We managed fine.
We'd been told to phone to confirm today's booking at Il Giogo Hotel the day before we arrived. We phoned - "we are closed tomorrow" was the reply, "you need to phone Sabine when you arrive." Anyway soon after that Sabine phoned us to confirm that the hotel would be closed, but.... "The key will be under the mat, and would you like us to bring a cold dinner when we arrive after seven o'clock?" Well, beggars can't be choosers so we went along with that.
As usual we set off around 9 on a brilliantly sunny morning, and we enjoyed rising back up to the crest of the Apennines, on an ancient path through elderly beech woods.
An area of mown bracken (pictured-top) revealed Alpine Squill and Crocuses being amongst the first to take advantage of the light at ground level. I wonder whether they will succeed in controlling the bracken?
Snow-capped peaks to the WNW are getting noticeably closer. I think we'll save those until later.
Today we travelled in an arc, heading north as far as Poggio Roncaccio, then wending our way through a complex valley system with quaint old buildings (pictured-middle), rejoining the main crest shortly before our destination.
It was hot. Sue's feet were playing up. The keyboard of this infernal phone is playing up. So I'll be brief.
Weather and scenery wonderful. Quite a long day with fab views. 28 km in 9 hours 20 minutes. Arrived at hotel after 6 to discover Sonia. She'd been waiting since 5 (when we said we'd arrive), obviously reluctant to leave key under mat. She showed us to our food (pictured-bottom) and our room, accepted Sue's "you are an angel" compliment, and drove off.
Sabine has not arrived, but we are replete, and masters of our universe - the legendary "albergo-ristorante il giogo" www.passodelgiogo.it that happily takes in English backpackers even when it's closed.
Tomorrow is a longer day, so the posting should be even shorter.
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