Day 16: Stage 12: Foligno, 20 kms, Mixed Bag, 24°

Pilgrims! You’re Going The Wrong Way!

I have learned over the years that sometimes decisions are just made for you when you’re on a walk like this. I woke up this morning to hear the sound of the rain, and it looked like it have been raining all night. So, decision made, the lower route it is. As the above map shows, the upper route doesn’t really get that much higher than the lower route until closer to the end. I wasn’t gonna miss much on a day like today.
I found my way out of town through the winding small streets.
One look out across the valley, confirm that I made the right decision, or rather the right decision been made for me.

Through one of the city gates, they are very cool, and off I went!
The first set of signs told me how far I have still ahead of me to get to Rome. I think it’s 10 stages. So most days won’t be exceedingly long. Of course, I’ve learned not to trust the signs, because I know today is about 20 km to Foligno, not 13.5!

I stopped early on and put my pack cover on my bag and pulled on my rain jacket. I was pretty sure I was gonna have to keep it on all day, but certainly at this point I need it on.

I don’t think the views from the upper trail would’ve been particularly special today. On a sunny day this would’ve been a brilliant stage!

However, you play the cards you’re dealt and hope that things will work out.

As I sit here writing this post, I’m sitting on a nice little veranda where I can get data access. It’s starting to rain again and I’m glad there’s a restaurant close by. In the meantime, I can munch on potato chips and drink a cold Moretti Birra while I write🙂🍻 Dinner won’t be until about 8:00 pm. Welcome to Italy.

That’s Assisi behind me in the top right corner. 

The rain made all the roadside grasses and flowers hang out into the road. As you’ll see, this amused me for quite a while. 🤣








The sun suggested that it was going to make an effort to come out. The rain actually stopped, and I stripped off my wet gear.




I could see where the sun was popping out and lighting up some of the lower valley. Things were looking up!

I met 4 other walkers on this part of the stage. Two women from California who had just been walking a couple of days and were only walking on to Assisi, and a couple from Switzerland who have been walking a different route for the past four weeks and planned to finish in Assisi as well. The only issue was that they were going in the opposite direction! Hard to make friends on this route.😑 

The Swiss couple told me that they had met two Canadians who are presently two stages ahead of me. I asked it was a mother and daughter team? They said it was and that the mother was quite elderly, close to 80. Ken, I think this is your friend Anne who you mentioned to me. I’ve been watching for them, but the lack of other walkers to ask about their whereabouts has made this the first news I’ve received. Apparently they are able to send their packs ahead each day, which is quite a relief when you consider that one of the women is 80 years old. This gives me hope for the future! 🙂

And then Spello came into view. 


Spello is another one of those mediaeval hill towns. It’s worth a visit and I might’ve stayed longer except that I had promised my host today that I would be here by 1300.

Caitlin, this is so your door!
It was a very cute town, and it was clear that the residents had made a real effort.





Leaving Spello. 



Just 3-4 km to Foligno. 

Dad, Annemarie told me that you were coming over to the house today to hill my potatoes. When I saw these potatoes by the side of the road under the olive trees, I thought that you would probably be enjoying yourself  at some point today! Thanks for doing this. 
Costanza, I haven’t heard from you for a while, and I think you’re away on your course, right? I thought of you today when I spotted this pride of cats. There were actually 6 cats. One was camera shy. 
I think this is one of the few times that I have ever seen a church in the middle of a traffic circle. That’s pretty innovative!

Apparently, there are a few Naples football fans in the area. They were the Italian champions this year for the first time since Maradona played for them away back when.

And then I was in. I read that Foligno was badly bombed during WWII. Great efforts were made to rebuild the centre of town, particularly the churches. Unfortunately I couldn’t get into the main Basilica because it’s undergoing a massive restoration.



I stopped for a slice of pizza and a cold drink. There were three German folks sitting beside me, each with a pack. I asked them if they were walking to Assisi and they replied, sort of. It seems that they are not walking, but are following the route by train. I’m not sure how they’re doing that because there are only three train access points. However, they too were going in the wrong direction.🫤


I guess I have to change my title!  As I sit here on my little balcony outside the door to my room, a couple just came around the corner, and we all started to laugh! I met them with three other people, two weeks ago in Consuma. This was the German couple who I shared dinner with along with another Swiss couple and an Austrian fellow. They have just walked in from Assisi and stopped on their way through town to have their dinner. Apparently Germans eat a lot earlier, as do we in Canada. But this is Italy, and I eat when they do. I think there was talk of a beer together in a little while, and I will then go and find my dinner. I found a little place about a block away, so I won’t get too wet.

Tomorrow is another day. I have yet to review the stage, but I believe there’s a little more involved than today. Hopefully this rain will stop, but if not I have my wet gear. All good!

Day 15: Assisi, Sun 25°

The Early Bird Gets The Basilica!

Something I learned early on in my travels is that when I am in a beautiful, but busy tourist town it’s to get out early for a look around. Almost always I’ll have the streets to myself anytime up until 9:30. It was 9 o’clock when I took these photos. 

By 11 o’clock there were tour groups in large numbers almost everywhere. Assisi is a beautiful, mediaeval town, but it loses some of its charm when there are too many people in the streets. However, this is to be expected because it’s a major pilgrimage center, just like Rome and Santiago in Spain. Heck, I’m part of the problem,😎. Perugia had some tourists, but mostly it was a working city, and therefore it felt a little more genuine, if that’s the correct word? 


It was really nice this morning to stroll through the cool streets all the way along the length of the city. I am staying just outside one of the gates in a building that is literally part of the city wall. It’s a fairly quiet little corner of the city, and I like the apartment I’m staying in.

That’s the church inside a church that I visited yesterday while walking across the plains from Perugia. I’m not sure why, but I always find a certain fascination in looking back towards where I’ve come from. I think that after 10 years of enjoying walks like this, that I am still kind of amazed at how far one can walk in a day. It really is the ultimate slow travel!

Anyway, first thing this morning was all about visiting the Basilica di San Francesco. This is the famous approach to the Basilica. Unfortunately, there is a stage production going on right in front of the upper Basilica. This means that there are movie trucks parked on this famous walkway. However, I wasn’t going to let this spoil my experience.

The upper basilica is the main church and is on the right. The lower Basilica is straight ahead under the arch. By the way, that’s Perugia in the distance.

You may or may not enjoy going into churches, but this Basilica is really quite amazing! That’s said by someone who’s walked through too many churches to count over the past 48 years. 

The cathedral became recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. Construction of the Basilica began in 1228, just two years after Saint Francis’ death. 

You start first in the lower Basilica, which is the oldest part of the cathedral. Because I had the time and also because there was hardly anyone in the Basilica when I started my visit, I went through both areas twice. There’s a lot to take in and the second time around allowed me to focus on areas of interest to me. I was initially under the impression that photography was prohibited, and I followed that protocol until during my second lap I noticed many people taking photographs. So I did too😏

The artwork in the older church is quite amazing!

Particularly this piece behind the alter area. I feel very fortunate to have seen this. 

In the lower crypt Saint Francis’ remains have been placed above a simple, but quite unique altar. His close followers are buried at various points around the alter with special markings on the wall. You’re not allowed to take any pictures in the crypt, and I obviously respected that.  

I then climbed up to the cloisters where there were displays explaining what it takes to become a Franciscan friar. I admire those that can make this sort of commitment for life. After taking some time to read about the required commitments, I decided that I would find it to be a bit beyond my ability. I’m OK with that because I’m pretty happy with the family I have.❤️ I guess you don’t miss what you don’t know.

From here it’s a few short steps into the upper Basilica. It’s here that you read so much about. The famous frescos along all the walls showing many miraculous moments from Saint Francis’s life.

Yes, the murals were amazing, but as always, it’s the hand carved wooden seating that particularly caught my eye.





I took my time departing from the Basilica because I was waiting until 10 o’clock when the Pilgrim welcome centre opened. It’s located just across from the entrance to the lower Basilica. I wanted to get a stamp in my credential, something I was unable to find in Perugia.

I must say that the pilgrim welcome centre puts the experience at the Vatican to shame. People in there were really nice and they even gave me a testimonium for having made it to Assisi! I didn’t really plan on getting a testimonium on this walk, because I have no plan to stay in Rome when I arrive. However, they were so nice about it, and because it looked pretty cool I decided to accept their offer. I will add it to my ever-growing collection at home.🙂. Who knows, perhaps one day my kids or grandchildren will want to hold onto this collection.

As I was walking out past the bar that faces on to the upper basilica I thought to myself that perhaps it’s time for a second breakfast? Great decision! I enjoyed a pistachio cornetto with a very nice cup of tea. Cost be damned! I’m eating very cheaply for lunch and dinner today as well as breakfast tomorrow before I leave.
Afterwords I wandered through town as the large tour groups started to fill the streets. I quickly visited a couple of other historic churches, but nothing compared to the Basilica. Although the front of this one was pretty cool, complete with it’s built in Roman columns.

The inside was a little over done for my taste. Too

much baroque! This one was nice on the outside as well.
I went into this church late yesterday afternoon after the town had pretty much emptied out. The group tours typically stay in accommodations that have easier access far away from these mediaeval cities. This was where Saint Francis was baptized, as I learned upon entering. Like I said before, I probably need to do a little more reading about the places I’m going to on these walks, but I like to discover things as I go.

And that’s about it for today. It’s now almost 15:00 and after some looking around at food options, I decided to buy groceries for tonight. This was mostly precipitated by the fact that I have a nice 375 ml bottle of wine sitting in my fridge that I purchased for dinner last night! I had a very late dinner, and by the time I got around to it it was too late to drink wine before bed. We all have our issues.😂
Tomorrow I finally get underway on a stretch of walking days. I’ve really enjoyed my visits to Gubbio, Perugia, and now Assisi, however, there’s been more zero days over the past week that I’m typically use to. I know it was the only way I could properly see these three cities, but now I’m feeling a bit itchy to get underway again with only one day off in Spoleto before I reach Rome in 11 days. While I like the mediaeval city visits, I really enjoy the long days of walking. Hopefully with good weather! 

I have a decision to make for tomorrow. There are two stage options. The first is to climb and cross Monte Subasio for the views. The other option is to walk a route lower down on Monte Subadio. My body feels totally up for the climb, but my guide book recommends that I not take the higher route if there’s a risk of rain. I can hear the late afternoon thunder not too far away.🤔 I guess I’ll decide in the morning. Whatever I decide, I know there’s lots of climbing ahead in the coming days, so I’ll just take it as it comes. After a few hiccups I’m really beginning to settle nicely into this route! 

Cheers!