This part of Italy seems more prosperous than Spain although both countries have been hurting economically for some time. We have seen few abandoned construction projects in Italy. We saw hundreds in Spain.
Spain has much more roadside litter. Italy has very little, although I’ve noticed a little more since we have been in Tuscany.
In the parts of Italy we have been in, farms are much smaller. More like family farms. We were amazed at the huge agribusiness type farms in Spain along the Camino. On the other hand, we saw many more home vegetable gardens in Portugal and Spain than we’ve seen here in Italy. We are starting to see a few more now that we are in Tuscany. Also very few farm animals here in Italy. Lots in Spain.
We are starting to see vineyards and olive groves, but they are small. In Spain, especially in La Rioja, the vineyards went on for miles.
We’ve had more sun, much less rain here in Italy than we had at the same time of year in 2013 in Spain. But, of course, that would vary year to year. Both are very green this time of year. Both have beautiful flowers in the spring. Wisteria, lilacs, tulips, red bud, huge long list. Above photo is gorse in mountains. We saw a lot of that in Spain as well. We have yet to see any heather here in Italy. (Maybe it was in the mountains we skipped by train?)
Food and lodging are about 25 to 30% more expensive on the Via than on the Camino.
To our surprise there are not nearly as many coffee bars here, along the Via at least. Both countries make the milky coffee we like. Café con leche in Spain and cappucino in Italy. The milk in a cappucino is much foamier and we tend to like Italian coffee better. ☕
People in both countries are kind and helpful. Only a small minority of the locals along either Way speaks much English. We’ll probably find more English speakers as we get deeper into touristy Tuscany.