OCTOBER 2018 : ITALY : VIA DI FRANCESCO : DAY 5 : Monasterio di Camaldoli - Badia Prataglia; 9km - 5 hours

A surprise this morning as our clear weather had changed overnight and we were facing walking in the rain. Not a problem, we are prepared for every contingency. A cool relief for Mark. A beautiful walk today in misty conditions but full of slippery slopes - two walking poles essential. I was praying to St Francis, and anyone that would listen, to protect Mark’s knees. Ironically, he has made me memorise the local emergency number in case anything untoward should happen - +39113. Originally, I thought that if anything did happen I’d walk alone, as in Spain, but there are too many opportunities to get lost - we had to back track three times today - and that was with our GPS support.

 Breakfast at 8.30. Huge bowl/cups of coffee and hot chocolate and simple accompaniments.

An art display in one of the cloisters

A range of artwork on the walls

The church courtyard

Buying provisions for lunch

All decked out in our rain gear, rearing to go.

Climbing up a rocky path leaving the monastery

The guidebook warned it was a steep climb for the first hour

Refugio Cotozzo, a simple refugio for pilgrims to shelter during the day

Then we headed off in the wrong direction for 45 mins

Several salamanders  on the path in glorious colours 

The mist set in and we went through a grassy path

Our destination

Ferns next

Autumn in the birch forest

Prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella roll for lunch

We reached the end of the trail at a large hostel, Ostello Casanova, mentioned on the map above and had our first glimpse of Badia Prataglia. A resort town in the Casentino Forest. Timber town and wood-turning industry

Our Albergo Ristorante La Foresta

Comfortable room and respite from afternoon showers. €45 for bed and breakfast and we’ve booked at the restaurant for dinner. Several fit European walking groups are staying here tonight to begin tomorrow as Santuaria Della Verna to Assisi is a very popular section.

We are delighted to have survived today unscathed. We have looked at tomorrow’s terrain and the weather. It is considered hard and challenging and rainstorms are forecast so we have made the decision to catch the bus to Santuario Della Verna, (for another cultural experience!) with a  compulsory 2 hour stopover in Bibbiena. We don’t want to push our luck after escaping injury to date.

M&M