Day 8: Santo Stefano to Citerna

 September 8, 2022

11 miles

1500 feet of elevation gain

The day started with an unusually large breakfast. We had to say goodbye to Inken and I was sad knowing we would not see her again. She has become a good trail friend.

Our plans are to finish our walk in Assisi and go to the Amalfi Coast for a few days of relaxation. We have an Airbnb booked for September 16th, and since we want to spend a full day in Assisi sightseeing, we have to arrive there on the 14th. Since there are 15 days of hiking to get there, we had to skip one day somewhere and decided that would be today. It will put us a day ahead of the people we have gotten to know on the trail.

After breakfast we walked down the street to the bus stop. When the bus came, we got on and Enrique started to hand money to the driver, but he said (in Italian) that we had to buy a ticket before getting on the bus and he pointed down a street. He said he would wait five minutes for Enrique to go and get the ticket. Enrique jumped off the bus, but had no idea where to go, so a woman passenger hopped off the bus to go and help him. They disappeared for a few minutes, then came back and got back on the bus. Enrique told me the store to buy the bus tickets was closed so he would buy the tickets at the bus station when we arrived.

The bus ride was only about 20 minutes and when we arrived in the town of Sansepolcro, we asked where to go to buy the tickets. The woman passenger smiled and flicked her hand and the bus driver said, “Gratis.” Free. Our day started with this kindness. Again I had to think that this would never happen in the US.

From the bus station we had to find the trail which took a while. A German man we had met on the trail two days ago stopped to help us. He said he had been thinking about us and was concerned that we would not make the hard climb up to La Verna. I told him we might be old, but we were tough.😊

Once on our way, it started to rain, first a drizzle and then a downpour. We put on our ponchos and kept walking, but then the lightning and thunder started. Before us, was a shop with a big awning, so we decided to stop and wait for a while, about 15 minutes. The lightning seemed to subside a little and we started walking again even though it was pouring. We came upon a building with signs welcoming pilgrims and a woman standing in the doorway. She beckoned us inside where she showed us a huge diorama depicting the life of Jesus Christ. She explained the entire thing, all in Italian. It’s amazing that even though we don’t speak the language, somehow we understand and make ourselves understood.

When we left, the rain had stopped, the sun came out and the day turned beautiful.

We walked to the town of Citerna, perched on the top of a hill and ate our lunch overlooking the valley we had just walked through. 

Then we continued on to our hotel for tonight, Agriturismo Le Burgne. It’s an old, huge house on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere. I think we might be the only ones staying here. The owner, Patricia, gave us gelato and drinks as she checked us in, speaking Italian non-stop the whole time. At one point Enrique started walking around the room and found a basket full of pilgrim credentials, the “passport” that pilgrims get stamped at each town. We hadn’t been able to get one in Florence because the church office was closed when we were there, and we’d been looking for them in each town since then. And now we have our credentials, we are real pilgrims.