Thursday, April 10, 2025
- Start: Edinburgh, Scotland
- End: Pisa, Italy
- Distance Traveled: 1,494 miles (via rail, bus, and airplane)
Before I could begin my trek on the Via Francigena, I had to get from my home in the Pacific Northwest US to Europe. Luckily, my sister wanted to celebrate her 50th birthday in Scotland, which got me over the pond and almost into the correct time zone in the days leading up to my hike.
Here are a few photos from our 10-day trip to Scotland. It was a relaxing warm-up…minus the harrowing drives in our rental car. Nothing gets the blood pumping like the madness of driving on the left side of the road, in a manual transmission car whose steering wheel is on the opposite side of what you’re used to! But we did see some lovely sights, and I revisited some of the places I walked past on my 2023 hike on the West Highland Way.
A weary day of travel
After 10 days together, it was time to part ways with my sister and find my way to Italy. I woke up this morning in Edinburgh, Scotland, and my grand plan was for the two of us to travel as far as London together before saying our goodbyes. She was flying back to the US on a direct flight from Heathrow. Meanwhile, I needed to navigate the best way possible to get from London to Pisa.
One would think that traveling between two European cities would be much faster than flying from the US. And perhaps it is easier if: (a) you are independently wealthy and have your own private jet; or (b) you’re traveling between major cities like Paris or Rome.
Neither of these was true for me. It would take me 13 hours to get from point A to point B today.
- First via train from Edinburgh to Glasgow
- Then a bus to the Glasgow Airport in Scotland
- Onto my completely full flight to London Heathrow (where I ended up with the dreaded middle seat)
- Then a 2.5-hour bus ride from Heathrow Airport to Stansted Airport (on opposite sides of London amid snarls of traffic)
- And through the “shit show” that is Stansted airport (never again),
- Before I finally caught my inexpensive flight to Pisa on RyanAir.
I boarded my first mode of transport in Scotland at 8 am and didn’t land in Italy until nearly 10 pm, thanks to the 1-hour time change. And then I had to wait in line to get through immigration. Yes, thanks to Brexit, one must now transit immigration between the UK and the rest of Europe.
Pisa At Night
When I finally reached the exit at the Pisa airport, it was dark outside, and I was beyond travel weary. I had a reservation for a hostel near the city center. But I still didn’t have any Euros. I only had US dollars and British pounds.
This lack of local currency left me in an internal debate over whether to simply walk the 1.2 kilometers to my hostel. Perhaps I might have headed out on foot if it had been daytime or if I had a partner traveling with me. But walking the streets of a foreign city alone after 10 p.m. seemed stupid. My backpack clearly marked me as a tourist. And I didn’t want to start my solo walking adventure in Italy by getting mugged in Pisa.
So, I set off on a scavenger hunt to find an ATM in the airport. With that task complete, I followed the signs to the PisaMover, the light rail shuttle that runs between the airport and the Pisa train station. At €6.50 for a one-way ride that lasted about three minutes, this method was not cheap. However, the PisaMover was still preferable to taking a taxi and much safer than walking.
Unfortunately, the late hour of my arrival didn’t work in my favor at the hostel either. The lights were out in my shared dorm with guests already asleep in their bunks. I tried my best to quietly find my own bunk and settle in after my long day of travel. But I was sorely disappointed (again) to discover the power outlet next to my bunk wasn’t working. Oh well, I would wait until the morning to shower and charge my electronics.
As I lay in my bunk in the dark, I tried to quiet my mind and fall asleep. The day’s events rolled through my mind over and over. I was exhausted, and my trek on the Via Francigena hadn’t even begun yet. I wish I’d spent the extra $150 or so to fly from Heathrow Airport to Pisa (or even Florence)! Why did I have to make the travel logistics so difficult to save a few bucks?? I needed to start making better choices if I wanted this adventure to go more smoothly.
