Reporting from Italy! I’ve got good news and bad news. First, the bad news: my gear situation went a bit sideways. I know, right? After weeks of obsessing over which water bottle to pack, I landed in Italy facing a clothing crisis. Somehow, I managed to pack only a single casual shirt for a 35-day trip, and I absolutely dread wearing the same outfit twice in a week! How on earth did I let that happen?
I had a stash of “extra clothes” packed: a dress, a pair of jeans, and a couple of casual tops. These got pulled from my bag along with my hair dryer when I weighed it and realized I was flirting with the upper weight limit for the baggage service.
There was room in the bag; it just weighed too much.
But solving one problem created another, which I discovered on our first morning waking up in Assisi. The white shirt I wore on the flight over was my only casual shirt. Then I untangled it from the dirty clothes on the floor; it looked like it had been rode hard and put away wet.
The day before, it still looked pretty perky when I got off the plane, but it started to wilt soon after.
I’m blaming the trains for my shirt’s wilted condition. At first everything was easy peasy. We bought our first set of train tickets with our credit cards at the airport terminal in Rome, but the self-serve ticket machines in the main train station wouldn’t take them. It wasn’t just us, thankfully; most people couldn’t get their cards to work.
I know, not very kind to be grateful that others were struggling too. But the idea that our cards were somehow compromised was just too much to comprehend.
Apparently, cash was working, except we only had 12 euros. We needed at least 3 times that for the tickets. Of course there wasn’t an ATM machine in the train station. Why? Good question. First lesson learned: bring more euros with you.
We eventually sorted it out after waiting forever in the train ticket office to talk to a real person.
OK, we are good to go with 50 minutes to burn. So we hung out at McDonald’s where we bought two small bottles of water so we could sit at the tables. With just 20 minutes left until departure, we casually walked over to platform “1” and boarded the train. We were laughing and feeling good about our travel acumen, but that all evaporated when Chuck said, “We are on the wrong train.”
As you can imagine, it was a mad scramble to get off the train before it took us to who knows where. Sadly, even though we ran to platform “1 East” on the other side of the station, we missed the train to Assisi.
Long story short, we eventually talked to a train conductor who told us which train to take and where to transfer so we could make it to Assisi before sunset. If I’d known the McDonald’s water was our last for many, many hours, I would have bought several liters. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.
The first train car had no air conditioning and was like a sauna, making my white shirt feel and smell like a dish rag. Finally, the stop for Foligno, where we needed to switch trains, was called. Which was yet another obstacle course. We had 15 minutes to buy tickets and find our platform. After lugging our bags up many flights of stairs, my poor white shirt was done.
Fast forward, the good news! No one but me seems to have noticed I’ve worn the same white shirt for four days. We will have access to laundry facilities on Sunday, so it will get a refresh. Once the pilgrimage is in our rearview mirror, I’ll get another shirt to wear. By then I’ll likely want something warmer, since we will be in Prague.
The other good news: we found the office in Assisi to validate our credentials for the Way of St. Francis pilgrimage.
We’ll get these travel documents stamped at each stop from Assisi to Rome, then submit them to the Vatican for the Pope to certify our pilgrimage and get our testimonials.
We also got our Tau cross to wear during our pilgrimage. Pilgrims wear it or attach it to their backpack. Think of it as a good luck charm. Attending the Pilgrim’s Mass at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is another important thing on our checklist. We figured we needed all the help we could get.
It takes 17 days to walk to Rome. So, as you might imagine, we’ll cover the pilgrimage in several Sunday Sips. We’ll give a few highlights from each day.
Day 1 - Sept 18: Assisi to Foligno. We estimated our walk would be 11.5 miles, but my iPhone says I walked 14, so there’s that. The trail is surprisingly well marked, with a blue-and-yellow blaze. It is much like trail running. Looking for the marker, your brain eventually gets programmed to find it.
Just three minutes after leaving the Supermercato, we encountered a nun who gave us a blessing. Well, at least I think she did. She smiled, pressed her hands together in prayer, and said something in Italian. Later, sitting amidst an olive grove, we enjoyed what were easily the sweetest, most juicy tangerines I’ve ever tasted. Perhaps it was the spell (or the nun’s blessing) of the breathtaking Spoleto Valley, but the ambiance made everything feel magical.
We ate lunch at a lovely Trattoria in Spello, where we met other pilgrims also having lunch: Maria and Mareita from Holland. “Buon Cammino,” they said as we said goodbye. We’d hear this many times from other pilgrims. It means Happy Pilgrimage.
Pilgrims need to get their certificates stamped each day. You can get them from hotels, churches, or the travel/information center. We got ours at the Cattedrale di San Feliciano in Foligno after finding a priest in the sacristy getting ready for Mass. Dianne bravely knocked and asked.
Day 2 - Sept 19: Foligno to Trevi. My step count before we went to dinner was 30,289, and I’m pretty sure many of those were going uphill.
While hiking, I’m listening to “The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout, which was a good choice. It’s a short one, so I’m sure I’ll listen to several more before the pilgrimage is done.
I love Strout’s books, and I’ll add this one to the list that I’ve enjoyed. It is described as “a poignant meditation on loneliness, friendship, parenthood, and the importance of truth in a capsizing world,” which makes it a good book for a pilgrimage.
I don’t know about you, but when I listen to a book while walking in a new space, I will associate the experience with the book.
Check back next week for Chuck’s report from Italy.
The latest Life In Michigan Podcast episode is out!
Dining on the Deck at Lake Forest Golf Club in Ann Arbor
This week we’re chatting with Gilda Johnson, owner of Lake Forest Golf Club. She shares her unique journey into the golf industry, discusses the secret to their from-scratch dining scene at Ellsworth Food & Spirits, and explore why local wildlife seems to love the course just as much as the golfers do.
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You’ll find things like this on the calendar! (Click on the image for more information.)
Have a great week!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1027678199749012/
Have a great week!
One thing for the last day: with 100 km or more on foot stamped in your credential, you can collect the Testimonium at St Peter's. Enter the square by the Percorso Oranti from the obelisk and ask at the Basilica reception desk. The one shirt has earned it. 🙂
We've taken the wrong train. But we always packed too much. I think you are doing great!