Day 6 - Citta di Castello to Pietralunga

After a day's recovery I was feeling much stronger. However the next day was complicated - it was a 29km stage. There was a small refugio about half-way so I contacted the volunteer by WhatsApp and asked about staying there. He had room but the deal was that one only got a pillow case and a bottom sheet - no blankets. I was carrying a sleeping liner only - no sleeping bag. Looking at the forecast it was going to be about 3-4 degrees on top of the mountain.

Writing off the refugio as somewhere to stay, I decided to knock the first few km off the stage and took a taxi up past Bar Sasso, giving me about 25 to get to Pietralunga. Again, I was struck by the number of different pilgrimage routes that overlap - St Anthony of Padua was here as was a mysterious Rose di Gerico.

The walk up the hill (there's always a hill on the VdF) wasn't too bad. After a few miles, one comes to the Pieve di Saddi.

Pieve di Saddi, definitely a remote spot

This little refugio was a wonderful hotchpotch of a place with a charming hospitalero providing everything on a donativo basis. I stayed there for lunch and sat with a few Germans and Barbara, a nice Polish woman from Finland. The church here was well worth visiting - this site was the centre of efforts to evangelise the upper Tiber valley in the 4th century and the church dated back to the 6th century. Although needing a bit of money for decorating, it was still in good order.

The Italian lady with the dog had stayed the previous night so a couple of us were charged with taking her spectacles - which she had left behind - to Pietralunga where she was staying this night.

The rest of the day was a decent length walk into Pietralunga. The way was mostly asphalt but very little traffic.

Classic camino photo...

One of the reasons for this might have been the state of the roads. One road closed sign led to where part of the road had simply slipped down the hillside. But hey, a bit of orange netting solves most problems in Italy.

The last part of the day was a climb into Pietralunga - that kind of steep climb which Italy specialises in. Pietralunga was a pretty little town but unfortunately I had booked a place to stay at the far end of town which added some unwelcome yards. And then some more as the only places to eat were back in the town centre.

Pietralunga centre

Dinner was in a fun pizzeria with half a dozen other pilgrims. Veronica the Italian was delighted to be reunited with her glasses and Margot the dog had decided to stop barking at me.