Into the woods

Day begins

This morning we said farewell to our hosts at Il Beccafico, Masako and Ivo, and set out under clearing skies for Valfabbrica. Robin and I were still under the spell of Il Beccafico, their home, as we started down into another beautiful Umbrian valley. The day was warm and seemed to offer a better than average chance of a dry day. And so so we moved on. Tight muscles gradually got the message that there was work to be done and it was time to get with it. And so off we went ready and open for what the day would bring. We wound around through rural lanes and soon came upon a monastery, the Eremo di San Pietro in Vignetto. We walked in and met an Italian hospitalero, Stephan, who welcomed us and gave us a tour of the grounds. It is now a a donativo pilgrim hostel, that can accommodate 50 people. He showed us the chapel with a fresco dating back to the 1300's. A beautiful guy and a beautiful refuge. He did say he is open all year round. After bidding Stephan adieu we moved on and continued enjoying a gorgeous morning. We soon encountered a group from the USA who were traveling with REI, The huge American outdoor outfitters. They were all part of a hiking tour and were coming from Assisi and heading for Gubbio. We chatted a for a bit and then went our separate ways. In short order we entered the woods. While yesterday's walk was on on leafy country lanes today's took us into the woods and on to forested paths. We had the usual mix of ups and downs, stream crossings, and mud slicked climbs that drained us. But we moved through it all joyfully and still found ourselves marveling at the beauty of it all. We felt particularly strong. A gimpy knee that rose from wherever, seemed to retreat to from whence it came and life was indeed much better. Robin and I just putted along at what I felt was a comendable pace. There really was nothing to it. We just set out for a good walk and there it was. No magic involved, just lots of gratitude. We have found beautiful caring people all along the Way of St. Francis just as we have in Spain walking our various caminos. It is this kind of connection with people that continues to draw us back. Of course we also try to do our best to measure up, but that is another story, for another day. Life goes on, regardless. Eventually we popped out off the woods in the early afternoon and found ourselves on a paved road that with a few twists and turns led us to a quiet path that took us into Vilfabbrica. This day is done. Tomorrow we will be in Assisi. Thanks be to God.     

   

Chapel along the way

 

Pilgrim hostel in church

   

Chapel fresco from 1300

 

Stefan the hospitalero

 

Creek crossing

 

 

 

Now this is peace and quiet

St. Francis and the wolf

Gubbio was bursting at the seams with festival goers as Robin and I made our way out of the city. We dodged traffic and crowds as we closed in on the Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Vittorina (dedicated to St. Francis and where Legend has it he tamed a wolf). We paused and offered our prayers to this wonderful saint and then continued on our way down the rifle barrel straight Via Piaggiola to the village of Ponte d'Assi and then onward to our destination for tonight an agriturismo, Il Beccafico, which is about 13 kms from Gubbio. As each day's walk begins there is always some time required to settle in to the challenges of the day whether that be terrain, weather or whatever. I thought today's hectic start would require a bit of time for Robin and I to find our groove, but oddly enough by the time we reached and paused at the Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Vittorina, a moment of quiet settled upon us. It was surprising as we were still well within the city limits, but St. Francis offered us his peace and we grabbed it. As we ambled down the Via Piaggiola (today we mostly ambled) we simply enjoyed the silence that followed along with us. The day's walk proceeded uphill and down. We met two Austrian pilgrims, who sensing the peace of the day dropped back, and allowed us all to enjoy the silence being offered to us. Rain was in the forecast but it held off as we made our way through the Umbrian hills. Spectacular views appeared as we gained elevation. Prayers were said and all God's gifts were well received as we continued on reluctant to have this day's walk draw to an end. It was simply a unique time of quiet beauty and reflection. Robin and I fell into and out of conversation as each of us had things to ponder on this remarkable day. Topping our final hill for the day we once again were gifted with spectacular vistas as went as slowly as we could down leafy lanes towards our bed for the night. Today's walk redefined peace and quiet for me. We found ourselves alone on this beautiful country road with lush valleys to the right and left. My head could not spin around quickly enough to take it all in. It was a bit of never never land found in Umbria. It was just too perfect to believe, but there it was. What a day. Eventually we arrived at the turn in for our lodging for the night. A barking dog (a small one) greeted us and then our hosts. They are a wonderful couple. She is Japanese and he is Italian. They have a large home with a view that Walt Disney could not have improved on. So Robin and I are now relaxing and awaiting dinner (8pm). The laundry is done, a cold beer is in hand, and the miracle of this day continues to resonate. As a footnote, peals of thunder are now echoing off the hillsides and the rain, that was held in abeyance is now washing away our footprints. Were we even here? Was this even possible? Could it be just a dream? I think I just saw St. Francis wink at us. Peace and quiet indeed. Assisi is now one day nearer. All is well. 

Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Vittorina  

   

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Arrival        

Il Beccafico    

View from the front yard    

View from the front yard      

View from the back yard

Back to the front yard    

Day's end

 

The jump to Gubbio

It was never going to be possible for us to walk all of the Way of St. Francis this time as we have a commitment with the Camino Chaplaincy in Santiago for the month of June. So Robin and I are taking the time that we have to enjoy a sample of this route from the Santuario La Verna to Rome. Today we made our first jump from Sanselpocro to Gubbio. We had received some information from our hotel host last night that was close to what we needed but not exactly. After a night of rain day broke with mostly cloudy skies, but as the morning wore on a spot of blue sky actually appeared here and there. We made our way through Sanselpocro as a Saturday market was setting up. We noticed that the town had a prosperous look about it. Nice shops and restaurants seemed to be the norm, and the town appeared clean, and tidy. Following our given instructions we passed through the city walls and turned left for the train station. As we approached the station the prosperous look took a turn for the worse. Not only was the station in sad shape but the rail cars we noticed as we entered town yesterday afternoon were not graffiti covered derelicts, but graffiti covered active duty trains. A notice above the closed ticket window mentioned something about the bar next door so we shuffled over there looking for information and a ticket. The counter lady spoke good English and sorted us out on how to connect to Gubbio. We fell in with a German couple who had started the Way of St. Francis in Florence but decided they needed a rest day so they also were in the hunt for tickets to Gubbio. We all hopped aboard at the appointed time and off we went into the countryside enjoying what view we had through the spray painted Windows. We eventually found our way to the small town, Umbertide, where we were to connect to by bus to Gubbio. The bus was not scheduled to arrive for another three hours so we got together with our German companions and shared a cab. It all worked out fine. We all piled off at our hotel which was close by the Tourist Office. We checked in and the German couple set off for the Tourist Office in search of lodging. What quickly became apparent was that Gubbio holds an annual festival on May 15th that packs the town. The good news for us is that as the throngs of festival goers pass into Gubbio through the city gates tomorrow we will be passing outbound at the same time. Sorry to miss the party, but we are talking way too many people. The Tourist Office arranged a room for us for tomorrow at an agritourist place about 12 kms from here. It was our only option as pushing on beyond that would have been close to a 40 km day, and Robin and I were not up for that. So, a short day tomorrow which is fine as it is forecasted to be a wet day, and then we have two stages left to reach Assisi. Once in Assisi we will focus on how best to walk to Rome given the days we have left. All is well that leads us to a bed for the night. So from under the covers we wish you buona notte.  

Gubbio

 

Gubbio

Lunch

 

Gubbio

 

What we will we be missing tomorrow

 

The hidden path

The boulevard portion of the trail above the hidden path

The hidden path conjures up visions of internal spiritual journeys filled with challenges and unexpected gifts. It is why I find walking pilgrim roads so satisfying. As one walks along there is simply time to delve into the inner part of who we are while still having to cope with the outer part that is always admittedly more mundane. But the inner journey offers the possibility of great delights and joys. The author of our guidebook also loved this phrase as he used it exactly as stated to lead us out of San Stefano and onward to Sanselpocro. The phrase caught our eye as we were flipping the pages in our book and closely following our departure route this morning. The guidebook clearly stated that upon reaching the clearing look for the hidden path that leads downhill. In my opinion a guidebook is not meant to be a mystery novel so a hidden path should be replaced with something like the obvious path, but my protestations drifted away on the wind. So we were in the clearing and the only obvious path one can see is the one the book says not to take. What to do? For a start more patience was required to sort beneath what wasn't visible to try and find something that was that might set us straight. A bit of tall grass did show some crushing, but only just. Could this be it? Robin and I probed a bit more and honestly there was nothing there that a goat would walk on, but we decided to give it a go as there was nothing else. Our first steps sent us sliding down to where the wanna be path stopped literally at a cliff edge. The path was now about 8 inches wide, sloped towards the cliff edge and was surrounded by toe tripping scrub. Heart rates bolted for the stratosphere as we gazed down over the cliff to the rocky river bed 100 feet below.  At this point we could only continue along this precarious traverse until either we fell into the river or found safer ground further along. Onward we went looking like we were walking through a minefield. One missed step and the results would have been the same. But, as I am now relating this bit of excitement it shows we found our safe ground and in fact made it all the way to Sanselpocro without any further drama. However I must admit that from now on when I hear the phrase "hidden path" I will remember this day, and it will not be my inner journey that comes to mind.  Epilogue. We are now safely booked into the Hotel Pazzo Magi in Sansepulcro (where a connonade of thunder is now raking the city) where a large warm room has sheltered us from the rain and hail that we just barely dodged. A quick dash outside into the rain yielded a 2005 Brunello di Montalcino and some wild boar salami. This Is holding us over as we await the dinner hour (8pm). Pilgrim progress to be sure. Buonasera.  

 

 

 

Pilgrims from Seattle en route to Assisi