The owner of our hotel is also the Chef of the restaurant. We had a wonderful meal here last night.

We woke up at 5:30 this morning to get ready for our walk. It was raining with lightning. Our hike today was a 3000 ft climb over a mountain pass, so we decided to go back and rest rather than be out in lightening. We woke up leisurely and stated to explore our options. The first order of business was, of course, bakery.

We discovered that we could take a bus or taxi to our next stage. We decided to enjoy the food festival!

Turns out the festival does not start until 5 pm.

We enjoyed exploring Pontassieve, our quaint town which is part of metropolitan of Florence.

We were able to check back into the same hotel, so we can enjoy the festival this evening. It’s nice to have extra days in our plan to enjoy this simple deviation from the plan. Our chef recommended a local restaurant for the best pasta in town for lunch. Using our English/Italian dictionary we ended up choosing a simple but delicious dish of Pasta Bolognese. In the process Pat made a new acquaintance with our server.

More on the festival tomorrow! Meanwhile it’s time for another pastry to get us ready for a hard climb tomorrow. We will not take the bus to our next town tomorrow but will go ahead and do the 3000 ft climb over the pass after all!

I would like to end today’s blog with a tribute to a beautiful soul and mother of many foreign students.

Pat Ehle passed away on September 2nd in Indiana. She was an amazing woman full of love and tenderness. Mushtaque (my brother) and I met her in 1974 when we came to America. We always called her Mom along with 150 other foreign students. (She had eight children of her own, but she loved and cared for us all.)

When my brother Mushtaque was sick with cancer, she wrote to him everyday. I remember how Mushtaque’s face would light up as we read the letters from Mom to him at the hospital. He, I, and countless foreign students found comfort in her care and love.

May her soul Rest In Peace. She was a true persona of motherhood and love. I honor all mothers and their motherly love that make this planet heaven.

This is our fourth Camino and one common theme emerges, “It feels hardest the first day!” Also getting into or out of a large city requires lot of asphalt walking.

We opted to walk along the river instead of the city street to get out of town. Morning temperatures were mild and cooling. The path along the river was mostly nice.

There were nice segments covered with trees and shrubs. We left at 6:30 in the morning, so we brought our breakfast along. None of the cafes were open, so we enjoyed our morning breakfast in the park.

The first five miles were pleasant. Next five miles we were on a two lane highway with not much shoulder to speak of. The temperature was in the 80’s and the only breeze was when the trucks passed us. Sides of the road were mostly peppered with olive trees.

Pontassieve, where we are staying tonight, is a quaint little town. The Sieve river passes through this town and then merges into Arno.

The town is getting ready for a 3 day food festival. Alas, we will be on our way before the fair starts.

Thank you for reading the blogs and making your comments. It means a lot to us. Pat and I both enjoy reading the comments. Helps keep our spirits up when we get tired!

This year’s adventure brings us to Italy where we begin our trek of  “Way of St Francis”. The route begins among the Renaissance masterpieces of Florence, continues through the forests of Tuscany, passes through the mountains of Umbria to Assisi and ends in Rome. This 550 km (~ 350 mile) journey takes us through many of the cherished sites from the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

We arrived in Florence last night and went to our daughter’s favorite pizza place near the Church of Santa Croce.

Today was our day to explore the sites of Florence. We started our day along the Arno River walking by Ponte Vecchio to Santa Croce.

In the afternoon we visited Michelangelo’s masterpiece “David” at the Accademia Gallery.

On the way back we explored the  famous landmark of Florence, the Duomo.

Of course no visit to Italy would be complete without the taste of Gelato! Today was our first of many encounters with the reward of long walking days.

We begin our first stage of the Trek tomorrow morning as we walk 14.5 miles to Pontassieve.

As we walk through this journey we will be trying to live the famous prayer of St Francis. Hope we can all contribute just a little bit to make this world a bit better every day.

The Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is dispair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.