All kinds of emotions

Day 14 on the Via di Francesco

The rain had stopped but there was water everywhere. I was up early, no one else was around and after my Morning Prayer I made my own breakfast and set off. I was feeling positive after yesterday.

I soon realised that the water that fell yesterday was still flowing this time turning each path into a stream.

I was glad I had brought my waterproof socks which meant my feet remained dry despite walking through streams. The trail had a beauty of its own despite the water everywhere.

There were views again!

I had been carrying my poles rather than using them as the repair meant I could use them but at the wrong height. I got annoyed and left them at a village I passed through. I thought I would try walking without poles. It was not a good decision, I could manage but it did not feel right.

There were loads of stream crossings some were quite challenging as the streams were swollen.

Later I came across this sign at a stream crossing.which was barely a trickle.

it seemed a bit odd that there were no signs on the difficult ones. The trail dried out as I wound my way around the hills on the way to the Eremo di Montecasale. This was a hermitage actually visited by Saint Francis so I was looking forward to it.

As I approached there was an impressive statue of Francis.

When I got to the hermitage there were two coach loads of visiting Friars and Nuns filling the place with their cameras. I didn’t find either peace or any real sense of Saint Francis. I did however light a candle as II went in noting that behind it was the prayer before the cross.

I had a look round as best I could, it was beautiful but I felt unsettled by the visit.

in the end I cut my losses and set off down the road to Sansepolcro. I would miss a couple of things associated with Saint Francis but more and more I felt the connection with him as I was walking. That’s where I felt closest to him rather than in sites or relics. I felt quite emotional as I walked into the city of Sansepolcro.

Of course it started to rain again. The city was the biggest one I had passed through since Florence. I checked in to my room and had a quick look round. At that time in the afternoon there were few people around. It was still something of a culture shock after the mountains and forests.

Later after a nap the sun came out and I went out again after the city had come alive. There were people everywhere. Oddly I felt an outsider, as much for the fact I was on my own and had no one to socialise with. I ended up getting a gelato, people watching and then going back to my room. My re-introduction to civilisation wasn’t quite what I had expected.