9 November 2007, MILAN – Walking to Rome I met a lot of people committed to resurrecting the Via Francigena. Some walked with me, some called me up on the phone to chat, some had coffee with me while I stopped for a few minutes in their town and then there was Franco Alessandri who drove from Florence to San Gimignano one morning in mid-May so he could ask me how I had found the Tuscan portion of the Via Francigena.

He was particularly interested in what I had seen so far in his native region because he heads up a group called Communità Toscana Il Pellegrino that looks after the Tuscan portion of the trail. His website (only in Italian), www.francigenaintoscana.org, is a must read for anybody planning to walk the Via Francigena in Tuscany and is worth perusing even if you have no plans to ever leave the chair in front of your computer. In addition to worrying about the Via Francigena in Tuscany, Franco’s group wants to signpost trunk trails from all of the region’s major cities that feed into the Francigena.

Our meeting lasted but half an hour yet I managed to promise to visit Franco at his home in Settignano in the hills north of Florence. Since I’m into keeping my promises, a few weeks ago I went to Settignano and spent a weekend with Franco and his wife Giuliana, an encounter timed to coincide with a dinner for more than 100 people he had organized to raise money for his organization.

Franco’s got enough energy to share with several people and at the moment much of it is getting channeled into his attempt to drum up support to stop the local government from building an asphalt road through a serene forest between Settignano and Fiesole. The road, according to its supporters, will allow cars coming towards Florence from north of Fiesole to bypass the little town saving it from constant traffic congestion. Franco says the road is unnecessary because Fiesole only has traffic in the morning and ruining this forest to alleviate an hour of traffic a day is nonsensical to say nothing of being a crime against nature.

Franco took me to walk in the forest in question and though I have never been to Fiesole making a personal judgment difficult, there is one thing worth noting. More asphalt is almost always a bad thing, especially when it is used to cover something as beautiful as the Tuscan hills. Maybe they could have more busses or encourage carpooling, telecommuting, something. I’m sure there is a solution here that doesn’t involve asphalt.

For the record: Franco, who was in Monteriggioni ten days ago to hear Prodi speak about the importance of the Via Francigena, is confident that the government is ready to put the money where its mouth is. I trust Franco so I guess that means I should trust Prodi.