Via Francigena 2017

Many trees in Spain and Italy are pollarded. And also in many other places in Europe, according to this Wikipedia article. Basically it looks like the branches are cut off at the trunk. Makes for some funny looking trees. But this red bud in bloom is kind of pretty. 

We decided to take a break from being pilgrims and pretend we are Italians for a few days. We rented an airbnb in Pietrasanta for three nights. (So, we’ll be here tomorrow, Palm Sunday.) The apartment has a great kitchen so we don’t plan to eat out even once in Pietrasanta. We walked to a large grocery store this morning (1/2 mile away) and went a little crazy, as you can see from the above photo. For lunch we had delicious roast chicken with sun dried tomatoes (they sell them in the deli in oil, with amazing flavoring) and some great bread. Tomorrow for lunch we’ll have pesto with fresh pasta (both also from the deli) and grilled vegetables… there’s a nice little George-Forman-type grill here in the apartment. So, we aren’t actually cooking much but sure enjoying eating “at home”. The apartment has a good coffee machine, so we are all set. Yesterday, we bought some tomatoes at a nearby smaller grocery store. They were as good as or better than any tomatoes we’ve ever had, including fresh picked from a garden. We couldn’t believe how good they were. For dinner last night we had the tomatoes on sliced focaccia bread that we bought at the same store.

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.