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We woke this morning to an unusual, and virtually unprecedented sight: sunlight was streaming in through our windows.
Che strano, as we say here in Italy.
We had a wonderful breakfast, during which I was able to practice my fractured and fractious Italian. Once our landlady realized that I had a rudimentary grasp of the language, she switched over to her native tongue, and I was given a linguistic workout. It was a fabulous opportunity, and I need to step out in my second language more frequently to continue to improve my skills.
Today we had a relatively short stage. According to the guidebook, it was less than 15 kilometers to our next stop (Borgo Valsugana) and it was virtually all downhill. Even the descent was supposed to be benign: a 130 meter drop over 15 kilometers. We spent the morning digesting our wonderful breakfast, and then left a little later than normal.
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| Brenta River |
We descended from the heights of Levico Terme, and picked up the bike path alongside the Brenta. The Brenta river is only a small agricultural ditch at this point; an Olympic long jumper could clear it with ease. The Brenta is going to be our constant companion over the next couple of weeks, as both we and it make our way to the sea.
We hiked east, with bikers whizzing past every few minutes. There were no complicated navigational problems on this day---one simply followed the bike path. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
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| Follow the Bike Path |
Which brings me to another major difference between the Camino Frances and the Via. As the astute reader will have noted, we have managed to go off course a few times over the past several days. The Via requires a much higher level of navigational ability than the Camino. Although I did not maintain comprehensive records, I would doubt if there is any section of the Camino Frances where you wouldn’t see a yellow arrow or the Camino’s scallop shell waymarks every five to ten minutes as you hiked along. The route is extremely well-marked, and you would have to be a very poor navigator to lose your way.
The Via has much larger intervals between its waymarks; occasionally it has no waymarks at all; and, as I have noted on preceding days, the waymarks occasionally deviate from the route described in the guidebook. If you walked thirty minutes on the Camino without seeing a waymark, the chances would be excellent that you were lost. On the Via? Not necessarily.
The Via is a more difficult navigational challenge than the Camino Frances. This is something that a directionally-challenged person might want to think about.
Today, however, we simply followed the bike path, which eventually led us to Borgo Valsugana. There were no intermediate towns on the way.
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| Borgo Valsugana |
Borgo Valsugana is a pretty little town, whose central core is built around the Brenta river. As the afternoon came to a close, we walked among the winding streets and admired the picturesque, river-fronting buildings. The highlight of the evening was the discovery of a grape vine whose trunks was almost as big as my waist. Its vines were trained up the side of the building, bringing grapes to three floors of tenants.
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| Mary and the Giant Grape Vine |
The town is small, lovely, and feels miles off the tourist track. We have enjoyed our stay here. Tomorrow is a much longer walk down the Brenta.
Today’s Distance: 15.2 KM
Total Distance: 234.46 KM
[Editor’s Note: I have been having occasional problems with the internet at some of the places we are staying. leading to posting delays].
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