challenge myself. But I wanted to see what I can accomplish with my body not being at the level I want it to be. The walk so far has been very tough, and I needed to be honest with myself and realize that doing 60-65km of walking over 2 days with a combined 5k feet of climb and descent would KO me right here. So, that’s exactly what I did as I moved onto a crap town called Aulla. I didn’t take any pictures of the town itself because they weren’t worth taking. Sadly, I missed out on Pontremoli, but it’s about the overall journey and getting to Rome in one piece. With that, I will end this update here…
.
