D1 Bologna to Sasso Marconi

Wake at 5, obvs very excited to start our journey south. Dozed until 6.30 then shower and finish packing and sorting out the route details. We have 19km to walk before a 17.30 rendezvous and transport to the Locanda dei Cinque Cerro just outside Sasso Marconi.
Down to breakfast at 08.02, Anita and Chris are already there and having breakfast - I'm clearly late.
After breakfast we leave our bags at reception to be picked up and enter the luggage system, and head towards piazza Maggiore – the official start of the walk.
Anita spots a post office, and she needs to send a postcard. In she goes while Chris and I wait patiently outside. And patience is required. I refill my water bottle from a drinking fountain in a nearby piazza. The fountain water tastes so much better than the hotel tap. Still we wait, while I recall reading tales of the Italian post office, where people would queue for half a day only to find they had not brought the correct documentation or filled in the correct form. If we miss our meeting point it will all be for the sake of a postage stamp. She eventually emerges to tell us that although the queue was short, every customer was taking at least 5 minutes. The transaction for her stamp was a 5 minute affair, including the issuing of a suitably elaborate receipt which will doubtless be framed and hung on the wall when I next visit the Higgins household.
We continue to Maggiore and our official start at the Fountain of Neptune. We are on our way, weaving through the streets of the city.
There is an interesting street market being set up. Four officers from the Polizia del Mercato are measuring the distance between the street boundary and one of the stalls. Clearly someone is trying to encroach onto the roadway, but the forces of the law are on their case.
We pass through the Saragozza gate
and onto two miles of colonnaded walkway that will take us up to the Sanctuary of San Luca. This is where we buy fruit and savoury items for our picnic today. It is a long climb up to the top, and there are crowds of people making their way up. We appreciate the shade offered by the walkway.
The views from the top are quite stunning, and you really feel you have left the city and are on the edge of beautiful countryside. We see various Via Degli Dei walkers, including a couple that are continuing on to Rome. Coffees at a little cafe, before descending through charming woodland to the river Reno
Our route follows the Reno for many miles
Much of this is very muddy. A very sticky mud that grabs at your feet and accumulates on our boots. It is slow going. I have read that this section can be something of a quagmire and that an easier, if duller, option is available on the other side of the river.
We plough on, because the other option would be to retrace our steps. Despite the mud this is an interesting section of the walk. It has an intrepid and jungle-like feel through the lush and humid foliage. And the trees shade us from the direct heat of the sun. We do wonder where we will find a spot for lunch. Everything is muddy and damp.
Eventually find some fallen trees that provide a handy lunchtime seating area. Not ideal, as there is the occasional horsefly and wandering mozzi that wants our blood. So it's a quick stop, with the option of further fruit breaks later on.
We regain contact with the Reno at a wide section of the river by a weir. We stop for peaches, and are joined by Sophia, from Bologna, who had a big 10kg pack and also doing the route over 6 days.
The mud has really slowed us down, and we need to speed up to be at our RVP on time. We are glad of some sections of track and quiet road.
The countryside is really starting to open up, with delightful views along meandering valleys through wooded hills
This section of the walk is far exceeding my expectations – my mental image had been of walking along tracks by a river with a busy motorway on the other bank.
We are now making good progress, and a short woodland climb brings us into sight of our finish
On a far hillside I can see the San Luca sanctuary, we don't seem to have come very far at all. Anita has a different view, and thinks the Sanctuary is a long way off. Our driver is waiting to whisk us off to our accommodation. It's a shortish drive, but takes us to the most relaxed small hotel. Rooms v good, beer in the garden with views over the local hills and countryside. Seriously relaxed.
We delay our dinner for as long as seems polite, we know we are not going to be hungry enough for what's coming

Starter of tomato and mozzarella, two pasta dishes, ham and cured meats, chips, followed by tiramisu. Oh and the tastiest home baked breads. Needless to say we couldn't eat it all

1 comment:

  1. Well! Following your progress now from a sunny Corsica. It looks beautiful. That mud looks particularly interesting!!!
    Enjoy
    xx

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