Rice, chickens and mosquitos

Beforehand, yesterday was marked as a tough day of walking so I decided to take an early start. My alarm went off at 6h30. From my bed, I could see the square in front of the cathedral but it was still quiet. Pretty incredible that I had got this whole studio for myself without being asked for money. What a hospitality for pilgrims. I decided to leave 25 euro.
By 8 o'clock, the town came to life. The bells of the church tower started playing and 8 girl scouts upstairs started singing songs. Before I took off, I quickly went to have a look in the cathedral. The columns on the side and the painting on the ceiling are out of this world. Incredible how they made these masterpieces hundreds of years ago. I was also surprised how many local people walk in and out of the church, often just for 5min, just to have a quiet moment for themselves.
​Then it was time to leave cosy Santhia behind. I walked one last time through the main street and via the railway station out of town. There were 27km to Vercelli and except for one village, the only thing I would see were fields of corn and rice. I started on a straight concrete road like you see in the movies. It goes on until the horizon and beyond. Following the road would be shorter, but far more dangerous. On these straight roads, some people think they are a F1 pilot and there is no sidewalk. So the Via Francigena takes the gravel roads in between the fields.In the beginning, it were especially corn fields but they quickly turned to endless rice fields. We all know them in Asia. I didn't know we had this in Europ. Vercelli, my destination for the day, is even called the rice capital of Europe.
I was lucky with the weather. It was not too hot and later in the day, some clouds came in. There is no shade in these fields, so walking here during a heat wave must be torture. Main attraction of the day was crossing the railway tracks 5 times. If you haven't seen anything except for rice for an hour, then a train that comes past is a spectacular event.
Spread out through the fields, there are some big farms. While passing one, I started talking to a chicken, but she just replied with tok. After two hours, I was happy to have reached the only village on my route today: San Germano Vercellese. Pretty different than all the towns I came across already. This one felt like a cowboy village. Old houses which could use some paint lined up along a very wide street. You could drive, park and walk a bit wherever you like. I stopped at a little bakery shop. The owner was nowhere to be seen. I could have emptied his whole shop. Little knock. Nothing. Hard knock. Nothing. Hellooo. Then I heard Pronto!
I decided to take a break next to the church which was locked. Some Italians were having an animated discussion on the terrace of the only bar open. Three French guys on motorcycles had decided they wanted to eat in this village. Off course, there was no restaurant open here at noon. But one guy didn't want to give up. He kept walking around knocking on doors and asking people. But in the end, no food. For the rest, most of the action came from pigeons flying in and out through open or broken windows. To make the picture complete, this town also has a big water tower. Lucky Luck would have loved it here.
​As soon as I left the village, you can guess: rice fields for another 19km. Signs don't point here to towns, but to big farms. They are called cascinas, often build in a big square, sometimes even fortified. This is typical for the Po valley. Whole communities of farmers lived together here in the early days under control of the manor owner. There is a movie about the life in cascinas. One thing is certain, it can not have been an easy life.
The flooded rice fields are full of life. I saw so many different birds. For a while, a bird circled above my head making loud noise. Or he wanted to warn the others or he wanted to eat me when I wouldn't make it through. But there are also the insects. Beautiful dragonflies and annoying mosquitos. I had already 41 bites and I kept getting more. Sometimes, a car came through making a huge cloud of dust. Didn't I meet anybody walking? No, oh wait yes, the mysterious pilgrim. I have seen him a couple of times, but he clearly doesn't want to talk. He also has the raincover over his backpack while it's 30 degrees and sunny. Or would he be a fata morgana?
Just before the last stretch and when I saw Vercelli on the horizon, there was this sign: route blocked - deviazione. Luckily, I was aware of this. The unofficial explanation is that a farmer was no longer happy with the pilgrims and did some works which destroyed the path. But there is a new route a bit more to the north. Maybe with less rice fields? No. Maybe shorter? No, 1 km longer. Some darker clouds had popped up in the sky. They made a show with the sun. Rain was not on the program.
​And then suddenly: Vercelli. One moment in a rice field, the other between decathlon and mac donalds. Walking into a city can be complicated, not here. One straight street takes you into town. Weird to suddenly see people and apartment buildings. I went straight to my B&B: la casa di nonna. My room was stunning with a high ceiling and lots of old decoration. I felt like in a museum. The owner is named Sergio, a very friendly man from Sicily. He just came back from there and described it as hell. More than 45 degrees and bush fires. Even the sea is hot. Then it is better here. Except for the mosquitos who already found a way into my room. I would sleep well anyway and today is my third rest day before I continue through the rice fields.