We’ve been so busy there just has not been time to post, for which we apologize to our faithful readers.
After a wonderful trip to Germany visiting Lena’s family
(more posts on that shortly) we returned to Siena and Italian language school.
Our sister Jane and brother in law Jim, were there
and we had a wonderful time catching up with them (also more posts on that to come, for sure).
We left Siena yesterday, training to Sarzana, to walk another piece of the Via Francigena (the “VF”), a pilgrimage dating back some 500 years. Last year, we walked the VF from Siena to Rome, so this year we will walk from further north down to Siena.
We were not expecting much when we arrived in Sarzana. All we knew about it was that it was a stop on the VF (which does NOT mean there will be much there, other than a bed and, usually, a shower). We had had a great lunch in Siena with Jane and Jim so we didn’t need dinner, but we were hoping to at least find a glass of wine at a bar.
Imagine our surprise, and delight, to discover that Sarzana is a thriving town with many bars, restaurants, and sights. The beach isn’t far away and we suspect there are a lot of visitors in the high season. Now, in. mid October, while the bars and restaurants had clients, there was a lot of excess capacity.
Sarzana is a walled city, with a stunning fortress.
Although this is low season, the town was quite lively. We had many choices for our aperitivo, and selected a bar which seemed to have only Italian speakers. We had a few glasses of Vermentino, the local white, and watched the tourists (Italian) and the locals in our bar. We then turned in early, to rest up for our trek.
ITALY, GERMANY, AND MORE! 