⚜ Avvisi

Day 4 - Buongiorno Etruschi!

Gambassi Terme → Colle di Val Elsa (27 km)

Hi, I’m Florin and I write daily dispatches as I walk the Via Francigena from Lucca to Rome. If you missed the other days, you can access them here.

Today’s story will be split in two parts over the next 24 hours, because there is a French pilgrim insisting on showing me his magical pebble that he picked up on the way, the light blue rabbit with one eye called “Pietro” and explaining all about my horoscope signs. It’s how it goes in shared hostels. Tomorrow’s only 10 km to walk, so we’ll get to the longer post that I had in mind. That aside, let’s rewind to yesterday evening.

“Are you joking?” Rosa said, sipping on her espresso.

“Yes, you won’t believe it. He actually did it,” Luisa answered and shook her head.

It was 4 p.m. and I was sitting at the local cafe in Gambassi Terme to have my lunch. It came with a good dose of the local gossip. I tried to absorb it all. I don’t know exactly what HE did, but I knew it was very bad. Luisa’s head kept shaking in disapproval. She runs Pomodoro Cafe, the hub of local news and fresh pizza. Their own kind of avvisi. I regret not having my camera on me to take her portrait.

It’s all, I think, part of tradition, today’s topic – how we look back at the past and what it means for what’s on the horizon. I stumbled upon an exhibition on the Etruscans, the people native to Tuscany even before Rome was founded.

“That’s not Italy,” Francesco, from Turin said about Milan. I’ve heard similar things about Trento from a Roman. Almost every Italian who I meet has a healthy dose of pride about their town, city and region. Every single one can name a person, cheese, wine, food or product that comes from around their home – that, of course, does not apply to those who are from Milan or Rome, in which case they expect you to know why they are important.

“Tradition,” one pilgrim says, “comes from what your grandma does. And everyone’s grandma is different,” he adds. “The only tradition is to get you fat.”

Overall, a long but satisfying day. More on it tomorrow.

Saluti,

Florin