“Destiny has a lot to do with it, but so do you. You have to persevere, you have to insist” - Andrea Bocelli
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today was a magical, short, short sunrise hike.
i walked fast but stopped often to take pictures. I was lost in thought, and before I knew it, I was lost in muddy fields of grapes.
what I eventually found was a cappuccino-brioche and a coffee at 8:30am, but I didn’t find my friends ahead or behind me until I reached the city.
Almost as soon as I stepped in the city walls, I saw Alice then Max stepping out of the store.
“What happened? We almost organized a mission to find you!” One said
“No, if you got all the way across France by yourself I knew you would find us here” sthe Canterbury - Rome pilgrim said.
It was true. Nowadays I wonder if I had to walk so much alone as I did in the first month , I would be able to after enjoying about a week of traveling south in an Italian army.
But the soltitude when I was lost few hours was also in its way, wonderful. The morning sun and free rythmn eased the grinding wheels of my mind today.
The reunion inside the city was a good feeling.
They even managed to save my spot inside the very-hard-to-book pilgrim hostel.
No reservations, just show up as early as possible with your credential to get one of 10 beds when the place opened at 2PM.
I remember another Via Francigena pilgrim far ahead of me describing the way things worked in this part of the path. He grumbled that swarms of Italians would descend on the cities close to Rome and book up everything out ahead of time, forcing him to wild camp every night.
I remember praying to God when it was my time I could somehow be part of the Italian swarm and not have to sleep outside.
And today I am very grateful.