Scott Barronton (00:00)
You're listening to our Umbria mini episodes, short daily updates from our self-guided walking adventure through the heart of Italy with MACS Adventure. In each episode, we'll share the day's walking route, the distance we're covering, and the special moments, whether planned or spontaneous, that made that day memorable. Join us on the journey.
Scott Barronton (00:59)
Today is day three of our walk and we have just finished our breakfast out on the terrace at the hotel. Absolutely lovely. We woke up this morning to the sounds of birds, a few roosters, and then people starting to have their breakfast out on the terrace as well. So we slept with the windows open. it was just very fresh. We had the rain yesterday afternoon and even more once we got to the hotel. So just very fresh to wake up.
It's so nice because we ended up going to sleep like at 10 30 PM and not really waking up till around eight. Even though it was light for quite a few hours before that. But just nice to get that rest and then just not feel rushed. yesterday evening, we decided to not venture out into Spello very much because we were tired from a long walk.
and we needed the rest. But we were rewarded for being wet the last little portion of our journey with this amazing double rainbow just right outside our room. And so we're looking forward today to doing, I think it's going to be around eight miles. We had the choice of doing a longer, more strenuous hike that went up the mountainside.
or doing the lower hike, it was a little less strenuous, but it would give us more time to spend in Assisi and we wouldn't be so tired from the journey. Yeah, so we're really looking forward to, well, this last leg, but then also arriving in Assisi. So, and seeing the Basilica there of St. Francis of Assisi. And so,
it's just a journey that a lot of people make. So we expect there to probably be a good number of people, even though it is, you know, a Monday today. But a lot of people probably visiting Assisi So looking forward to that. But then also just the journey along the way, just seeing the different day one and day two have been very different from each other. And so just seeing what we see along the way. I think we're going to walk along a lot of olive orchards
today. think that's going to be what we see along this path, but we'll know more in just a little while.
Scott Barronton (03:10)
So we just took a short break. We're a little over two miles out from being inside of Assisi. And a few minutes ago, we got a notification on my watch that we had hit the highest point for the day, which was good news for us because it's been very much uphill today. But we've stopped here in a nice little shady spot and sat on the wall and
have just enjoyed a little snack before we continue on. Yeah, Scott, and we should mention that that notification came from you following along with that MACS Adventure app, like putting it in when we started and then it kind of knows and follows our journey. before we left Spello, we found a little shop and got, ended up just getting some focaccia bread.
lost in translation a little bit. I wanted it with a little bit of ham on it, but that's fine. It will be enough to tide us over. We probably could have gotten away without having anything and we grabbed an apple at breakfast. So just sit here to take a little breather and enjoy that. It's also interesting because we found water along the way. So two places now there has been water along the way. We brought plenty today just to be on the safe side, but then it's fresh and cold and we actually filled up again before we left.
So just a different, having that that fresh water available. Fresh, very cold water.
So now we're gonna continue our way to Assisi. Along the way today has been more of a trail and definitely like Scott said, higher elevation. So you really have some overlooking, the surrounding area and in the olive groves, it's been interesting. A few of them, they've been kind of clearing out some of the underbrush, burning a little bit of that, which we saw some.
and stuff from Spello. So just having that, not overpowering smell, but just almost like a very pleasant smell. And then of course, listening to the birds again, just the birds here have been amazing. We've also heard some church bells, I think from a nearby town as well, just along the way. Speaking of the birds, there's a bird that you've been hearing for a couple of days and we couldn't figure out what it was until just a little while ago. And we realized that it seems to be a cuckoo.
Yeah, yeah, definitely has that very clear cuckoo. So that's neat because I don't know, you you may have those where you are, but we've never lived in a place where the birds, we have like the Bob whites and the whipper whales and you can kind of hear that distinctive, but to have that cuckoo like the cuckoo clock has been a neat thing to hear along the way. Well, let's Journey on into Assisi. Let's do it.
Scott Barronton (05:47)
We have made it to Assisi We have finished our walk and honestly, I mean, it was a bit strenuous today, but then after lunch, it was a little bit more downhill. And I think that was, it really is good to kind of stop and have a break as well. It just kind of gives you a little bit of rejuvenation just to have a little snack and have a little break. It was funny because we kept.
we kept passing the same couples. They would stop and take a break and then we would stop and take breaks. We passed them several times. So we came into Assisi through the gates of the wall and immediately it is obviously a lot of people visit here. So lots of tour groups and, people around. And so we decided while we were there,
cause we knew we needed to kind of like walk through the town to get to our hotel. So while we were right there, we decided to go ahead and go into one of the churches. Yeah. So we went into San Damiano and that is the one that is related to both St. Francis and St. Clair. they have relics of St. Clair there and the tomb in the basement, outside of that.
is a merry-go-round and so a lot of people, young and old, were enjoying the merry-go-round. But this is the place where every tour group is going to come. So during the busy seasons and busy times, there's going to be a lot of tour groups there. So just keep that in mind. But we headed on down to our hotel and got checked in. We have this gorgeous
view of the valley from our rooms. And so now I think we're going to get freshened up and go explore Assisi. Yeah. And then just for reference, it's about 430. And so we really have already spent at least the last hour, hour and a half inside of town. We stopped also and, you know, got a little sandwich to tide us over till dinner. Cause again, dinner doesn't start till eight o'clock or later. So just to kind of tide us over.
yeah, I think we made pretty good, I mean, we made pretty good time and still had a very relaxing pace. So like Scott said, we're gonna go explore and see what we can see of Assisi.
Scott Barronton (08:05)
Well, Scott, it really is hard to believe that we have reached the end of our walking adventure, that we've made it to Assisi and really enjoyed just really I've enjoyed every step along the way. Yeah, it's one of those things you remember looking forward to this and thinking, several months ago about how cool this was going to be And
Now we've done it and it really was everything that we thought it would be. Yeah. the days felt like not long in a bad way, but like long as in a very relaxed pace. Like we got to enjoy, know, and sometimes we would chat along the way. and then sometimes we would just kind of walk in silence and, and enjoy.
and I don't know about you just kind of reflecting and the fact that we got to, be here and, and experience something that I, that's, a lot of people don't, don't ever get to experience. Yeah. remember on one of the legs yesterday, you first heard that cuckoo bird and we were both like, what is that? You know, we were like, it's not a Bob White. It's not a Whipperwheel. Like, unless the
Bob White's here speak Italian and it's something different, right? But then we were hearing it today and it was like, it was so clear that it was a cuckoo. like you, you really just don't have the opportunity to do that when you're rushing around inside of a city. And like you said, we had some time to really just unplug from everything around us and just be in tune with nature. Yeah. And I even put my phone.
in airplane mode as we were walking. know, a lot of the times to, we had the offline maps if we wanted to, take a look at that and make sure that we were on the right track. But I just had it in airplane mode to conserve the battery, because I use a lot of that to take all my pictures and all my videos. And it was just so nice to, check in a little, every once in a while and, but to just not have
Messages ping you and that kind of thing and just be absolutely I guess just present in the moment of what we were actually doing I do want to talk about the app for just a minute because at first I Would just stop and start it every once in a while to make sure I was conserving my battery But then yesterday and today I just let it run I was in airplane mode as well because I downloaded the offline map as
MACS had recommended, but, I just let it run and surprisingly it didn't chew up as much of my battery as I thought that it would. And the neat thing was, is then today you got a notification that said, Hey, you've reached the highest, elevation that you will be today. And I said, thank God. No, it was, you know, today was a challenging hike, but it's also very rewarding.
And we talked a little bit about that, how, pushing yourself to do just a little bit more than your comfort zone is a good thing. And even to the point when we got here to Assisi and Assisi is just, it's literally the side of a mountain. but then we decided that we would go up to the very top and to see the rock, the fort that is up there. And so.
You know, we walked another almost three miles round trip this afternoon and then probably gained another, I don't know, 30 flights of stairs as well. And that is absolutely something that's not to be missed because the thing about seeing these cities in the distance, but you can't really photograph them. And then when you get inside of them, you don't see the whole thing. And so the great thing about being up above it at that
The rock is that you really could get a really great vantage point of Assisi and all the different churches as well. Yeah. I mean, Monte Falco definitely 360 views of Umbria, but from the rock, you have some magnificent views of Umbria, including Monte Falco. Yeah. It was neat because from Monte Falco, we could see
the towns that we would visit and then from that, from Assisi today, then we could see the places that we had been. So it was kind of neat to have that at the beginning and then at the end to see where are we going, right? And then where have we been? Well, I think, Melissa, it's been a really long day. so and we have to get up early in the morning. So I think.
Let's just go ahead and wrap up this episode, but know that we're going to come back with another episode, a full-length episode where we talk about this trip in more detail. Yeah. I just have one question for you and I asked you earlier. I guess as we were coming into Assisi today is could you go another day? Could you walk another day? I think the answer is yes. I could do another day.
I don't know where we would go at this point, but, but yeah, I could, you know, I look at this little, there's a little town just right outside our window down the hill and it's got a dome and, know, maybe that would be an interesting place to hike to. May not have anywhere to stay. Once we get down there, we'd have to knock on some doors, but, yeah, I think I could do one more day. it's just been a fantastic.
unique experience, something new for us and not going to be the last one of these that we do. Definitely not the last.
Scott Barronton (13:58)
And that wraps up our final day on the trail here in Umbria. It's been an unforgettable journey, beautiful landscapes, charming towns, and those special MACS moments we'll never forget. Thanks so much for following along with us each day. Until the next adventure, Arrivederci from Umbria.
