Today, I had planned to walk about 27.5km from Vercelli to Castell’apertole, but, to tell the truth, it seems like the distance is much shorter: about 23 km. So, it was a short walk, but there is a lot of work to do on it, to make it better: the Via Francigena exits from Vercelli following the road to Trino (SS465) for about 3km, a stretch of walk that is really stressful, since there are many many cars passing by, especially in the morning. After this first part, the pilgrim needs to take the provincial road to Larizzate, Lignana and Castelrosso and, after something more than 20km on a very busy paved road, the Via Francigena leads him to a service area that is the door to Castell’apertole.
The weather was hot and sultry today, but, like pretty everyday, I received some beautiful gifts from the Way. At the station, I met Wilma and her boyfriend, who have been walking with me for the first hour of walk. It probably was the hardest hour, since we had to walk along the statal road! After saying goodbye, I walked alone for less than 2km, when I saw a lonely biker riding slowly in my direction: it’s Accob, who, increduloud for the sadness of this stage, made me the great present of accompanying me to the goal, dodging cars and trucks along with me! He also gave me a very beautiful red bandana he had prepared for me and that is now hanging on my backpack: in this way, if you will see me passing under your home, you will not have any doubts about the identity of the pilgrim who is walking in the “wrong” direction!
As usual, the human aspect and the meeting I am doing, made my day a special one and, while chatting and drinking a Coke, I finally arrived in the B&B room where now I’m relaxing a little bit, countind the mosquitos I will have to smash before night… They will probably give me back half of the money I paid for the room, only because I’m making it mosquitos-free!
A touch of colour: while I was registering at the B&B, my eye fell on the copy of Zdenko Jakob’s identity card, who precedes me of a few days… It’s nice to know that, in the end, we are on the same trails and we are dealing with the same problems! Who knows if we will manage to meet between here and Lourdes!
Tomorrow, Torrazza Piemonte is waiting for me, while, on Friday, I will arrive in Turin! Buen Camino!
