The morning begins with a walk out of town to the train station through a very familiar part of Lucca in which Karen and I stayed on two previous occasions.

Today, I hike the variant route which adds 7 kilometers and 2.5 more hours to the day’s hike but reduces the amount of the trail along busy highways in favor of a more wooded alternative.

The weather is perfect for a hike as I walk the length of the above ground aqueduct out of Lucca and begin the steep ascent to the town of Vorno and around the mountainside to Sant’Andrea di Compito.

The “shortcut” route recommended in the guidebook delivers beautiful views back over Lucca but at times also offers very overgrown and a somewhat treacherous descent.

I make it to Altopascio in the late afternoon heat, exhausted physically and emotionally. I settle into Hotel Paulo which provides single rooms catering to pilgrims where I wash my clothes, hang them out to dry in the sun and wander into town for an early dinner.