CAMPI DI BIBBIENA – ANOTHER HOSTEL FOR PILGRIMS

Another hostel for our pilgrims!!
In the hamlet of Campi di Bibbiena – AR, (“CHAMP del Monaco Alberto” at the end of the Valle Santa, towards Arezzo)  a small hostel has been inaugurated on Via Romea (stage 29) and on the St. Francis path. We are in fact just a few steps from the sanctuary of La Verna, after having climbed over the Apennines at Passo Serra along the Valle Santa and met Casa Santicchio, the arrival point of stage 28.
The hostel, all on the ground floor, has four official places, with bedroom, kitchen, bathroom also for the disabled and was obtained from the former municipal school. The participation of the people of Campi was enthusiastic and, at the end of the inauguration, they honored the guests with a rich lunch based on Tuscan specialities, from wines to dishes. Last but not least, a very tasty “porchetta” that only here they know how to make! The hostel, paid with LAG funds and partly with municipal budget resources, can give hospitality to pilgrims on foot or by bicycle before crossing the Corsalone river, and therefore La Verna and/or Chitignano.
The management was given to the ARCI Recreational Club of Campi, very active in the hamlet. Three phone numbers and three emails are given. One of the issues that they will soon resolve is that of food supply because Campi lacks shops or restaurants. The Mayor Filippo Vagnoli, with the councilor Francesca Nassini and the guide Corrado Andreini led a large group of walkers who from the main square of Bibbiena, passing through the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, reached Campi on foot, along the Via Romea . For us it was an opportunity to meet the Via Romea volunteers, such as our friend Giuliano who has been monitoring the route between Passo Serra and Arezzo for over ten years. The Via Romea congratulates the Administration and the people of Campi. For information, you can also contact the Casentino Archaeological Museum, in Bibbiena (https://www.arcamuseocasentino.it)