Via Francigena | Stage XXX — Passo della Cisa → Aulla

Not the most beautiful stage of the Via Francigena.
One of the most powerful.

The Apennines are still wrapped in an endless green blanket, but everything starts to change here — the air, the light, the smells, the energy. Wild jasmine, flowering vines and warm mountain air announce what is waiting further south.

The sun suddenly feels different. Stronger. Golden. Almost cinematic.
The kind of light that makes you dream about hidden Tuscan villas, infinity pools lost between rolling hills, silence and absolute privacy.

Even with a headwind, the descent flows effortlessly. The mountain protects the road like a natural corridor — endless curves, stone walls, dense vegetation and tiny villages emerging only occasionally from the forest.

Pontremoli already feels like a gateway.
Not only between Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, but between two different emotional landscapes.

And then comes Aulla — the moment where, against my original plan, I consciously leave the Via Francigena for a while. Instead of continuing towards Massa and Lucca, I turn towards Pisa to solve my drone situation. There’s simply no proper assistance anywhere ahead on the route to Rome.

A necessary detour.
But maybe that’s also part of pilgrimage.

@svkarmali