Today was quite a long walk as I combined two of the stages recommended in my guide book into one. It took me about 8 hours with a climb at the end that seemed it would never end !
Early in the day the route crossed a wide open field of wheat .
I just followed my trusty GPS and the barely discernible path!
Later in the morning the route followed for quite a while the watershed between Lake Trasimeno to the east
and the much smaller Lake Chiusi to the west.
These lakes are fed by little streams and nothing flows out. My friend Franco told me that Lake Chiusi is also fed by an underground river.
A few years ago, a section of a road I walked along collapsed and a 2nd century BC Etruscan tomb was found underneath.
You can see the lighter coloured asphalt where the collapse occurred, the cover over the tomb and the distant Lake Chiusi in this photo.
Here’s a view of the tomb, unfortunately locked up
and a drawing of what it looked like inside .
This was a pleasant road to walk down .
The long and winding road.
I passed many olive groves .
A beautiful old olive tree.
The poppies are everywhere .
I met two other pilgrims for only the second time in 5 weeks. This French couple were walking in the opposite direction to me towards Assisi.
They have done a walk of over 2,000km from Vézelay near their home to Santiago de Compostela!
This underpass was a bit tricky .
A wiggly road on my GPS
It’s very green and everyone comments on how much rain they’ve had.
I arrived at the little town of Città della Pieve at around 5pm having started at 9am.
The town has an interesting medieval centre with lots of covered laneways .
A laneway goes right under my bedroom.
Ravioli di Conta Senese.
Tomorrow it’s a short 22km stroll to another little town of Etruscan origin, Ficulle .
It looks so peaceful every where you go. The lakes look beautiful and the historic buildings are just amazing. At walking pace you must feel part of the place rather than a tourist.
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Every now and then I pass through a tourist location such as Cortona or Ravenna and the vibe is completely different. Most little towns don’t see a lot of tourists although around here a lot of European foreigners buy or rent places for holidays
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Hi Paul, the countryside looks so green after all the rain they’ve had. What a pity the Etruscan tomb was closed; is that what they call a tumuli?
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Hi Barbara the green is very beautiful but unfortunately it also means mud and my shoes are starting to fall apart letting in the water.
Yes I think that little tomb would be classed as a tumulus . It was placed so that the deceased had a nice view over the lake
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Hey Paul
I really like your blog. Keep up the good work. Seems that there is not much marking on the Camino and a GPS is needed to find your way…True ?
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Hi Luc thanks so much for your comment. It’s a lot of work to write a post every night and I really appreciate the feedback.
I’d say that there are some points where it would be great to have more signage but it’s not always easy in some locations .
Also I’m walking alone and my mind drifts off from time to time and I sometimes walk straight past very clear signage. I’d say though that having a GPS device is probably essential .
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Hi Dad, just caught up on some of the latest blog posts. The towns look so quiet and dreamy. Some of the paths look so picturesque! Missing you lots and love keeping up with your adventure xx
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See you soon!
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Love your photos Paul. Especially the long winding road with the poppies on the left hand side. It must have been good to meet the two pilgrims- what lovely faces! How are your feet after such a long walk?
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I’ve got a few problems with my feet but they’ll recover! Thanks.
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