Sep 19, 2023, Stage 10
Patsy and I woke up at 5:30. We all three had slept really well, maybe the best so far on this trip.
Our plan today was to walk to Cita di Castello. Halfway through today's walk we'd pass through Lerche, where Paul, Michael, and Veronica had spent last night. I found it would be possible to catch a bus from Lerche to Cita di Castello and suggested this as an option to Ken, which he agreed was a good idea.
We set off promptly at 7:00, just in time to see the end of sunrise. We walked down mostly quiet country lanes with only one busy highway to cross. Patsy and I were ahead of Ken when our path turned left. A couple of minutes later Patsy told me she saw Ken had gone straight. I called him (by phone) and set him straight. Meanwhile, Patsy and I agreed that if Ken was going to catch a bus from Lerche it didn't make sense for us to keep waiting for him as we had an extra 9 km to walk.
We showed Ken the GPX track on AlpineQuest and how to follow it. He said okay, so Patsy and I forged on ahead.
Crossing another valley we came to a posted diversion. A large sign on the left side of the dirt road noted the Cammino had been rerouted. I walked past the sign, paying more attention to my phone. Patsy called to me and said I'd better let Ken know.
We could see Ken walking down the road on the other side of the valley. He was going faster than we'd expected so Patsy and I decided we'd offer him the option of us waiting for him and we three could then walk to Cita di Castello together. I called him and he agreed that this sounded like a good plan.
We descended towards Cita di Costello, stopping for a coffee break not long before coming to an Eremo. When Ken caught up with us he complained there was nowhere to sit and he'd wait for us at the Eremo. When we reached him we found him sitting on a bench surrounded by five cats. Leaving the cats we crossed the Tiber river and found ourselves in Umbria.
The apartment I'd booked was right on the Cammino and only a ten-minute walk after crossing the Tiber. I called Lorenzo, the apartment owner, to let him know we'd arrived. Lorenzo's done a great job fixing up this place, the entrance to an ancient church. In the bedroom there's a sort of crypt we could light up that's right next to one side of the bed, covered by a glass panel. It's a little strange, certainly different.
Lorenzo is a champion arm wrestler. He asked us if we'd like to try arm wrestling him. Ken gave it a try. Lorenzo said he wouldn't try to push Ken but invited Ken to try to force his hand to the table, even using both Ken's hands it was impossible to move Lorenzo's arm and he's only a little guy.
We walked to the nearby Co-op and bought about a basket full of groceries. For dinner, Patsy and I made Orata (sea bream) with veggies and potatoes for ourselves and veggie ravioli with mushrooms and courgettes for Ken.
Sep 20, 2023, a zero day in Cita di Castello
After breakfast, we headed to the only sporting goods store in town, Scarscelli Sport, a 20-minute walk so Ken could buy a wide-brim hat. While we were there, Patsy and I encouraged him also to buy a new pair of shoes. We were helped by Filippo, whose family owns the store. Filippo had gone to college studying to become a park ranger but government cutbacks had eliminated funding for all new positions so he'd fallen back on working for his family business.
Ken bought a hat and a pair of shoes, Hokas per Patsy's and Filippo's recommendations.
Filippo told us that Pieve di Saddi, tomorrow's destination, was a strange place. I asked him what he meant by strange and he said it used to be owned by the Knights Templar. "You'll see", he added intriguingly.
We returned to the Co-op to buy some more food then returned to the apartment to eat lunch. After lunch we went exploring. We wanted to get a Cita di Castello stamp in our Credenziales. We couldn't find a stamp in the Duomo so we kept looking. In the town hall, the secretary didn't speak English but she walked us over to the tourist information office that was closed, then told us we wouldn't be able to get the stamp until tomorrow morning. However, Patsy noticed a poster in the window directing pellegrinos to the Chiesa San Francesco, not far away, to get their stamps. It's a massive church but there was almost no one there. We did get our stamps though.
Patsy and I made dinner. A ravioli-based dish for Ken and I made a 6-egg omelet for Patsy and myself, similar to the omelet I made in the morning but this time I added Pecorino and we had accompanying roast potatoes and zucchinis. We finished off the apple strudel and ice cream for dessert.
The weather forecast calls for rain, including thunderstorms, for the next three days then it's sunny as far as the forecast extends.