St. Francis' Way - Page 4

Sansepolcro - Lama

Out of the city, into the mountains, according to the motto we went after the morning capuccino in a bar immediately on the slopes. After the dreary suburbs and a slight climb over dirt roads, the path ran past a house. 2 larger yapping dogs blocked the way. I waited then always briefly whether a owner could be seen, before we slowly but surely vorbeiliefen. Then they turned away and the way to the monastery Montecasale was free. It went enormously steeply uphill, narrow muddy paths, we passed Birgit again and after what felt like hours we stood on a small forecourt with a seated figure and an amazing view.

In the monastery itself there was a mass, so we did not disturb and walked to the bronze statue of Francis. After a capuccino in the bar higher up we took the rest of the climb, a beautiful forest path. Thereupon, the path led us only downhill, mostly on dirt roads, even "shoes off" at creeks was again announced. Many ruins stood along the way, always the question remained, why one had to leave such an idyllic piece of land. Later the way led along an asphalt road, through the village of Pitigliano and a few kilometers later we reached our destination, Lama. We were now in Umbria. Arrived in good time, we visited the first bar in the manageable village center.

But apparently still before siesta end we rang at the Hotel Rotonda (double room 60 € with breakfast), because an older gentleman appeared grumbling with us and said that the owner was coming. For this, the accommodation was all the friendlier, super room, and pizzeria at the hotel. There was not much to see in the small town, so we went to eat relatively early. And who was sitting there? Birgit again, but also 2 other German pilgrims. They were not very talkative, they were undecided how to continue tomorrow, because in the meantime heavy rain with thunderstorms had set in again. The locals said it would stay like this for the next few days. Hmmm, now we were also thinking.

Lama - Pietralunga

The first look outside told us that we have to take our alternative plan. In thunderstorms and heavy rain walk in the mountains did not have to be. But we still wanted to walk. So we walked along the streets to Città di Castello. Since the rain let up, we took our time for the town and then take the school bus to Pietralunga. We wanted to get there early so that we could walk backwards as far as possible along the route. Riding the bus here is a science, you never know where to buy the ticket 🙂.

Well, we arrived in the idyllic Pietralunga and quickly checked into our nice accommodation (Hotel Tinca 30 € per person with breakfast). Then we walked first of all in the direction of Bocca Serriola. Past the public washing place and a few cottages we were quickly on dirt roads in the middle of beautiful meadows on the way. But at some point we had to return the route, also the beautiful Pietralunga still wanted to be explored. It was a wonderfully maintained and beautiful place, with wonderful views of the surroundings. So we stood in the evening still long after the obligatory pizza at the viewing platform in the town center. Our running workload we had also managed today, alternative plan succeeded, weather better, night's rest earned 🙂.

Pietralunga - Gubbio

Today we followed the blue and yellow signs of the Via Roma. Beautiful dirt roads through bright green, not so high mountains, that's what the path looked like today. On 2nd half, the path ran through small villages, mostly on asphalt. Everywhere the houses were decorated, on May 15 in Gubbio the Festa dei Ceri is celebrated. Then there is a lot going on here. The way was very entertaining, from a distance you could already see Gubbio, a small town, as if chiseled into the rock. At the beautiful amphitheater we sat down in the green in the shade and enjoyed the scenery, because the weather was warm and sunny today. We still wanted to explore the beautiful place, so we first occupied our accommodation to get rid of the luggage.

The Residenza di Via Piccardi (55 € per room with breakfast) was right in the center, it had wonderfully pretty rooms and an idyllic garden. After the showers and the first welcome beer in the bar, we walked up to the Palazzo dei Consoli, through the upper town, then to the cathedral and the statue of Francis with the wolf. It was only hard to find a alimentari for tomorrow's food and evening drinks. A bit away from the center we found what we were looking for. Satisfied with the booty we enjoyed the summer flair in the garden of the accommodation. In the evening we found a romantic pizzeria near the amphitheater, wonderful with an old vault.