Day 9 - Gubbio to Biscina

Before leaving Gubbio, there was one last sight to be seen. There is a wonderful legend that Gubbio was being terrorised by a wolf. St Francis was begged to intervene so St Francis had a chat with the wolf and made a deal. If the wolf would stop eating people, the people would put out food for it. Nice legend. Except that in the 19th century they found a grave of an animal next to the church - the animal being a wolf. So I had to visit the wolf's grave.

The wolf's grave at the Church of St Francis della Pace

Then it was time to hit the road. One was soon treated to a great view of Gubbio from the hills.

There were now many pilgrims on the route. Still a lack of cafes though.

Another classic camino photo

Just amazing views

Amazing views of snow-capped mountains

Columbian pilgrims fast approaching

The route meandered through the hills and past a tiny little chapel - Chiesetta della Ripe - Madonna della Grazia. I was delighted to see that one of the tokens left on the grill was something that looked like a Northampton Saints bracelet.

The hotel in Gubbio had provided a good take-out lunch. The place to eat it was the Eremo di San Pietro in Vigneto.

This was a delightful place to stop and was a refugio for 24 pilgrims. They provided a water refill and a pleasant courtyard in which to eat.

Interestingly the place is run by the Confraternity of St James and the little chapel was full of Santiago stuff.

There were some interesting innovations on this route. The stepping stones below were very different from the usual deathtraps.

The Chiesa di Caprignone was the final church I wanted to visit on this stage. However, I found it locked which was a bit sad. Will have to come back some day.

View over the Lago di Valfabbrica

The last bit was of this route was a phenomenal climb out of a valley to Biscina. I've done some long endurance climbs on pilgrimage but this one was special. The route to the agriturismo was marked incorrectly on my map application but the last km or so was blessedly flat. The agriturismo was spread out over two sites - the way it worked is that the hard working receptionist drove one to the accommodation and then arranged a time to pick one up for dinner. And the same arrangement applied for breakfast.

Dinner was fine - there was a vegetarian option and the non-vegetarian option which had four different meats on the plate. There was one table of non-pilgrims in a busy restaurant full of people with that pilgrim look. I particularly liked the drinks that were included in the set menu - soft drinks, beer, 1/2 litre of wine or 1 litre of wine. All for the same price.