Day 5 - Citerna to Citta di Castello

One of the advantages of stayting on top of a hillis that the next day's walk always starts with a descent. Today was no exception. The weather was cloudy but dry which was perfect. There were a lot of pilgrims on this stage.

The descent meandered past "Da Maria, casa del pellegrino", which sounded good. The asphalt ended after a couple of kms shortly after turning onto SP102. The owner of the property a couple of hundred metres up the hill had clearly had enough of pilgrims as an extensive diversion had been put around their property. This then meant walking in mudddy fields and up very muddy, very steep tracks in woodland. By the time the tracks over the hill had been conquered it was definitely time for lunch. The way led down to a little town called Lerchi, notable for having large lorries flying through it, coupled with little or no pavement. However the risk to life was worth it as, just with a short diversion, one came to Bar Paola. This was the only stop before Citta di Castello and was packed with pilgrims and rucksacks. The friendly Paola dealt with the food requests quickly and efficently and also had her own stamp.

Refreshed then headed into the city. I took a slight diversion which nonetheless involved ascending a steep hill into Nuvole and then finding a path under the busy main road that ran to the west of the city. I thought that there might be a nice place to stop en route - Restaurante Alice e Leopoldo - but despite having a vast car park the place was closed.

Approaching Citta di Castello, one could clearly see the layout of the old town from the hill.

Città di Castello

Unusually, one didn't have to trek through a lot of suburbs to get to the centre. One short road from the edge of town and then one was in the historic sector. I had a nice studio in Via S Florido (the city's patron saint) just behind the cathedral.

First job was however to find a laundrette again - this time in a modern shopping mall outside of the centre, past Via Lapi. Unlike Sansepolcro, I had the place to myself.

Citta Di Castello is a super little place. My knee was twinging so I stayed there two nights and had a rest day. Highlights included:

• the cathedral (obvs)

• the romanesque round tower next to the cathedral

• the Blancoconiglio (white rabbit) restaurant (so good I ate there for lunch and dinner on the rest day)

• the Torre Civica

• The old walls of the city

a creative use of part of the old wall - it was an Arts college

part of the old wall

The duomo

Torre Civica

Round tower - not one for those with vertigo

View from the round tower, San Domenico in the centre