Sunday, September 18, 2022

Goubo to Biscina

22.7 kilometers, 14.1 miles

This will be our last long day and then we have two shorter ones at ten and just over eight miles, on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. We are still up in the mountains so I won’t kid myself that they will be easy…

Our breakfast at this lovely Hotel Bosone was one of the best we’ve had – with scrambled eggs and bacon, pastries that looked lovingly made as well as the standard bowl of fruit choices, meats and cheeses, yogurt, cereals and fruit juices. Plus there were hard boiled eggs and a great assortment of nuts, raisins and dried cranberries I gathered from for a trail mix! Being up in the mountains gave us a chilly start at 40°!

As we departed this lively town of Gubbio, we began to see archers with their bows and quivers of arrows in medieval dress! Just a few more yards down we found the Piazza Grande full of colorfully clad folks preparing for some type of competition! I checked online and found this from archysport.com, “A day that blends history and sport in a sort of preview of the Festival of the Middle Ages, which promises to citizens and tourists entertainment and culture, in a perfect setting such as that of the historic city center. The first historical archery tournament of Gubbio will be held on Sunday 18 September, part of the National Fitast Championship of historical archery in medieval clothes, an event that this morning was presented in a press conference in the presence of the organizers of the competition, the historical archers company Castrum Collis Palumbi, Giuliano Cirioli, Fitast national president, the mayor of Gubbio Filippo Stirati, the deputy mayor Alessia Tasso and the councilor for Sport Gabriele Damiani. Gioni Formica, vice president of the Company founded in 2018, presented the program of the day: ‘About 200 archers from all over Italy will arrive in Gubbio, strictly in medieval clothes, who will challenge each other on twenty pitches placed in the most characteristic corners, alleys and city squares. The targets are handcrafted and, for this Eugubian edition, freely inspired by the theme “Beliefs and superstitions of the Middle Ages”. At 8 there will be the meeting and accreditation of the participating archers in Piazza Grande, then the 20 archer patrols will be formed and the end of the competition is scheduled for around 13.30 ”. So cool to see the variety of interpretation on medieval dress and so many happy participants! We could hear the opening ceremony begin as we headed out of town to suburban Gubbio.

We stopped at the small church Santa Maria della Vitoria just a ten minute walk outside of the historic old town. “The original structure was built in the 9th century to commemorate a Gubbio victory over a Saracen army. The present church was dedicated to St. Francis in the 13th century by Benedictine monks.” (Italiangems.wordpress.com)

Inside the church are some 16th century frescoes.

St Francis lived in Gubbio from 1206-1207.

The Chiasco River drains these forested hillsides among castles and convents. We stopped at a former hermitage, Erimo St Pietro in Vignato is for lunch and a rest! We spent a few moments in the small church on premise as Sandy shared another story of St Francis. Luigi de Benedictus was a Most Incredible Host!! We had bread topped with sliced cheese and preserves followed by an incredible minestrone soup with white beans! Dessert was also delicious and Luigi wanted us to stay for grapa and a siesta yet we mustered and walked in semi intoxicated state the last three miles.

Once more ur accomodations were on an agricultural estate and our delightful rooms were outfitted with antique furniture. We had pool which overlooked a lake g C tested by the nearby dam we will walk by tomorrow (and of course had no time to enjoy). Our dinner was simple and perfect!