Cassio to Montelungo 20/8/17
20/8/17 Sunday
Day 22
Cassio- Cisa- Montelungo 19+km
Windy and cool at outset
Obeyed Cicerone with good results,
having easily walked for three hours in the warmth of the early
morning.
Peaceful villages in valleys. Wooded
areas at the side of the road.
Wearing boots, using a pole and not
lost once= I am an authentic pilgrim.
No pain, no noise, no dogs. Few people.
Tranquillo. Beautiful wooded uphill
tracks.
Berceto delightful: piazzas busy with
pedestrians. Church bells and an organist playing inside.
Solitude.
Climb up through forest, take lower
route to Cisa which has an alpine atmosphere and motorbikes. Realise
I must have passed my preferred Ostello on the way up and in order to
elude my friendly Italian pilgrim friends and retracing my steps, I
decide to carry on to Pontremoli by road which is a further 20 km.
At a junction I notice an off-road
track which I think is the high route however find it leads steeply
downhill.
Eventually I arrive at a settlement
where there is only one B&B; an old woman peers out of a window
in response to my calling. Concerted attempts at communication is
fraught without sufficient Italian though I repeatedly assure the
woman I am a simple pilgrim seeking a bed.
I lean on my walking pole and simply
wait.
Eventually the owner arrives and
permits me entry.
There seem to be three VFs now: the one
I take to Montelungo is not in Cicerone. I probably should have taken
the lower route from Cisa but didn't see the sign.
Melodic church bells chime Ave Maria.
There is sunshine and peace in the village square. People are
chatting. A procession bearing a Madonna takes believers who are
united in song through the village. I talk to two women who tell me
church attendance is high today due to the Assumption in August;
otherwise there is usually a gathering of only 10-20 faithful from
two villages.
The local bar is unattended because the
owner is sitting in the square. He follows me in and provides me with
wine and cake for 3 Euro. I dine at a colourful, homely ristorante
managed by an elderly couple. The opening hours are 1900 but I am
told to come back at 1930. So I sit outside but am charitably granted
early admission. I eat and drink well for 13 Euro: vegetarian
antipasto, 250 ml delicious red wine (produced by the restaurateur
himself) and espresso.
I have passed many disused factories,
vacated buildings and houses today.
Blisters under my right foot are
forming.
I'm creeped-out by the B&B landlady
who tampered with my personal belongings in the bathroom and there's
an inexplicable sense of heaviness pervading my room so that despite
the luxury of a bed and sheets, sleep is stifled.
8 Breakfast at Berceto
4 Fruit and drink
35 (!) B&B Montelungo
3 Wine and cake
13 Dinner at ristorante
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