Stage 1: Siena to Buonconvento--38 Km

On pilgrimage again

One of the benefits of being on pilgrimage is that all the neuroses I hold within come forth as if to reacquaint myself with old, familiar friends.

 

One of them is anxiety which I try to mitigate by thinking about everything so thoroughly. For example, when I was in Siena, for some reason my map/ navigation apps were not working well so while I was in Mass, I was worrying that the apps to walk the Via Francigena would not work. So I sat in Mass worrying and tried to let it go. (But I think God was fine with me bringing my worries to the altar). After Mass, I read Sandy Brown’s guide and scoped out the beginning of the trail while it was still light in Siena. That evening I sought out a solution from the Via Francigena FB group and they offered me a solution: open the Sloways app while you use Wifi and leave it in the map mode. Problem solved.

 

Another issue that comes up is my desire to do EVERYTHING–like visit museums, churches, points of interest. It is as if I am starving, have little time and feel the need to drink it all in. Then I am exhausted. It could be that I am single and do not have a partner/buddy to curb my untamed instincts. I fill my time by consuming, learning, taking it all in. An alternative would be to slow it down and take things as they come and be at peace with not doing everything.

 

Tomorrow I plan to leave early. Why? Because it's cooler in the early morning. The issue is that most places don’t have check in until early 14:00 or 15:00. So if I leave too early, I have to wait in sore feet and sweaty clothes for the hostel to open up (as in Viterbo). This demonstrates another issue: my desire to get to the end, complete the journey. But what do you get when you get to the end? You wait. While arriving early and waiting presents its own gifts, sometimes it is best to enjoy the journey as it comes and not feel you have to get it done.

 

The final issue that is coming up for me is my aloneness, which sometimes manifests itself as solitude and sometimes as loneliness. Walking the Via Francigena I feel very alone which is different than walking the Camino to Santiago. I toured Florence alone. I was in museums alone. I ate alone. I have stayed in two B&Bs and have seen only three pilgrims (Italians) who I met along the way. And since I don’t speak Italian it makes it harder than in Spain to strike up a conversation. While on the Camino, starting in St. Jean Pied de Port, by the second day we were in Roncevalles monastery meeting other pilgrims at the Pilgrim's mass, at the bar and at the dinner table. In Pamplona, more pilgrims joined us. We walked together, talked with each other and struggled together which solidified our journey. But this is Francigena, not the Camino, and Francigena is its own route with its own gifts.