Sep 23, 2023, Pietralunga to Gubbio
We all had a great night's sleep in La Locanda del Borgo. We went down to breakfast at 7.30 and were warmly greeted by Manuel. He'd given us pieces of paper yesterday with a list of items and checkboxes next to each item to indicate what we'd like for breakfast. The three of us checked almost all the boxes so we had a very generous breakfast.
Manuel made us each two cappuccinos. Four other Pellegrinos were also eating breakfast and they all left the hotel earlier than us, having eaten less, but we caught up with them.
Manuel is such a nice guy. I had a look at his espresso machine. He says the water here is hard and he has problems with calcium deposit build up so he has a maintenance contract. Every other year his machine is replaced with a refurbished one.
I paid Manuel €111 and we set off. "Maybe I'll see you again in 2027", Manuel said. He had a record of our visit on September 30th 2019 when h'd given us the room next to the one he gave us this time.
We hadn't gone far when Patsy called to me. I stopped and she said Ken had a hot spot on his heel. Why didn't he mention this earlier? He didn't think it was a big deal but Patsy and I know better. He took off his shoe and pointed to where his heel was sore. There was a hole in his sock at the same spot. I cut some Leukotape off the roll on one of my hiking poles to cover the sore spot and we continued.
After strolling along a paved country lane we turned off and walked along gravel roads through forest for 10 miles until we came to a church, Chiesa Loreto. All seven Pellegrinos who'd stayed at La Locanda del Borgo stopped here for lunch.
The next 6 miles were along paved roads that got progressively busier as we neared Gubbio. The sky looked ominous to the southwest. A thunderstorm was approaching.
We checked into the hotel in Gubbio I'd booked for two nights, "San Francesco e il Lupo", €110 per night for two rooms including breakfast. Gubbio is where St. Francis tamed a wolf that was terrorizing the town.
We bought food for dinner from a small deli. The girl serving us spoke no English but was extraordinarily patient. When we left it was raining, with thunder and lightning. The light and the sky looked fabulous.
A rainbow appeared and, upon returning to the hotel, we discovered there's a terrace on the second floor. Alas, the light was already fading.
Sep 24, 2023, A zero day in Gubbio.
It rained overnight and while we were eating breakfast so we retired to our respective rooms to wait out the storm.
The rain finally stopped after 11 am. How lucky was it that we'd decided to spend two nights in Gubbio? We had no idea it was going to rain for 16 hours straight.
Ken came to our room and showed us that he did now have a blister on the side of his heel that was painful when he pressed it. It's possible to take a bus from Gubbio to Valfabricca, jumping ahead two stages. I offered him this option to consider.
Meanwhile, Patsy and I were going to spend the afternoon exploring Gubbio. Ken said he'd stay in his room to rest his sore foot. It's not just his foot that's sore. He has a huge bruise on the back of his leg, caused by the fall he took on the way down from Eremo Montecasale.
Not far from our hotel a pharmacy was open, so I bought more Compeed. I bought the one for severe blisters, €10 for five, double what they cost in the UK.
Patsy and I climbed several peaks above Gubbio. We climbed Monte d'Ansciano, 893 m, then Monte Ingino, 905 m, on whose slopes Gubbio was built. It was raining all around us but we didn't get much rain. It was nevertheless cold and windy. My rain jacket zipper wouldn't close. Some fibrous junk was in the bottom of the zipper, preventing it from meshing. I found some wire on a fence, broke off a piece and used this to fish the junk out of the zipper so, finally, it would work to close the front of my jacket.
The Basilica di Sant' Ubaldo is built high on the slopes of Mt. Ingino. It's pretty fabulous. After looking around there we enjoyed cappuccinos at the adjacent cafe with a view over Gubbio.
We walked back down, rather than taking the cable car that used what looked like bird cages to transport the people traveling up or down.
We wandered around the old part of Gubbio before heading over to the Coop, one of the few supermarkets open on Sunday, to buy provisions including for dinner.
Back at our hotel, we went to the terrace to watch sunset while enjoying a glass of wine.
Gubbio is fabulous. I highly recommend a visit.