Day 10 and the walk continues to delight.
There’s a little bit more gritting of teeth and the feet begin to make larger protests. Multiple 25 to 35km days without a rest stop are to be avoided.
Today I walked to the beautiful city of Gubbio – the walk started crossing rolling hills, passing through farms and sadly a large number of deserted stone cottages which you would die to own 50 km out of Sydney. I write this from the beautiful Palazzo Pretoria overlooking the hills and an amazing sunset. Oh, whilst drinking a very nice Umbrian dry white and canapes from the Relais hotel.
Nice coffee – the wine came later
Amazing …. no filters
I didn’t get away today until 920 having spent some time skyping AJ so I had a different experience today seeing other people on the walk as they rested for their morning tea.
I caught up with Betty (Elizabetha) and stopped for a rest – I had been travelling for about 2 hours. Her English is pretty good and we have a nice chat about Italy, its frustrations, charms and living in Verona. Her husband is meeting her in a couple of days and took 2 buses and 3 trains to get here. That’s love eh.
Elizabetha (Betty) from Verona – lover her passion for the important heritage.
The Walk to Gubbio
The walk today was just over 26km. I listened to my body and slowed down at about 16km, knees and then my feet. The last 10km was along a beautiful floor passing sparse rural settlements, villages and farms. Buon Guorno, Buno Sera …. And when they respond in detail I say ‘Gubbio’ Buon Camino, Australian’.
Bye to Pietralunga – dinner there last nighty was great.
The walk included a number of climbs – I powered along until my knees started to warn me
And you can see my heart rate as I backed off today
Most farms are being run by older people – I imagine consolidation has caused a lot of the houses to become disused.
I loved this – the other day a man was walking bis dog driving behind it. These were strong bulky horses – not sure what type.
Typical of the region; deep green grass, beautiful blues skies.
My first view of the valley where Gubbio was.
A collection of horse drawn plows
Now this was interesting. I am wearing a cap from Loretto rowing – Maddies school.
Love this building; the windows have been changed so many times.
The second largest Roman amphitheatre is at Gubbio (according to Gubbio)
Still a centre for the Fransican religion
Gubbio
I arrived around 3pm!. Most places were closed for siesta, so I went to hotel and inspected the feet damage before going for a ‘gingerly’ walk.
The town was beautiful and I originally planned to spend 2 days here. It was originally an important Roman town and is known today to most tourists for its quaint buildings nestled in the hillside and dramatic and picturesque street views. But the city is very ancient.
As Ikuvium, it was an important town of the Umbri in pre-Roman times, made famous for the discovery there of the Iguvine Tablets in 1444, a set of tablets that together constitute the largest surviving text in the Umbrian language. After the Roman conquest in the 2nd century BC the city remained important, as attested by its Roman theatre, the second-largest surviving in the world.
Gubbio became very powerful in the beginning of the middle ages and this bit is my favorite; the town sent 1000 knights to fight in the first crusade under the lead and according to an undocumented local tradition, they were the first to enter into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre when the city was seized in 1099.
The view from bottom to top.
There views down the lanes are picture postcard
I love this rooftop view
The Civil Museum
The museum had a display on instruments of torture – they had a broad collection . I limited the photos
And tomorrows Walk
The walk is 23 km to Biscina. I will start early and take it easy. Two pairs of socks I think.
And Don’t Forget The Good Cause
In honour of the great work Black Dog institute are doing in helping many families, corporate organisations and communities create awareness and support to deal with the pressures of life, I am raising money for this important cause.
I have passed my $3,000 target – but lets do more – no amount is too small – and I need a new donation.
https://teamblackdog.everydayhero.com/au/walking-the-st-francis-way
If interested, you can read a daily debrief of my walk and see some pics on my blog: www.youcanlive2.com
You can subscribe for updates at the bottom.
Ciao till tomorrow.