I did meet some nice people as I rushed through in a haze of DDT. Every group of men has a joker and in this one it was the one in the white singlet. He told me the pope was in Aosta so I'd miss him if I went to Rome. I wished I could have stopped for longer but thunder and lightning were due.
I think this is one of my favourite photos. The young lady (Veronica) told me the way to the bar where I met this gentleman. His name was Angelo Oglino and had been a printer but was also an artist, has his own website and the nom du plume (or whatever it is in the art world) of Il Palestrino. His work has been likened in the press to Fontanesi who was an Italian landscape painter. I saw a collection of Fontanesi's works in the Gallery of Modern Art in Piacenza a few days later as well as some cracking works by other modern artists I'd never heard of before.
As you can see the scenery is changing as I move south with the mountains far behind and the flat rice fields taking over. This is outside Vercelli, a lovely town but I had to get on quickly as I was being sucked dry.
I've started to stay in religous hostels. They are always really interesting places and much more personal than the hotels. This is Tino who runs the pilgrim hostel in Mortada. There has been a sanctuary here since Charlemagne's time when the church was built to honour two of his knights killed in a battle with the Lombards. I had a bed in a sort of church hall but with really good facilities and Tino was kind enough to show me around the church the next day as well as cook me dinner. The picturre below is the outside.
Onto another hostel in Santa Christina. By now the rice is giving way to other crops and the mossie problem is abating. The problem I have now is the heat, especialy in the afternoon when it gets into the low 30s. I try to get a 7.00 start most days and get the majority of the walk over by 1.00 and then retire to a trattoria. The food is great with certainly the best rissotos I've ever had.. I can't believe how much liquids I get through. Yesterday I got through about 6 litres (mostly water). The guys below whom I met in the sanctuary are fans of different clubs (Inter and Juventus) but they agreed to have a fratenal picture for the blog.
The people in the anctuary in Santa Christina were brilliant. They really made me feelat home in the club (bar, meeting room, football club etc). They also had 4 Italian cyclists so they were full. It is really nice to see how proud and happy these people are to be able to help the pilgrims. I have some other photos I'll print but this system is playing up at the moment. In the meantime, thanks to Ezio, Andrea, Tiziana and Don Antonio for the way they welcomed me.Yes, it had a bar as well so I had a couple of beers there before an early night. It was a 30 km walk to Piacenza the following day. The guide book referred to a ferry crossing but I was a bit wary as I'd be in touble if it was not running as I had no other viable options. I rang the night before and Danielo the ferryman said he would be there.
What I didn't expect from a pilrgim ferry was a 20 minute run at water-skiing speed down the Po. It was one of the high points of the trip with Danielo up front drivng and me at the stern holding my hat on.
Not only is he a VF expert but I found out he is a big rugby fan and is taking his grandson to Milan later in the year to see the All Blacks. Did he know of Gloucester? Of course, Bertalami is the captain he said. He lives just on the towpath and he put a really ornate stamp in my pilgrim pasport. Great guy.
Next blog from who knows where.
If this is the pilrim life then it's for me.
Not only is he a VF expert but I found out he is a big rugby fan and is taking his grandson to Milan later in the year to see the All Blacks. Did he know of Gloucester? Of course, Bertalami is the captain he said. He lives just on the towpath and he put a really ornate stamp in my pilgrim pasport. Great guy.
Next blog from who knows where.
If this is the pilrim life then it's for me.
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