D2 Sasso Marconi to Madonna dei Fornelli

Bit of a panic in the night. Wake up, look at my watch. It's 08.30. We were meeting for breakfast at 07.30, it's a long day with complex travel arrangements and it is off to a bad start. Shutters are closed, but still looks too dark to be that late. Second opinion from phone says 04.00. Watch is 8½ hours into its timer mode. So go back to sleep.
Wake again at 6, get up, pack bags and get ready for day 2. This is a day of two halves. Part A is 7 miles over Monte Adobe before being picked up for a short transfer down a busy road to Monzuno. Part B is then a 6 miler over Monte Poggio Santa Croce and Monte del Gallery I to reach our hotel in Madonna del Fornelli. We had reconfirmed our transport arrangements the previous evening. They had totally forgotten about them, but promised to be at the pick up at 13.30.
An early breakfast at 7.30, and we are taken back to rejoin the trail.

We start climbing immediately, through delightful oak woodland. The day still has an air of coolness, but is promising heat for later.

As we climb, views begin to open up over a rolling wooded landscape. There are lots of areas of churned up soil, it looks like wild boar are active in this area

Before long we can see the impressive form of M Adone ahead.

We continue among a narrow ridge, with fine views in the clear morning air. M Adone looks more and more impressive the closer we get to it

The view from the summit is awesome. We can see for miles and miles over the appenine range, including Monte Cimone – still with snow lurking in its gullies. I sign the visitor's book

and then we descend towards the village of Brento. The spring flowers are a delight, both to us and the myriad of butterflies and bees
We reach Brento and have enough time in hand for a coffee at the cafe. Here we properly meet Mona and Winnie from Holland, who we have glimpsed in Bologna and at last night's hotel. They are staying at the same place as us tonight, so we tell them about our transfer option which saves a 5km stretch of busy road.
We set off before them, they are younger and faster, and will doubtless arrive at the transfer point ahead of us.

The next section is on road. Both modern and ancient, in the form of the Flaminia Militare – an old Roman military road recently rediscovered. This area also saw a lot of fierce  fighting in WW2 as it was part of the German gothic defensive line.
We arrive at the bus stop that is our meeting point for our transfer. Winnie and Mona are there, but no sign of transport. There are pictures of the area during the fighting of WW2 – it looks quite different, with none of the woodland that is so extensive today. We eat our picnic and wait. We have time to fully explore Anita's Tilly hat and discover its secret pocket
The ‘busy’ road is very quiet. My back up plan was to hitch this section, but that doesn't look very realistic. Fortunately a far from Albergo Poli arrives and we all pile in, four across the back seat. We are dropped off in Manzuno, where we refill water bottles from the drinking fountain in the village square. Cool water is great, as the temperature is now 27 and climbing.
We are soon climbing steeply out of the village, through light woodland and flower filled meadows

There are a lot of quirky little places on this trail. One of these was Il Refugio del Vianlante, a B&B and arts centre

artworks abounded.
The next section was a succession of delightful environments:

Old chestnut groves

Flower filled meadows

Pathside flowers filled with an abundance of buzzing insects

Open views of distant wooded hills

Astronomical observatories

Wind farms

Though no day would be complete without a bit of mud
In all a delightful walk, quite different from the more rocky and mountainous morning, but equally good in its way. We finally descend to the village of Madonna dei Fornelli. They still appear to have their Christmas lights up, and the place is sounding quite lively.
Get to the hotel, check in, and pop to the bar next door for a cooling beer or two. I'm feeling sunned out. The church opposite has a big marquee up – looks like a wedding? No, it's an ascension celebration, hence the lights and the party atmosphere.
Mona and Winnie join us, and we move into dinner together. We learn that they watch the BBC parliament channel, and are finding the Brexit debates and process hugely amusing. The UK has always prided itself on its entertainment industry, and this seems to be our latest export.
After dinner Chris and I decide to explore the marquee

There's a village party going on, and people appear to be doing a square dance routine to all of the musical numbers. The band plays something more lively, and Chris and I take to the dance floor - it's going to be a holiday highlight

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