- Day 29 - day 8 for 2023
- Wedneday, 20 September
- Vercelli to Robbio
- 705 km to Day 28
- 18 km for today
- 723 km on my Via Francigena (211 km for 2023)
I rise about 04h and leave the Combo hostel at about 05h walking Via XX September to Torino Porta Nuova train station.
I arrive about 30 minutes later and soon find my departure platform. Over three travel days, I have found TrenItalia runs on a lot of passenger trust. While I have an e-ticket for each stage, I have never been asked for it.
The train I have selected on arrival, actually departs at 05h54 - my ticket was for the departure at 06h54. I arrive at Vercelli at 07h and I follow the VF route on my map to the eastern outskirts of town and the last and only open café so far.
My route initially is on road, then an outback agricultural service road. I find the largish stones of this route, as anywhere, hard to walk on. After about 12 km I encounter the town of Palestro (site of a largish battle in 1859 between Austria and a combined Sardinian (Torino) and French force - commemorated in the town square and on leaving eastwards).
To my destination for the day, Robbio, I walk the remainder on the road. I do my customary salute to oncoming motorists and have a very high response rate.
I come to the town council offices as they have a donativo apartment with five beds. I am the only resident so far today and the log book suggest 2 or 3 users a week.
I wash a top, the front of my kilt and some smalls and put them on the drying frame outside. The warm light breeze should do the trick.
After a brief look around, I repair to the bar across the road for a birra, brioche and trumpet ice cream.
And to write these trip notes.
After a brief rest find a pizzeria that does other stuff, so have a salad entirely of sea food.
At the end tell the owner the Maui and the fish story. He seemed suitably impressed, maybe as he was of an age to have young children and looking for fresh things.
And so to bed.
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