Day 53 Ivrea to Viverone – 23rd July

Distance: 19.5 km – Elevation +150 m -200 m

Weather: Sunny. Temperature: High 27 degrees

I woke early and saw the sunrise behind Lake Sirio from my bedroom window. I had asked for breakfast to be left outside my room so that I could have an early start to my day. So it was just 6.30 am when I left my hotel to rejoin the Via Francigena path. I found it again just as I arrived in Ivrea. It was going to be a short route of just 20 kilometres today and mostly flat walking. The route is described as “walking at the base of the Ivrea Greenhouse, the biggest moraine in Europe”. It was going to be another beautiful day and I felt a real sense of release and freedom as I first walked past freshly harvested fields of wheat to reach Cascinette and then Burolo with its “Sosta Via Francigena” a rest stop for pilgrims complete with a water fountain. I arrived in Bollego around 10.00 am and stopped for a rest break and coffee. I really enjoy Italian coffee and it is always served with a smile. Next, the narrow streets of the ancient Roman village of Palazzo Canavese welcome me as I pass through on my way to Piverone where I find a bar just closing for the siesta. I manage to buy an ice-cold beer and the lady behind the bar says I am welcome to sit at the tables on the terrace as she closes the bar. After resting I leave Piverone and follow pleasant hilly paths towards Viverone, where I reach the location where the ancient village of Livione once stood, and the remains of an ancient church, the “Gesiun” dedicated to San Peter. dating back to the 9th century. The church is small and of primitive Romanesque style with a single nave separated from the presbytery by three arches supported by three columns. The ancient paths continue among vineyards to reach the outskirts of Viverone with views over Lake Viverone. Soon after, close to 3.00 pm, I arrive in Viverone where I have booked a room in a lakeside hotel where I seem to be the only guest. The room is excellent and has a balcony with wonderful views of the lake. Later I enjoy a beer relaxing on the hotel’s terrace and in the evening, a warm balmy evening, I enjoy a seafood supper in a small restaurant on the shores of the lake, finishing with coffee and a cognac relishing the freedom of this first day since I had said goodbye to Jean Pierre. I took a final stroll along the shores of the lake as the sunset behind the distant mountains before returning to the hotel.