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A tree-lined farm track leads towards a distant hilltop town whose square tower rises above the rooftops in the haze.

Vercelli to Pavia (day 23)

Ridden · Jamie Brammer

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Beautiful mornings

I’ve said it many times (I think) but getting up early is a major thing for me on the Via Francigena. The feel of leaving the quiet city centres through the slightly busier suburbs and often quickly out into the countryside is amazing. But this year seems extra great because the weather is slightly cooler and its giving rise to very misty mornings. The sun is also rising slightly later because I’m in September, rather than July or August as I’ve done in previous years. The mists and the sun rising are creating some mornings where I spend a lot of time just stopping and breathing deeply.

More flat stuff

Plenty of rice paddies today, all drained. I’m guessing they drain them around late August?

Another moan/astute observation: Italy has so many fantastic old buildings and even some great modern ones. So why do so many in the North here live in something resembling Osama Bin Laden’s compound only with a tile roof and a viscous dog? It seems equivalent to the weird British obsession for mock Tudor styling.

The river path into Pavia

The route feels different coming into Pavia, after miles of open country and occasional small towns you’re now by the side of a large river: the Ticino.

Pavia

This felt a very very studenty town. I think was because there were swarms of young folk all over, as they’d just started high school or similar.

Overnight: B&B Castellani

A pretty typical experience. Got met by the host very briefly and shown around. Then left to it. The hosts don’t really seem to stay in the house, whether that is Covid or just that these are specific rental properties I don’t know.

Was an ok place. Breakfast disappointing… dried stuff since there’s no “host” to make anything fresher. Breakfast in general in Itally has been disappointing, a bit like the pastries. Its kind of something “to get over with quickly” and move on to better meals later in the day.

  • A gravel track hemmed by fern and scrub runs beside harvested fields as the sun rises hazily behind low cloud.
  • A loaded touring bike lies stripped of its front wheel on a gravel verge beneath a long concrete viaduct crossing open farmland.
  • A stony farm track curves between fields towards a misty tree line as the sun breaks through morning cloud.
  • A gravel path skirts a hedgerow tangled with bindweed, morning mist rising off the fields beyond as the sun climbs through scattered cloud.
    This is very pretty, but at home we’re fighting a Japanese Knotweed infestation, and all the greenery in this shot apart from trees is knotweed… there’s some serious problems here.
  • A tree-lined farm track leads towards a distant hilltop town whose square tower rises above the rooftops in the haze.
    Nice framing as you come into Palestro
  • A weathered brick farmhouse with a tiled roof straddles a stream, its arched opening framing the water flowing beneath.
  • A dirt track runs through pasture towards a solitary tree and a distant electricity pylon, tall grass seed-heads catching the light in the foreground.
  • A stone clock tower rises above a small-town square, its base carrying a sign reading 'PRO LOCO TROMELLO' beside a café with red chairs under awnings.
  • A laden orange gravel bike leans against a roadside tree, its frame bag and panniers strapped on, with a pylon and open fields behind.
  • A twin-rutted farm track runs beneath a row of tall trees towards a pylon standing in the fields beyond.
  • A garishly painted fairground stall stands on a town street corner, its awning reading 'FANTASIA DISNEY', with a Candy Shop kiosk, parked bicycles and pedestrians nearby.
    Can be difficult to find images that aren’t flat countryside. Here’s a typical route into one of the towns on the way.
  • A single railway track runs straight past a level crossing towards a red-roofed house, flanked by trees and rough grass.
    And here’s a railway line. I think I crossed this 3-4 times today.
  • A dirt path runs along the top of a concrete-lined irrigation canal, trees crowding the bank on one side and open fields on the other.
  • A combine harvester works a golden field of rice, throwing up dust, seen from behind tall roadside grasses.
  • A dirt path runs alongside a ripening golden rice field towards a cluster of houses on the edge of a village.
  • A sandy path follows the wooded bank of a wide river towards a hilltop town, its buildings and a church tower visible through the haze.
  • Pavia's covered bridge, the Ponte Coperto, spans the river ahead, its brick arches and tiled roof rising above a riverside path lined with trees.
    You approach the Ponte Coperto from below alongside the river.
  • The brick arches and colonnaded timber roof of Pavia's Ponte Coperto rise above the river, seen from a railed viewpoint on the bank.
    And I came up these stairs… carrying the bike.
  • Cyclists and pedestrians share the covered walkway of Pavia's Ponte Coperto, its stone columns lining a road along which a bus approaches.
    The bridge is actually very busy, plenty of big buses and not much space for cycling.
  • Rows of wooden pews fill the marble nave of a grand domed church interior, its side chapels lit by round windows and gilded frescoes.
  • The vast brick façade and octagonal drum of Pavia's cathedral rise against a clear sky above its stepped entrance and a magnolia tree.
  • A narrow brick lane signed 'Via Pietro Tessani' opens onto a small square with a church bell tower in the distance.
  • The ornately carved sandstone façade of a Romanesque church rises above a cobbled square, its rounded arches and blind arcading catching the evening light.
  • A silver and gold crucifix, its figure of Christ worked in repoussé metal, is displayed in a glass museum case.
  • A row of ornate reliquary shrines in dark wood and glass cases lines a stone wall inside a church treasury.
  • Wooden pews sit beneath the vaulted, carved capitals of a Romanesque crypt, lit warmly against a brick apse decorated with a carved relief.
  • The crenellated brick tower and walls of a medieval castle rise above a gravel path, a plaque reading 'MUSEO CIVICO' fixed to the corner tower.
  • Gothic arched windows with slender colonnettes line the brick façade of a fortified palace beneath a corbelled, crenellated parapet.
  • A tall brick corner tower with crenellations and arched windows rises above the walls of a fortified medieval castle.
  • Two leaning medieval brick towers rise above a small piazza lined with pastel-coloured buildings and café umbrellas.
  • Wrought-iron gates open into a grand courtyard flanked by an arcaded loggia and shuttered palazzo façades.
  • Brick columns and exposed medieval foundations frame a quiet courtyard garden shaded by ferny shrubs.
    Plenty of these in Italy… building newer houses/buildings over the Roman ruins
  • A glazed octagonal skylight crowns a grand courtyard, its peach-and-cream walls lined with balustraded balconies and Corinthian pilasters.
  • Diners fill café tables under cream parasols in a cobbled square, a banner reading 'FORZA EITAN' strung above the crowd and the brick dome of Pavia's cathedral rising behind.