Day 2 - Lucca to San Miniato Fucecchio

The pilgrim route from Lucca to San Miniato is apparently very flat, quite boring and the walking path is beside the highway for much of the day. That is why it is suggested that the morning is spent in Lucca and then an afternoon train is taken to our destination. We did just that. With an 11.30 am check-out we relaxed and I caught up on the blog before we left the city by the recognised gate.

On trains from Lucca to Pisa then Pisa to San Miniato, we arrived at the Hotel San Miniato by taxi at 3 pm. All part of the plan. This is another lovely classic Italian style hotel.

Several years ago I followed the travel blog (and later published books) of a couple from South Australia. They walked from Rome to St. Bernard Pass one year and two years later they completed their pilgrimage walk from the Pass to Canterbury.  Their daily ritual was to stop at the first bar they came to after entering their destination  town. There they had a beer and a white wine and toasted Sigeric. Sounded like a good plan so this is our first, at the bar in the hotel.

Rain was threatening so we set off to explore San Miniato. San Miniato is like many cities and towns in Italy, it has an 'alto' and a 'basso'. Basso is the newer part of the town and is situated at the base of the hill. Alto is usually the ancient fortress type town situated on the highest point. San Miniato Alto is a long thin town running along a ridge and we walked quite a lot of it. In a couple of hours we saw the market, the churches, including the cathedral, several panoramic views and the highly decorated ex-seminary. We walked up to the Federico tower and generally looked at the architecture and the shops, before returing to the hotel for some journal and blog time.

Having not been in Italy in this cooler weather for some years I had forgotten about hot chocolate, Italian style. It is so thick you can almost stand your spoon in it, it is rich and dark and super delicious.

I haven't mentioned the weather ... most days have been pleasantly mild with temps between 24 and 26. There has generally been a shower or two every day but no wind.

Tomorrow we get serious about this long distance walking business.