Fall in Fanano (Italy)

Life is a combination of magic and pasta.

Federico Fellini

Fanano is a small town on the edge of Emilia-Romagna, just north of the Tuscan border. We were here just after the fall harvest of grapes and grains.

The first day, I wandered around the nearby farms.

A highland bull along my route just kept on chewing while he watched me pass (although it’s hard to be sure he could actually see me).

Not far to the north is the city of Modena, famous for its balsamic vinegar and fast cars- also the former home of opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti. I took a picture of the sign to help me find my way back to where I was staying.

The season was still changing while I was here - bees were sluggish, not flying from the Queen Anne’s lace, even when I was very close with my camera.

The vines were going dormant, with the grapes already harvested.

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.

Galileo Galilei

I loved wandering here, seeing the views of many small communities below me nestled in the hills.

Later in the week, the city of Fanano had an Autumn food festival, where local restaurants came to make dishes unique to the region; bands played, and lots of local wine was consumed.

The weather was unusually warm for October and it brought out the crowd. I’ve been to this town many times, but I’ve never seen so many people in the streets - and they were all eating, taking and laughing.

The band was really entertaining, inviting kids to come up and play instruments and involving the entire crowd in their music.

In another square some women reenacted the old method of stomping grapes to squeeze out their juice, while other local women sang in accompaniment.

Just after the women began to sing and dance, the sky turned dark and the air temperature began to drop. A sudden hail and rainstorm sent us all running for cover.

A rose after the hailstorm, surprisingly undamaged.

A view of the Corsini household (my husband, Tom’s, cousin) from above on our last day here.

Every house guest brings you happiness. Some when they arrive, and some when they are leaving.

Confucius

We had a great time here with Tom’s family, who took us in, fed us, and spent the week hiking, shopping and touring the local towns and parks with us. I feel really fortunate to know these generous people. Staying with them was a welcome rest after two weeks of hiking and moving around from place to place every day in Portugal and Spain. I hope I can return the favor someday.

Thank you so much for being here. I will see you next week!

Happy Halloween

The. thing under my bed waiting to grab my ankle isn't real. I know that, and I also know that if I'm careful to keep my foot under the covers, it will never be able to grab my ankle.

Stephen King

If each dead person became a ghost, there'd be more than 100 billion of them haunting us all. Creepy, but cool.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!~ William Shakespeare

So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

William Shakespeare

This is not the post I meant to write, but a power outage and a pumpkin carving party put me off schedule. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Thank you so much for being here! I will see you next week!

El Camino de Santiago

Truth is one, paths are many.

Mahatma Gandhi

Day one. The Path begins.

Prologue

My mother asked me for a truth

She knew would hurt her in the telling

And I told her, and it did.

The Way

I began to walk this storied path

Heavy hearted and confused,

Humbled by seeing myself

A little more clearly.

A truth unspoken for years -

Was just dishonesty.

I began to walk

But I was not a pilgrim,

I was just a traveler walking an old path

For the exercise; and to see a bit

Of the world I hadn’t seen-

To experience a little beauty.

Then I listened to the stories,

Told by other travelers.

Saw the weary man,

Who walked

Hundreds of miles from the north –

And I began to sense the power

of the road I was on.

As we climbed a steep rocky trail

I heard a man say

There was a place up there

To lay your burden down

symbolically

In the form of a stone -

At a cross in the woods

With a pillar of other stones

Beneath it.

.

We found the spot,

Sunlight streamed through,

lighting the cross.

A woman I had met walked up,

and placed her stone there,

bowing her head - letting it go.

Was her burden lifted?

I don’t really know,

But soon after that

I went looking my own stone.

Calla lilies bloomed along the roadside.

A humble pile of stones and a cross made of broken limbs where pilgrims symbolically lay down their burdens

Day 2 - Ponte de Lima - The Medieval and Roman Bridge and its church, The Igreja de Santo Antonio.

Along the route, there are many mementos from pilgrims who have passed through. Words of encouragement on a stone…

burdens symbolically left behind under a cross in the woods.

Day 3 We walk to the remnants of an ancient civilization overlooking the sea and the mountains beyond on our first day in Spain

the ancient ruins overlook the more modern fishing town of A Guarda below

The walk led us through sculptures of the stations of the cross to a little town on the top of a hill.

Back down at sea level, horses grazed along the Coastal Camino

while signposts and red breasted birds pointed the way

We arrived in the colorful fishing town of A Guarda for a lunch break.

We ended the night at one of the Paradores hotels (a nationally owned chained) in the town of Baiona.

On Day 4, We took a boat to the Cies Islands - pictured here is the long winding pathway we walked to see the lighthouse.

My fellow travelers lead the way

A mist in the distance created a magical blue haze over the islands and mountains.

On Day 5 We began the final trek into Santiago de Compostela - stopping at the little church of Santiago Apostol, where a kind volunteer stamped our trail passports and offered us a moment to rest and appreciate the beauty of the altar and its sculptures.

A final walk through the woods into the city.

When we reached the square, after passing through an arched tunnel where a man played the Spanish bagpipe to welcome pilgrims, the sight of the Cathedral made me burst into tears. I didn’t expect to feel that way, but it washed over me all at once. There was something really special about this journey - even if I only experienced a part of it. New friendships were forged, and an older friendship deepened. People come here for all different reasons, but everyone I met was changed by it in ways they didn’t expect.

On the 6th day, we walked back to the town from our hotel on the outskirts of Santiago, back to the church to get a tour of the Cathedral and its Museum. The sun was just beginning to crest over the trees and the old part of the city in the distance.

On this path let the heart be your guide.

Rumi

Thank you so much for being here! I will see you next week!

P.S. I want to thank my friend Kat for walking this path with me! It wouldn’t have been as special for me without her.