After Spello, Spoleto

Just another hilltop town, tedious, relentless, well someone has to do it.

We had planned to extend our walk from Spello, as described in our guidebook. The middle bit didn’t look interesting, following mainly roads, but the end part, from Campello to Spoleto sounded quite good, maybe not as good as the heights we had reached yesterday, but still beautiful.

We headed for Spoleto and found the aire. There are several other motorhomes, but all looked in a sorry state, maybe abandoned. This is not quite so close to the station but it will do. Same plan, nearly, as yesterday; train to Campello then walk back to Spoleto. There is just one problem, we cannot find a suitable train. There is one at 07:00 but really. Buses, pretty much the same. Doing it in reverse looks more promising, but the description of the route just isn’t good enough, and apparently the way marking is not as good as yesterday. We are close to admitting defeat, but then we had a great trek yesterday, surely this place has other things to offer.

We head up through the town.

Steep, steep. Why are Italians obsessed with building on hills? This town is larger than Assisi and Spello. A proper one, you can tell. Not just tourists milling the streets, actual people that live here.

That is not a tourist on his phone, he is off to work, or doing some deal, ‘I have this plot of land, great for development…..Yes, of course it is on a hillside, very steep, what do you think I am? an idiot.’

He sells his land, and is off to church to thank JC. Lots of churches here.

And the hill town affords that classic, across the rooftops photo. Those are the mountains we crossed yesterday….I think.

We continue upwards. Somewhere up here is the tourist information.

 

We search every alley, and eventually we find in some Piazza a grumpy woman. Obviously we are the first tourists of the day, and we will probably be the last, but still you can tell we are a massive inconvenience. She thrusts some leaflets at us and points us in the directions of one of her relatives cafe’s for Wi-Fi. No you misunderstand, we were looking for free Wi-Fi, we know we can get it in a bar!

At least we now know there is a walk we can do. It is short, but we are enjoying the walk around the town, so it suits us well. Lots of small steep streets.

We find the cathedrale, it has a dramatic Piazza in front of it, but it is closed. We have had this problem before. God has really long lunches in Italy. I suppose it is better than the UK, where he has given up completely in many places, selling his property for a quick buck which then gets converted into housing. At least it then has a useful purpose. Centre of the community my arse.

We reach a fort at the top of the town, with even better views over the landscape. We like this place.

We are looking for the start of our walk, it has to be around here somewhere?

If only we could have found a way to get back into the hills!

But that is where we want to go, close to those transmitters.

Ah, the bridge we were looking for, it looks magnificent, so slender and elegant, but maybe it is just an aqueduct and does not take people?

But we are too high, but at least from this angle we can see  that it is an aqueduct, but it also takes people. We just have to find a way down.

The fort is closed, also for lunch, but we want a walk.

Getting closer now. How many bricks went into that? Note the small hole above the last large arch, that is your only view back down the valley.

Maybe the brickies back then weren’t so good, not so straight, it has lasted though.

Amazing.

Beautiful shadow.

We start the walk, a relentless upward climb takes about two hours. The problem is this is through woods, so the view is not that good, sporadic at best. It is in shade though.

At the top, the convent is also closed. Nuns also take long lunch hours, all that really heavy thinking they do, must be tiring. We find a ‘spiritual’ wood. A rotten tree root has had some half arsed nativity placed in it, very spiritual!

After lunch we head back down the hill.

Get a bit lost, find our way again. We wanna be over there.

It is a lovely walk, and we have seen the town.

An old Fiat 500, the original. Now the new one is probably the best reinvention, but the other day we saw a Fiat 500L it is bigger than a Range Rover, but still way better than the so called Mini!

On the way back I have persuaded Susana to try out Spoleto’s transportation. They have installed lifts to help the residents navigate the town.

And escalators that hurl you out somewhere in the middle of town. Amazing, but hideous colour scheme.

Back on the road and we are heading in the direction of Corno Grande a mountain we have our eye on.

The landscape is lovely.

And the light, revealing each layer of hill, beautiful.

And on every hill;

Obviously a town.

That’s another one.

And another.

Everywhere you look, an Italian hilltop town, each as cute, old dilapidated and falling down the hillside.

We drive until late today.

Into the sunset.

It is an amazing evening.

With fluffy grey clouds.

As we drop into Rieti on the edge of the mountains, our destination for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GDR