Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Day 31 - San Biagio to Valli di Comacchio





A very difficult stage.


As I noted earlier, we had extended yesterday’s stage to San Biagio, hoping to reduce the length of today’s stage to Valli di Camacchio. We departed San Biagio a little later than normal, hiked through the town, and headed for the odd little path that runs back up to the levee. To reach the levee, you must hike through what appears to be someone’s yard, pass through a dense grove of trees, be attacked by a vicious swarm of mosquitos, and then scramble up an ill-cut trail to the top of the levee.


We completed the required protocols, and after I had swatted about six mosquitos that were tucking into Mary, we were ready to proceed.


The levee runs in a near-perfect straight line, for almost 25 kilometers. I began to take a series of photos at half hour intervals, just to convey a sense of the mind-numbing monotony that characterized this day.



Interesting Scenery


Scenery, Thirty Minutes Later



And Thirty Minutes Later...


This was once again a brutal day on the Via. We hiked the levee as the sun intensified. There was a light wind blowing, but it came out of the west, striking our backs and doing little to cool us. I gulped my water like a Boeing 747 sucking jet fuel during takeoff. I felt like a sieve. I poured water down my throat, and minutes later it re-emerged from every pore, sweat soaking my entire body.


We passed a few ruined and (presumably) unoccupied buildings that had been stranded in the countryside, surrounded by long fields of wheat and corn.



Abandoned Building


The day deteriorated. It was hot, the sun was kicking the stuffing out of us, and every step was painful. I was again led to question the routing of the Via. I cannot work out the logic of the route. It has been swinging east and west, zig-zagging through the Veneto and now Emilia-Romagna, almost as if the goal was to lengthen the route and try to take in as much farmland as possible. In my opinion, it would have been far more interesting to either take a coastal route (Padova-Venice-Ravenna) or stick to an interior route (Padova- Ferrara-Bologna-La Verna). At the moment, the logic of the route completely eludes me.



One of Many Interesting Photos of Hay Bales


The other great drawback is the lack of services. Today we walked at least 24KM without anywhere to stop and have a drink, buy some lunch, or even take a rest under a shady tree. There was no shade. The route runs through empty countryside, kilometer after kilometer of farmland, with nothing to break up the day. Even the Meseta, the greatly feared no man’s land of the Camino Frances, has towns every five kilometers or so.


Today, nothing. No relief anywhere. We were in the sun all day long. By the end, Mary was feeling it, and the last kilometer was brutally difficult for her. Heat exhaustion is a real possibility on this stage; I pity those who might attempt in in July or August.


Ultimately, the stage came to an end, as all of them do. But this one really savaged us, and I am feeling far less optimistic about the viability of the Via, after the past few days.


Today’s Distance: 26.9 KM

Total Distance: 553.4 KM

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