A Good Walk Unspoiled: And on to Spello

In Assisi

We have reluctantly left wonderful Assisi to continue on to Rome. We only have a handful of days left before we are due to arrive in Rome, so walking all the way is out of the question. Robin and I have decided to walk to Spoleto and from there take the train to Rieti and the see what remaining stages can be walked. For the past couple of days we have walked to the beautiful medieval towns of Spello, Trevi and today Spoleto. We dealt with some moderate rain showers yesterday but other than that the weather has been fine. It was quite a treat to be sitting out on our hotel deck looking back up the valley last night and being able to see Assisi that we left two days ago. Today's walk to Spoleto was almost exclusively on paved surfaces. The weather warmed up a bit so we were making best speed under the cool domes of our umbrellas. Our arrival in Spoleto was a bit of a mish mash. The guide book just didn't seem to line up with what we were seeing. Of course we could see the city on a distant hill so in the end we just headed for the high ground and what looked like the city center. We had been on a very nice if uninspiring bike path for several kilometers before we turned left for Spoleto. Robin and I were both hot and tired and Spoleto just didn't seem to want to arrive. We ploughed along uphill for ages and once in the old city itself our confusion only got worse. Our hotel was on a very small street that the locals we spoke to couldn't identify. The general guidance was to continue going up. By now we were done with up and wanted to hear down, but that was not to be. So we swung long lazy arcs across the city hillside in hopes of picking up some hint that would lead us to our hotel. Our final bit of luck led us to a conservatory with the same name as our hotel. As were climbed up the stairs to the sounds of classical music we were met by a kind lady who clarified we were in fact not in the hotel, but would gladly sell us tickets to a recital. No thank you to the tickets, but she did point us across a square and then up a bit to find our hotel. At last we chased up a final steep and very narrow cobbled street and there it was. We stepped through the gate and into a beautiful garden. Home at last. Tomorrow we are jumping from here to Rieti by train and then will plan the final few days into Rome. Buonasera, from Spoleto.