La Via Francisca del Lucomagno

John and I have been adding a cammino a year to our vacation time these past 5 years. We’ve found that not only do they satisfy our love for trekking, but they give us an opportunity to experience new areas, towns, food and whatever we get to see or do on each day of the trip. Our most recent cammino took place in the northern region of Lombardy, Italy. The complete cammino starts in Costanza, Switzerland, but we opt to do the Italian section: an 8 tappa (day) 135 km walk. This camino begins in the lake town of Lavena Ponte Tresa and is completed in the university city of Pavia. With a few added days prior and post cammino, our time in Lombardy totaled 12 days, our first time exploring this region.

As this cammino was setup to start in one town and end up 135 km later in another town, we were lucky to be able to use trains to work out our transportation from home and back. We are only a 20-minute drive from our train station in Vasto/San Salvo. Here we caught a train to Milan with just one change in Pescara. Our first night was spent in Milan, our first time there for sightseeing. Huge, busy city, but we had to make certain to see the lovely Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II. As we were more focused on getting our trek started, we only gave Milan an afternoon, then an evening out for some great pizza, to head back to the train station the next morning.

As we still had to travel from Milan to our start town of Ponte Tresa, we caught a few more trains to our destination; from Milan to Lugano, Switzerland to Ponte Tresa. After passing Lake Como and entering Switzerland, we switched to a narrower track train to take us to the lake border town of Ponte Tresa(Swiss side). Here, we walked from the station through customs control in Italy to the lakeside town of Lavena Ponte Tresa. We relaxed that evening at a lakeside hotel, had dinner in their excellent restaurant, and prepared for our next morning’s start with a good night’s sleep.

Tappa 1 , We begin! – Lavena Ponte Tresa to Ganna. 14.2km/8.8m. A gradual, relaxing climb from the lake up through forests and parks, consisting of a few tunnels. This particular part of the trail was once the tramway in the area. We passed through quaint mountain villages, rested by the side of a lovely lake to eventually arrive at Badia di San Gemolo in Valganna, our destination town for the night.

The Abbey of San Gemolo in Ganna is an architectural complex made up of the church (consecrated in 1160), the bell tower, of Romanesque architecture, the cloister, the guesthouse and the monks’ homes.

Badia di San Gemolo

We stayed in a local hotel that specialized in risotto. The portions were generous as well as delicious, and we slept well from our first day of ‘walking’.

Tappa 2- From Ganna to Varese, 19km/12m. Today would be our most challenging day due to elevation gains and wet trails. The going was rough for the first hour on very rocky trails that had seen rain most of the night and into the morning. But the forests were beautiful and refreshed with the rain, as we slowly found our way to the entrance of Santa Maria del Monte. There would be more elevation to push through, but the views and multiple chapels were compelling. We stopped at the top for a well-earned lunch of gargantuan, delicious paninis at a local cafe, then a visit to the stunning Santuario di Santa Maria del Monte.

“The Via Sacra del Sacro Monte of Varese is a wide cobbled avenue that climbs for more than two kilometres along the slopes of the mountain until you reach the Sanctuary of Santa Maria along a path marked by fourteen chapels dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary (the 15th mystery is celebrated in the sanctuary).The Sacred Mount of Varese together with other Lombard and Piedmontese Sacred Mounts has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003.”

Definitely a challenging but very rewarding day!

Tappa 3 today. Varese – Castiglone Olona 15km/9 m. We have now moved out of the mountains into lower elevations. The morning was filled with lovely wide-open vistas and fields and a well-preserved stone chapel. Our lunch stop was at a local takeaway pizzeria.. hmmm. How could we manage this? John’s hilarious but ingenious transport worked brilliantly as we searched for a comfortable place to eat along the trail. We enjoyed some appertivo time at a local bar in the historic center of Castiglione Olano and topped off the day with a very detailed and interesting tour of Chiesa Collegiata dei Santi Stefano e Lorenzo. Our guide was outstanding!

Tappa 4, Castiglione Olona- Castellanza 21 km/13m. A peaceful hike today along the River Olona. Most of the villages were off trail, some being a good distance. We stuck to the trail, pushing on through some more rain, to take our lunch break at the captivating Monestero di Torba.

The Torba monastery is located in Gornate Olona, in the Torba area, on the slopes of the hill on which the Castelseprio archaeological park is located. The archaeological complex is made up of the castrum, the village, the church of Santa Maria foris portas, the remains of the basilica of San Giovanni, those of the church of San Paolo and other religious buildings; the monastery, with the church of Santa Maria and the Torre di Torba, managed by the FAI, is part of the same unicum. It is part of the serial site “Longobards in Italy: places of power”, including seven places full of architectural, pictorial and sculptural evidence of Lombard art, registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in June 2011.

it.wikipedia.org

We topped off our day with an outstanding dinner in the city of Castellanza. More seafood for me!!

Tappa 5 …..Castellanza to Castelletto di Cuggiono.18 km/11 m. The B&B in Castellanza was overflowing with artifacts, antiques and plants! The garden was a wonder, the loving work of the innkeepers. It would have been a tranquil place to spend the morning, but we slung on our packs and headed out. We walked through large, forested parks, and the surprise of the day … a canine search and rescue group training How serendipitous that we should come upon a canine search and rescue training this Saturday morning on our cammino trail!!!I was so excited to meet up with some of the members and their canines. And for my SAR friends back in the US, all dogs are trained for bark indication. Again, I wanted to linger, but we had 20 km to do today. Paths along rivers, gorgeous churches and a fantastic meal capped off the day. We are getting tired and sore, and rethinking how we repack our backpacks. New ideas for the future. Three more days to go

Tappa 6…Castelletto di Cuggiono to Abbiategrasso.17km/10.5m Today’s walk was along the Naviglio Grande (canal). Lovely ancient towns, cyclists, folks Sunday walking, boating. We are now in the area where we are sharing the trail with others, out for their daily walk or cycling. We definitely have to pay attention as the trail, in many spots is single wide and some cyclists aren’t exactly polite, but not all. We ended our day with an amazing dinner of pulled pork and slaw! Compliments to the chef and great music at The Cult Rock Pub!

Tappa 7….Abbiategrasso to Bereguardo.19km/11.8m Today, we are heading south beside a different canal, giving us long views across rice fields, canal locks and spillways. Along the way, we stopped at the commanding Abbazia di Morimondo, but unfortunately, we arrived during off hours.

The Monastery of Morimondo, a name that means “to die to the world”, that is, “to live as a resurrected”, was founded in 1134 in Coronate, a town that still exists about a kilometer from the abbey, by monks from the Cistercian monastery of Morimond in France.

Abbazia di Morimondo

We continued our journey, after some much need gelato, to our destination town of Bereguardo, where stands the Visconti Castle.

An imposing manor, with a distinct Visconti layout, the Castle of Bereguardo stands in the center of the village, surrounded by the clearly visible remains of the ancient moat. It has a square plan, but today has an unusual U-shaped structure, missing the north wing entirely. Without corner towers, the castle was presumably used more as a summer residence than as an element of the Visconti military chessboard. Entirely made of exposed bricks, it maintains its splendid large, mullioned window on the south façade, with parapets and decorative brick elements. The rather wide entrance door has traces of a drawbridge. Remains of an arch incorporated into the internal masonry suggest that the portal was remodeled in an unspecified period in order to reduce its size. Today it is the seat of the Municipality and houses the Civic Library, still preserving traces of the presence of Filippo Maria Visconti: the initials FM are affixed on one of the windows of the northern wing.

Castelli Borghi

There are so many lovely churches throughout small towns in Italy. It wows us every time! We made a quick stop at Parrocchia di San’Antonio Abate before dinner at a local German style bistro. Our feet and backs are tired, but day was so worth it! One more day to our final destination of Pavia.

Tappa 8 ..Bereguardo to Pavia. 16 km/10 m. Farmland full of rice fields, corn and sorghum, small villages, friendly folks and Ticino River. My ankle almost gave out, but we slowly pushed on. As we approached Pavia along the river, we saw the rebuilt Ponte Coperto.

Rebuilt in the mid-fourteenth century to replace the ancient Roman bridge (the piles of which can still be seen today), it connects the historic center of the city with the picturesque medieval village on the other side of the Ticino, a traditional location for washerwomen, gravel diggers and fishermen. Its characteristic, which makes it the evocative symbol of Pavia, is the roof covering, commissioned by Galeazzo II Visconti after the conquest of the city, and the presence of a small eighteenth-century chapel, dedicated to S. Giovanni Nepomuceno. Bombed in the Second World War, the bridge was rebuilt in the early 1950s.

Ponte Coperto

Pavia is an interesting city, with university students everywhere adding vibrancy! We checked into our AirBnB to spend two nights decompressing and relaxing. As I had developed some serious leg issues along the way, we decided to stay close by for the evening and get our final cammino stamp tomorrow. Just below our apartment, was a wonderful Lebanese restaurant. Only a few steps away and food delicious.

Today we got our final cammino passport stamp at Basilica di San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, the culmination of La Via Francisca del Lucomagno. To obtain the testimonium (much like a diploma) and verify we actually walked the entire cammino, we stopped along the way at different designated places; participating bars, hotels, info centers, etc. So here we are with our final stamp and then I screwed up royally. My knees and ankles were hurting so badly, I totally forgot to ask for our testimoniums. The cleric wasn’t forthcoming with the information, and we left without them. I am still hopeful that I can solve this by emails or a few phone calls. But we know that we completed, have our passport books and many wonderful memories!

Our last dinner on this trip got top ratings with us at Krill Bistrot just around the corner from our apartment. The food and service were outstanding. Massimo, the proprietor, was very gracious and helpful. With only 8 tables, the atmosphere was intimate and friendly. There was a family at a nearby table. Their young boy had to check out my dessert to see if he wanted to order the same! Truly hilarious and adorable. We all got to talking and it turned out that the grandmother was from Abruzzo. We conversed across tables, and it was just another lovely (very Italian) experience.

The next morning, we headed to the train station to take us back home. On the way and purely by chance, we stopped in the Duomo di Pavia (Cattedrale di Santo Stefano e Santa Maria Assunta). Words are hard to come by to express the emotions I experienced when we entered. I don’t think anyone could not be blown away by awe-inspiring interior. The architecture is massive, climbing to lofty heights, with the understanding that this structure glorifies God. This is undeniable. Definitely a destination not to be missed.

Pavia Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Pavia) is a church in Pavia, Italy, the largest in the city and seat of the Diocese of Pavia. The construction was begun in the 15th century on the site of two pre-existing Romanesque, “twin” cathedrals (Santo Stefano and Santa Maria del Popolo). The cathedral houses the remains of St. Sirus, first Bishop of Pavia, and a thorn purported to be from the Crown of Thorns worn by Christ. The marble facing of the exterior was never completed.

This trip to Lombardy was so varied and interesting, much more than we expected. The first few days of the cammino, though new and different in its regional ways, was somewhat similar to the terrain and environs of Abruzzo, especially being mountainous and green. What was novel for us were the wide-open, agricultural spaces, especially the cultivation of rice, as reflected in the popular regional dish, risotto. Architecture was grandiose in size, as seen in the cathedrals and abbeys. A variety of cuisines were available for us to enjoy from local traditional dishes to international. It was a cammino to remember. We send a thanks out to the organization for well-marked, interesting trails, great destination cities and towns!

In hindsight, we came away with a few lessons learned, as we continue our plans to do additional camminos. At our age, it is time to lighten our backpacks even more! We will take advantage of transport services to arrange moving our after-hours clothing, etc. from B&B to B&B each day. This will allow us to switch to smaller daypacks. The weight of the larger packs has become too much for our older joints. Also, we are going to pick camminos that are 6 days or less. Or we may choose to just do a shorter section of a much longer one. This cammino we just did was 8 days, with 6 days 90% on hard flat surface roads & bike paths. Much different from trail hiking. We have changed to well-cushioned trail runners that flex more than the low hikers we wore, and now I have trek-specific compression socks to use as needed. We will be much better prepared for the next time.