Minneapolis nonprofit takes travelers across rural Italy: ‘Walk with your hearts’

On a brisk spring morning in Rimini, I stood in a hushed cathedral with 11 other hikers, waiting for a bishop’s blessing.

Ahead lay days of strenuous trekking through Italy’s mountainous Emilia-Romagna region to the Sanctuary of La Verna, a Franciscan monastery in Tuscany. Together we would climb and descend for 75 miles on paths, some rugged and steep. So far, we had walked just three flat city blocks. Given the rigors ahead, pausing for celestial aid seemed wise.

We were following in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi, but we weren’t on a religious pilgrimage. My husband and I joined this trip, offered by the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Esperienza — which reinvigorates rural Italy through philanthropy and tourism — to visit hilltop towns where trains don’t stop and tourists rarely roam. And we would take the slow approach — by foot.

We have been to Italy many times, but never like this, with each day framed by views of mountains we had crossed over, or were yet to climb. By the end, our legs were weary, and our hearts were full.

The 11-day trip included five hiking days, covering around 15 miles each, punctuated by well-timed days of rest and exploration. On the hiking days, our group of professionals and retirees, most from Minnesota, laced up boots and hoisted daypacks stuffed with lunches, water, trekking poles and rain gear (which, given blessed balmy days, stayed tucked away). Our luggage took the easier route, shuttled ahead by van. On tough days, a few hikers did, too.

We followed Alessia Ghirardi, our knowledgeable and cheerful Italian guide, through alpine fields, past olive groves with blankets of yellow flowers, and up daunting trails to remote monasteries and stunning views. Alessia introduced us to Italians, including restaurateurs who forage or grow produce and farmers tending newborn lambs with dogs that bounded down the road to greet us. Along the way, we urged one another on, shared Advil and chocolates, and formed a camaraderie built on a shared mission and many miles.

Then at each day’s end, we reached hilltop villages that struck me as well earned rewards, each one a gem.

In the golden-hued fortress town of San Leo, on our first rest day, we learned to make pasta from the hotel’s cook, Antonella Cetrangolo, plus the hotel’s owner and Alessia. All are home cooks with a knack for fettuccine.

Antonella doesn’t speak English, but her gestures, encouraging looks, and willingness to grab a rolling pin when needed did the trick.

Together we ate our creation in the hotel’s breakfast room. Before we departed for a blustery tour of San Leo’s hilltop castle — fought over for centuries for its 360-degree views of the countryside — Antonella addressed us from the doorway of her tiny kitchen. “I am usually in the kitchen and don’t often see people enjoy my cooking, let alone eat with them. This has been a beautiful day for me,” she said in Italian with Alessia translating. Then she turned the corner to wipe away tears.

Such moments — intimate and heartfelt — fueled us even on the toughest hiking days. Sometimes literally.

The day before, after hours of hiking, we had stopped at a defunct monastery. Its caretaker, Angelo Righetti, greeted us and brought us through its simple church and then to its interior courtyard. As we rested beneath porticos, Angelo surprised us with cookies and wine. The treat boosted us on the final ascent to San Leo.

In Sant’Agata Feltria, we toured the Museum of Rural Crafts, filled with antique tools of weavers, shoemakers, vintners and other artisans. Down a hill, in a square shared with a truffle shop and a butcher, we walked into the 100-seat, 17th-century Teatro Angelo Mariani. Entering the oldest wooden theater in Italy, built of chestnut wood with three tiers of box seats painted with draped curtains and flowers, was a little like walking into a wedding cake.

A quick bus ride brought us to Pennabilli. There, we enjoyed lunch and a nature walk with the town’s retired doctor-turned-poet, Luigi Cappella. On the outskirts of town, he stopped at a house. The octogenarian owner emerged and, at Luigi’s prodding, began to recite his poems. She read with such emotion, we needed no translation to feel the power of Luigi’s verse, extolling the balm and peace of nature.

The next hours echoed his words. At a vista where he had installed benches (funded by Esperienza) to encourage townspeople to relish the outdoors, we watched wind ripple the grasses in the field below.

Our last hike took us to the Sanctuary of La Verna, where St. Francis himself spent time in contemplation and where he died surrounded by forests. During our last miles, we slowed down to relish our accomplishments — and marvel at gnarled tree roots as tall as humans protruding from the mountainside. The ancient beech forest is so pristine and rare that it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

After a night in modest but comfortable sanctuary guest rooms, most of us joined friars and nuns at an early morning service to hear them, or join in, singing psalms. At the service’s end, the priest blessed us. “Walk with your hearts as well as your feet,” he urged in Italian.

It was a fitting coda, but not the end.

From La Verna, a brief van ride took us to Bagno di Romagna, a spa town with fairy-tale gnomes decorating its streets. We soaked our aching muscles in the mineral-rich pool at our hotel and shuttled to nearby San Piero in Bagno for a celebratory lunch at Da Gorini.

The Michelin-starred restaurant is the epitome of local foraging, regional inspiration and Chef Gianluca Gorini’s culinary gifts. Over several hours, he presented eight courses of remarkable dishes: fried herbs served with a parmesan sauce, a basil-lemon juice that tasted like sunshine, rabbit in a gentle cream sauce flecked with berries.

“I believe you offer the only hiking experience that ends in a Michelin restaurant,” Plymouth resident Kathleen Boe remarked to Anna Bonavita, Esperienza’s founder, who had joined us for the last few days.

When you sign up for this trip, “you are accepting an invitation to a culture and a community,” said Roya Kambin, a hiker from the San Francisco Bay Area, referring to our close interactions with Italians and the bonds we had forged.

Back home, a few weeks later, we learned that Pope Francis had died. Since the pontiff chose his name to honor St. Francis, our group chat lit up. Alessia popped in from Italy, reminding us of the pope’s messages: “Open your heart, be courageous, keep your sense of humor.”

Good advice for life — and for hikes across Italy.

For information about upcoming trips with Minneapolis-based nonprofit Esperienza, go to esperienza.org/tour-programs.

The next “In the Steps of St. Francis” trip is scheduled for Oct. 2-12. Spring and fall trips are also scheduled for 2026, when the Catholic Church will have special commemorations to mark the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death, known as the Easter of St. Francis.