Lucca was founded by the Etruscans and became a Roman colony in about 180 BC. the mediaeval walls around the city remain intact (which is unusual in this region) and they encircle the old part of the town where most of the historical sights are situated. i had some slight luck at the end of a hard day as the tourist office was just inside the part of the wall where i'd arrived & they quickly found me a B&B around the corner so off i limped. it wasn't until i arrived i realised that my underpants were hanging out to dry on the side of my pac and i must have passed about 50 tourists on the way. i've decided i have no dignity left at all. the woman who owned the B&B intially seemed quite lovely but when i asked if i could have breakfast early due to leaving at 7.30am and breakfast not being served until 8 things got tetchy:
'please can i have breakfast early?'
'Not possible.'
'I'm a pilgrim and have to get up to start walking at 7am.'
'No.'
'it would really help me out.'
'No.'
'Please.'
'No.'
i hate you, i hate your family, i hate your dog, your hotel and everyone you have ever met. I am Mr Hate from Hate City in the Land of Hate and if i don't burn your hotel down you'll be very lucky indeed
Such charitable thoughts were going through my mind after 9hrs trekking. i gave up and sculked off to my bright green room in a very grumpy mood indeed. ah well, brekkie would have to be the normal coffee and pastry costing 2 euros from the local cafe. big deal luv!
a little while later i went out to explore Lucca which i may say is a delightful city. there were 2 slightly annoying things about it though: first the tourists who were everywhere in huge packs and who wouldn't move for love or money. all they did was stand and stare and get in my way! (as you can see my mood was still on the grumpy side of things!). the second thing i didn't like about Lucca was that it was full of some of the best shops i've seen in a very long time. i mean wherever you go Italy is good for shopping but this was exceptional and, of course, i couldn't buy any of it as i'd have to carry whatever i'd bought - it was so frustrating! i had to bat away the buying bug and just go looking at the sights, which were pretty amazing. Lucca seems to have so much character and life as well as great elegance and history. i fell in love with the place, especially after the most amazing pasta funghi, salad caprisi and some exceptionally delish vino bianco. i burped my way back into bed feeling somewhat tired after all the trekking and then another 3 hours sightseeing. the next day came round so quickly i could hardly believe it and left Lucca after having a quick walk along the mediaeval walls feeling, once again, a little sad that i couldn't stay longer but i only had one more rest day to use and i was saving that for Siena. this day proved not to be a good one. i think i was just exhausted from the day before and the day seemed to drag on and on and on, most on roads which is never enjoyable and my leg was throbbing like a dead weight. i chewed on paracetamol most of the day and that got me through but it wasn't pleasant. even, as often happens, the end of the day was better that the start as i ended up in a one-street town called Ponte a Cappiano which really was just a bridge over a river built by the Medici's in the 1530's. the hostel i was staying at was huge and actually inside the tower over the river. it helped that i was the only one there - so i had it all to myself for the night. i went to bed really early to catch up on some rest and the next day felt a lot, lot better which was great considering the day that was to come. even my leg had calmed down - the redness and inflammation were both improved and the pain was much less. i was worried when i'd gone to bed as this day (out of all the days on the Camino) was due to be the longest - i had to cover 37km which was the most of any day on my schedule (this was the planned route anyway as other days i'm sure i'd done 37km or more but that was usually when i'd got lost). one good thing was that my destination was a place called Gambassi Therme where there were thermal springs so i consoled myself with the thought of a long trekking day followed by a nice long soak. it was a beautiful start to the day walking through the Tuscan countryside, heading to a hilltown called San Minato that was meant to have some stunning views. Thomas the german cyclist i'd met 2 weeks before was working near there and we'd texted so i was due to meet him at 10am. the first couple of hours are usually for me when i have the most energy and with a morning of beautiful views, amazing scenery and clean fresh air it was just fantastic. Thomas and i bumped into each other in the main street both having arrived 2 minutes earlier so we had a coffee and caught up. he'd gone to do voluntary work at some vineyards but they were ripping off volunteers so he had upped and left and gone to stay with an 83-yr old German artist he knew who was living in the area (strangely i seem to be meeting quite a lot of 83-yr olds this trip). we exhanged travelling tales, i met the artist, we talked a little more and then i was off. it was great seeing Thomas but i'd then lost an hour's walking and at this rate i knew i wouldn't get to Gambassi until 4pm and the day was getting very, very hot. it was also one of those annoying times when my guidebook wasn't clear and the signage disappeared at a crucial point so instead of walking along country paths i ended up on rather busy roads but with no-one to ask and no signs to tell me how to get back on track. eventually, about 2pm, when i was ready to drop, i stumbled across a workers cafe right in the middle of a 3-house 'village' and the cafe owner (who spoke good english) said 'yes people always get lost around here. we see many pilgrims.' somehow that didn't make me feel any better but after fuelling up and with the knowledge that i had another 12km to go (3 hours!), i set off. the rest of the day wasn't pretty: busy roads, blazing hot sun and a very tired, weary and demoralised me. about an hour and half into it i hit a wall: i really was running on empty and felt like i just couldn't go on. except of course that i had to go on, i had no choice. even now i don't know how i did it. probably the fact that i seem to have been there many times before when i feel like i've reached the limits of my endurance and yet have to carry on. it sounds and feels familar these days! i sang, swore, yelled at the cars, barked back at the dogs who were barking at me and somehow, somehow got to the outskirts of Gambassi. only to be faced with a road that went up at a 70 degree angle and a sign that said '6km'.
'please can i have breakfast early?'
'Not possible.'
'I'm a pilgrim and have to get up to start walking at 7am.'
'No.'
'it would really help me out.'
'No.'
'Please.'
'No.'
i hate you, i hate your family, i hate your dog, your hotel and everyone you have ever met. I am Mr Hate from Hate City in the Land of Hate and if i don't burn your hotel down you'll be very lucky indeed
Such charitable thoughts were going through my mind after 9hrs trekking. i gave up and sculked off to my bright green room in a very grumpy mood indeed. ah well, brekkie would have to be the normal coffee and pastry costing 2 euros from the local cafe. big deal luv!
a little while later i went out to explore Lucca which i may say is a delightful city. there were 2 slightly annoying things about it though: first the tourists who were everywhere in huge packs and who wouldn't move for love or money. all they did was stand and stare and get in my way! (as you can see my mood was still on the grumpy side of things!). the second thing i didn't like about Lucca was that it was full of some of the best shops i've seen in a very long time. i mean wherever you go Italy is good for shopping but this was exceptional and, of course, i couldn't buy any of it as i'd have to carry whatever i'd bought - it was so frustrating! i had to bat away the buying bug and just go looking at the sights, which were pretty amazing. Lucca seems to have so much character and life as well as great elegance and history. i fell in love with the place, especially after the most amazing pasta funghi, salad caprisi and some exceptionally delish vino bianco. i burped my way back into bed feeling somewhat tired after all the trekking and then another 3 hours sightseeing. the next day came round so quickly i could hardly believe it and left Lucca after having a quick walk along the mediaeval walls feeling, once again, a little sad that i couldn't stay longer but i only had one more rest day to use and i was saving that for Siena. this day proved not to be a good one. i think i was just exhausted from the day before and the day seemed to drag on and on and on, most on roads which is never enjoyable and my leg was throbbing like a dead weight. i chewed on paracetamol most of the day and that got me through but it wasn't pleasant. even, as often happens, the end of the day was better that the start as i ended up in a one-street town called Ponte a Cappiano which really was just a bridge over a river built by the Medici's in the 1530's. the hostel i was staying at was huge and actually inside the tower over the river. it helped that i was the only one there - so i had it all to myself for the night. i went to bed really early to catch up on some rest and the next day felt a lot, lot better which was great considering the day that was to come. even my leg had calmed down - the redness and inflammation were both improved and the pain was much less. i was worried when i'd gone to bed as this day (out of all the days on the Camino) was due to be the longest - i had to cover 37km which was the most of any day on my schedule (this was the planned route anyway as other days i'm sure i'd done 37km or more but that was usually when i'd got lost). one good thing was that my destination was a place called Gambassi Therme where there were thermal springs so i consoled myself with the thought of a long trekking day followed by a nice long soak. it was a beautiful start to the day walking through the Tuscan countryside, heading to a hilltown called San Minato that was meant to have some stunning views. Thomas the german cyclist i'd met 2 weeks before was working near there and we'd texted so i was due to meet him at 10am. the first couple of hours are usually for me when i have the most energy and with a morning of beautiful views, amazing scenery and clean fresh air it was just fantastic. Thomas and i bumped into each other in the main street both having arrived 2 minutes earlier so we had a coffee and caught up. he'd gone to do voluntary work at some vineyards but they were ripping off volunteers so he had upped and left and gone to stay with an 83-yr old German artist he knew who was living in the area (strangely i seem to be meeting quite a lot of 83-yr olds this trip). we exhanged travelling tales, i met the artist, we talked a little more and then i was off. it was great seeing Thomas but i'd then lost an hour's walking and at this rate i knew i wouldn't get to Gambassi until 4pm and the day was getting very, very hot. it was also one of those annoying times when my guidebook wasn't clear and the signage disappeared at a crucial point so instead of walking along country paths i ended up on rather busy roads but with no-one to ask and no signs to tell me how to get back on track. eventually, about 2pm, when i was ready to drop, i stumbled across a workers cafe right in the middle of a 3-house 'village' and the cafe owner (who spoke good english) said 'yes people always get lost around here. we see many pilgrims.' somehow that didn't make me feel any better but after fuelling up and with the knowledge that i had another 12km to go (3 hours!), i set off. the rest of the day wasn't pretty: busy roads, blazing hot sun and a very tired, weary and demoralised me. about an hour and half into it i hit a wall: i really was running on empty and felt like i just couldn't go on. except of course that i had to go on, i had no choice. even now i don't know how i did it. probably the fact that i seem to have been there many times before when i feel like i've reached the limits of my endurance and yet have to carry on. it sounds and feels familar these days! i sang, swore, yelled at the cars, barked back at the dogs who were barking at me and somehow, somehow got to the outskirts of Gambassi. only to be faced with a road that went up at a 70 degree angle and a sign that said '6km'.
i could have cried but instead threw myself inside a bar at the bottom of the road attached to a petrol station (although it did occur to me that having a bar and petrol station together probably wouldn't be allowed in other countries) and had a bloody big beer. this broke my rule as i never drink when trekking - only generally do i touch alcohol once i get to my destination but i had no chance in hell of getting up that road otherwise and you know what - it did the trick. all pain was anaesthetised, i got some energy and determination back and off i marched and at 4.30pm i literally staggered into the square of Gambassi thinking my last breath had come. of course it hadn't as i now had to find accomodation which i did quite easily at the local tourist office except that it wasn't open until 6pm so i decided to go and get my treat: a thermal bath. imagine my face when i was told that the thermal baths open only at 8am: they aren't open at night. justice: it bloody well doesn't exist !!!!
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