My day began alone at 5:45 a.m. as I wound out of the large city of Piacenza. I spent a good bit of the evening last night agonizing over whether or not to stick around in Piacenza to wait for the DHL shipping center to open at 9:00 a.m. (so I could offload gear I don’t anticipate needing/using in the remaining two weeks) or get out early to beat the heat. Obviously, the fear of the heat won. The heat here in the afternoon is real and it’s best to get the bulk of your hiking done by 11:00 a.m. if at all possible. It isn’t going to be possible today due to the length of the day.

Today was largely an uneventful day (& more or less void of much beauty as you can see from today’s pictures) as I traveled along gravel and asphalt roads through fields of corn and tomatoes. The most challenging part of the day other than the length and heat was the lack of services along the way. I hiked the entire day on a half of banana, a peach, a handful of nuts, half a breakfast bar and an espresso. The unpredictability of the restaurants and bars along the way is predictable. For example, I stopped at a very nice looking trattoria in the middle of nowhere and ate my nuts and half a breakfast bar while two women inside served themselves pasta and one of their sons stopped in and joined them (I was sitting outside on their covered seating for pilgrims next to their open window) They area closed on Mondays and it’s Monday. They could have easily price gouged me for a beer and slice of pizza. They were the only game in town for 10 km in either direction.

The highlight of my day occurred at 8:10 a.m. That’s when I’m just rolling along a neighborhood street a couple of blocks off the main drag when I realize I just walked past a post office. I turn around and walk back and notice the door is open so I go in and approach the young woman working there and ask her if she can track a package sent to the U.S. “Yes.”Do you sell boxes? “Yes.” I’m beginning to celebrate my brilliant decision to forgo the DHL store when she gets my attention and tells me I must wait outside until they open at 8:20 a.m. Of course! The chairs in the lobby should also not be working before 8:20 (to her credit, she did have mercy on me and let me ask my two questions before 8:20).

In true American fashion (or at least Enneagram 3 fashion), I’m determined to get out of there before 9:00 a.m. (the time the DHL store is supposed – yep, I said supposed – to open back in Piacenza) so I can feel 100% affirmed in my decision to leave early instead of wait. But, this is Italy and the obsession is not efficiency (picture DMV sloths in Zootopia movie) or speed. I’m finally out of there at 9:20 a.m. and I’m thrilled with God’s grace (or “trail magic” if you prefer) having run across this post office. We’ll see in a few weeks time if I’m shopping for new camping gear or not. In total, this shipment reduced the weight of my pack by 5-6 lbs., or 20% which should be helpful in the days to come as we begin to tackle long days with lots of hills.

As I leave the post office, I remind myself I’ve already logged 10km. I’ve already walked a third of my day on what now feel like free nearly free kilometers at 72 degrees. Very glad I did wait in Piacenza as I’d still be there in this moment.