Garlasco to Pavia 8/16/23

Another hot day on the trail.  My first stop was before I left Garlasco.  I was too hot on the day I arrived to walk the six blocks to it the church. 

Saint George’s Parish Church

The main altar.

The beautiful stained glass window.

The first thing I noticed about this church was that much of the chapel art was three-dimensional.  

The second unusual thing was that ornate silver figurines were all over the church.  Popes?

The famers were flooding several of the rice fields as I walked by.  They always smile and wave.

At about 14 miles - FINALLY - a bar.  I wanted to cry when I first thought it wasn’t open.  I started with a Coke Zero on ice.  

Then, I had a Magnum bar.  No, it isn’t bigger than that chair behind it.  I wanted it to be, but it was just an ordinary size but extraordinary in taste.

Walking beside a river instead of through rice and corn fields was such a relief.

My first view of the Cathedral in Pavia.

I knew I was almost there when I crossed the covered bridge.

  According to the Pavia website, “In the middle of the 14th century, the bridge was reconstructed to replace the ancient Roman bridge, whose piers are still visible.  It links the old city centre to the picturesque medieval village, a traditional place of washerwomen, gravel diggers, and fishermen.  This bridge is one of Pavia’s famous landmarks with its tile roof, wanted by Galeazzo II Visconti the day after the capture of the town, and a small 18th-century chapel dedicated to St. Giovanni Nepomuceno.  The bridge was bombed out during the Second World War and reconstructed in the early 1950s.” 

At least, I thought I was almost there.  I had difficulty finding my hotel, about twenty-five minutes past the bridge.  A mountain of time.  

I ran into my Aussie friends, Wayne and Sandy, and joined them for dinner.  It looks like I had the same gnocchi as last night, but I didn’t.  This gnocchi had a beef and mushroom sauce.  If you have ever tried to make gnocchi, you know how hard it is to get them light and fluffy instead of mini shotputs.  These were perfect.

 I couldn’t resist gelato and strawberries.  Wayne had tiramisu, and Sandy had apple pie.  When I walked the 20 minutes back to my hotel, I had clocked in 20.1 miles.  I was too tired to write this yesterday.  I have today off, and I am headed to do laundry.  More to follow about today!