Castel di Tora – Orvino 2nd July 2022

Last night after two different hand made pasta courses and a main, I was offered a selection of home cooked tarts. Well, of course you can’t refuse but most of this ended up being my breakfast.

This morning I walked past the beach down to a bridge crossing the lake.

Once across the bridge, I was immediately into a two hour constant climb of around 700m which I found quite challenging.

At the top grow hardy shrubs which make a nice yellow flower.

A steep descent followed. I took it very slowly and carefully after my fall a few days ago.

That left a 5km walk to Orvinia. I’ve no idea why but around here they make flat packs of hay rather than the usual rolls.

Part of the road to Orvinia seemed to me to be very old, at least medieval if not older.

An interesting ruin near Orvinio is that of Santa Maria del Piano. This Benedictine abbey is thought to have been founded in the 9th century after a nearby victory by Charlemagne over the Saracens.

It was abandoned after the Napoleonic invasion and building stones were appropriated by locals . It was badly damaged by an earthquake and reconstructed in the 1950s.

The most striking feature is the 11th century bell tower.

These hill towns are very pretty but what it means for walkers is a steep climb in the hot mid-afternoon to finish the day.

I’m staying in a very comfortable B&B, once again as the only guest.

It seems to be a heath conscious place with lots of people wearing masks. The masked girl at the bar asked permission to touch my bottle of beer to open it. The fountain even has the results of a full chemical analysis of the water.

Tomorrow is another day mainly spent in mountainous forest finishing at Vicovario where I’ll be staying in an ex-convent.