I was a little bit lost--which was not so unusual for me--when I approached San Vicenzo a Torre and Il Poggio by bicycle.
I had followed the road signs from Florence and that I was close to my destination was pretty clear to me--but it was getting dark--it had been raining and was about to rain again--it was getting colder--and darker--by the minute, and I was exhausted tired.
My bike was loaded to the max and I was even pulling a little yellow plastic two-wheeled trailer with tools and bedding and stuff and I was more than ready to pause and stay for a while with my old friends.
I pushed my gear less bike--walking beside it--up a long, dark hill--thinking that maybe Il Poggio was at the top--but it wasn't.
I was so disappointed and frustrated I almost cried, but I rode back down the way I had come and found a little grocery and wine store still open at a crossroads. I asked the shop man if he knew of Elisabetta or Il Poggio and he said yes, she had just been in for something and Il Poggio was only a few kilometers down one of the crossroads--not the one I had was on!
I thanked him and rode the last bit feeling very much better.
I soon recognized the tree-lined dirt lane leading from the highway to Il Poggio and pushed my bike the last hundred uphill yards.
Oh my! Elisabetta was so happy to see me.
She put a lot of warm food on the big wooden kitchen table for me with a handy bottle of wine and called some of the guests to join in a home-coming celebration for the pilgrim--me!
I talked for quite a while-- telling pilgrim yarns to the cozy gathering--until we were all sleepy--then Elisabetta showed me to one of the nice upstairs tourist bedrooms where she said I could stay--and continue our old work-for-food and-lodging program.
Wonderful.
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