Greccio and beyond

Here is the added to, and edited, version of this post!

We are now a few hours walk from the centre of Rome.  Our journey from Rieti has been a delight, but you will have to wait for the next post to hear about it.  So back to this post.....

 We have had three days of walking, long and short distances, and one by bus.

We arranged with our delightful hostess in Greccio to transport our packs to Contigliano.  This meant I could walk without added weight on my knee, and it worked a treat, arriving there without any ill affects on it after a short day of walking.

Leaving the village of Greccio, which is around 2 kms further on from the sanctuary, and about a kilometre passed where we stayed.

Looking out over the valley of Rieti we could only see the hazy shape of the mountains on the other side of the valley......

...barely making out the town on the slopes where we were headed in a couple of days.

 The path was well marked, and interesting as it passed through wooded glades.

We stopped for a rest here and looking back could see the recently restored Abbazia di San Pastore, and on the slope above, the village of Greccio.

 Our Ostello (below) was in the lower town of Constigliano, but the following day we climbed up and through the upper village.

The following day we decided to walk slowly, with packs, to Rieti.  We waited before departing for the rain to ease and then set off, only to get caught in strong winds, thunder and lightning, and torrential rain.  We sheltered as best we could against the walls of the church until the worst had passed over, but we still got damp and we were glad to find a bar a couple of hours later to have a hot drink and something to eat.

Somehow along this part of the way we lost the path, and after walking along a busy road I flagged down a bus which dropped us at the Eremo Fonte Colombo, a beautiful, peaceful Sanctuario.  I had trouble tracking down someone to give us a stamp in our credentials, but eventually, with the help of a friendly young man named Daniel our problem was resolved.  He also solved my dilemma of how I was going to get off the mountain without further injuring my knee, and took us the few kilometres to Rieti.  Not only did he do that, but also gave us a tour of where we could find the signs for the next days walk, and recommended a good hotel to stay in.  We really appreciated his help!

 The storm is approaching as we climb up into the town the next day.......

 ...... and we try and get what shelter we can from the howling wind and torrential rain.

 We couldnt see the magnificent Chiesa San Michele Arcangelo the day before, but as we descended from the village it stood in pride of place.

Once out on the flat, after the brunt of the storm had passed, we were treated to this cloud display.

The Sanctuario of Fonte Colombo was where Saint Francis had an eye operation - which I won't go into here!

This wooden carving, in the church at the Sanctuary, was done about 400 years ago.

The view from our hotel room at Rieti was a delight.

We were fortunate to get a room in the Hotel Cavour, complete with a tremendous view.  We actually stayed there two nights so that we could walk to the Sanctuary at Poggio Bustone unhindered with packs.  Apart from the first 4 kms or so, the path went through  beautiful, quiet woods, and wonderful villages.

After 4 kilometres of the way from Rieti on roads, we eventually reached the Sanctuario of la Foresta.......

.... with its amazing garden and wonderful views of the Rieti valley.

The entrance to the Sanctuario (white) and the Chiesa (the yellow building).  Francis spent time here, but this Sancuario is not like the other hermitages, as it was originally a house.

This is a delightful window with the Tau, in the little chapel at the side of the Chiesa.

A group of statues in the grounds of la Foresta.

The path leaving the Sanctuary.

After rain the night before we were at last able to see across the valley, this time looking across at Greccio.

The houses in the village of Cantalice seem to be built one on top of the other looking down on them,.....

....  and apart from those houses at the top and bottom of the village the only way to them is up, or down, stairs - hundreds of them.  I don't know how emergency services cope.

Yet, when looking across at the village it looked as if the houses were cascading down the hill.

On the way to Poggio Bustone the path was at times little more than a goat track.  For much of this path we calculated that our ankles were at an uphill angle of about 25 - 30 degrees.  We had to be very careful that we didn't slide off the path, as it fell very sharply off to our left.

Thankfully, the path widened, but the way got VERY steep heading up to the village of Poggio Bustone, glimpsed through the trees.

Poggio Bustone was the final place for us to visit the Sanctuarios connected with Saint Francis.  This too is a special place, complete with its silence, peace, and views, of the majestic mountains and of the Riete Valley.After the long walk here, we were glad to catch the bus back to the the comfort of our hotel in Rieti.

The next day we eventually tracked down Domenico at the Rieti tourist board.  Here we were issued with a certificate to say we had completed another section of the walk!  That makes two certificates thus far!  The most important thing though was that we collected from him a wonderful guide book, in both Italian and English, and complete with great maps.  This meant we were all set to walk on to Rome!

Poggio Bustone also seemed to be cascading down the hill, but at least cars could drive through a lot of it.

The Tau in the ground pointed towards the Sanctuario of Poggio Bustone, in the distance.

The austere side of the Sanctuario at Poggio Bustone...........

.......... and the entrance to the little church.

As we were leaving Rieti we met Daniel (centre), who had helped us such a lot two days earlier, with the group of volunteers he was leading on a work party. These young people from all over the world (though there was no one from Australia!), and were going to clean up and work on some of the Camino Sanfrancesco.  We let them know about a couple of signs that were hard to read.