Another hot day, another climb, and another interesting and delightful village or two to visit. Despite the fact that the day began with a pretty steep climb over some fairly overgrown paths I made good time, and arrived at my destination in good time, pausing in several villages for refreshment and photos.
It was a bit tricky at the very start of the descent from Orvieto as I had to negotiate road works along with the traffic, but the path turned off the road, headed downhill to the remains of the medieval aqueduct, and then headed up a steep hill, basically the only climb for the day. For the second time in the past week I saw deer. Two little brown deer came towards me, stopped and watched me watching them, and then headed off into the bush. I was so glad that the path uphill was in the shade, as I had to negotiate the weeds and the blackberries clawing across the path, reminding me of “triffids” trying to catch me!
It actually took me longer on this section than it should have for a couple of reasons. The first was a driver who was passing and stopped to chat. It turned out his wife was an Australian and I think he was quite disappointed that he couldn’t take me home to talk with her and a house guest that he was on the way to collect. Just before I met this man I had walked very slowly when I saw a rather frisky horse being ridden down the hill. We were going in the same direction, but in his agitation he kept turning around and I didn’t want to be the cause of him tipping his rider off. Travelling another kilometre or so the same horse was causing havoc. A horse transport was at the road junction wit a few horses already loaded, but the “frisky” one had absolutely no intention of being loaded. I stopped and waited a long way back, and then inched forward, but after about 30 mins of aborted attempts to get him on board they waved me forward. The trouble was that I had to keep going as I thought I’d better disappear rather than sit in the only rest spot available – next to the horse! Fortunately the next village was only a couple of kilometres away.
I passed a castle, Castel Rubello, on the way to the village of Porano, a village with tuff walls on many of the buildings, and on the walls of the town. An obviously very old town, as in medieval, narrow streets and compact. This was my first “bar stop” for a bite to eat, and a cold drink. Leaving the village I debated about getting my umbrella out as I had a feeling that the path wouldn’t have much shade. I decided not to, and was pleasantly surprised that I spent most of the afternoon walking in shade, some of it really dense.
Again I was quite surprised at how quickly I got to the next village of Lubriano. It took me a while to reach the bar though as I had to stop and look at the view of Civita. Civita is a village that Elizabeth and I visited when we were on the Via Francigena. It is an almost deserted village, accessed by a very long footbridge, about 300 metres long, which was build in the mid 1960’s. Prior to that access was via a swing bridge. The village has ancient origins of over 2,500 years. It was founded by the Etruscans, and now is almost entirely medieval in style. It is deserted because it is slowly disappearing. The tuff cliff that it is built on is not hard tuff, but quite friable, and so slowly houses are disappearing down the hill.
From Lubriano it was a short walk along one ridge across to he next to get to my destination, Bagnoregio. It has been nice staying in here Bagnoregio as when we visited it back in 2011 we went to the end of the village that the buses go to and then ventured across the footbridge to Civita without looking at anything. It is a much larger village than I realised. I am staying in the centre of the village and I still had to walk about a kilometre to the entrance to the footbridge, and will have the same amount to walk out of town tomorrow. Like all the villages around here it is perched on the ridge top, with steep drops off to the side.
It was a bit tricky at the very start of the descent from Orvieto as I had to negotiate road works along with the traffic, but the path turned off the road, headed downhill to the remains of the medieval aqueduct, and then headed up a steep hill, basically the only climb for the day. For the second time in the past week I saw deer. Two little brown deer came towards me, stopped and watched me watching them, and then headed off into the bush. I was so glad that the path uphill was in the shade, as I had to negotiate the weeds and the blackberries clawing across the path, reminding me of “triffids” trying to catch me!
It actually took me longer on this section than it should have for a couple of reasons. The first was a driver who was passing and stopped to chat. It turned out his wife was an Australian and I think he was quite disappointed that he couldn’t take me home to talk with her and a house guest that he was on the way to collect. Just before I met this man I had walked very slowly when I saw a rather frisky horse being ridden down the hill. We were going in the same direction, but in his agitation he kept turning around and I didn’t want to be the cause of him tipping his rider off. Travelling another kilometre or so the same horse was causing havoc. A horse transport was at the road junction wit a few horses already loaded, but the “frisky” one had absolutely no intention of being loaded. I stopped and waited a long way back, and then inched forward, but after about 30 mins of aborted attempts to get him on board they waved me forward. The trouble was that I had to keep going as I thought I’d better disappear rather than sit in the only rest spot available – next to the horse! Fortunately the next village was only a couple of kilometres away.
I passed a castle, Castel Rubello, on the way to the village of Porano, a village with tuff walls on many of the buildings, and on the walls of the town. An obviously very old town, as in medieval, narrow streets and compact. This was my first “bar stop” for a bite to eat, and a cold drink. Leaving the village I debated about getting my umbrella out as I had a feeling that the path wouldn’t have much shade. I decided not to, and was pleasantly surprised that I spent most of the afternoon walking in shade, some of it really dense.
Leaving Orvieto
The medieval aqueduct I followed uphill for quite some way
Looking back at a final view of Orvieto through the olive trees.
Castel Rubello
Porano
Leaving Porano
Again I was quite surprised at how quickly I got to the next village of Lubriano. It took me a while to reach the bar though as I had to stop and look at the view of Civita. Civita is a village that Elizabeth and I visited when we were on the Via Francigena. It is an almost deserted village, accessed by a very long footbridge, about 300 metres long, which was build in the mid 1960’s. Prior to that access was via a swing bridge. The village has ancient origins of over 2,500 years. It was founded by the Etruscans, and now is almost entirely medieval in style. It is deserted because it is slowly disappearing. The tuff cliff that it is built on is not hard tuff, but quite friable, and so slowly houses are disappearing down the hill.
From Lubriano it was a short walk along one ridge across to he next to get to my destination, Bagnoregio. It has been nice staying in here Bagnoregio as when we visited it back in 2011 we went to the end of the village that the buses go to and then ventured across the footbridge to Civita without looking at anything. It is a much larger village than I realised. I am staying in the centre of the village and I still had to walk about a kilometre to the entrance to the footbridge, and will have the same amount to walk out of town tomorrow. Like all the villages around here it is perched on the ridge top, with steep drops off to the side.
The path to Lubriano passed through rural settings, with a lot of activity in the paddocks.
Lubriano
Looking from Lubriano across to the foorbirdge leading to Civita, and the little"ants" crossing it. From here the steep gradient is obvious.
Bagnoregio
Entering Bagnoregio
looking at Civita, surrounded by its lunar landscape, from Bagnoregio
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