Italy, 18.May.2023, Thursday

Today was a different day. We decided to do a hike, crossing back into Tuscany and doing the Monte Cetona hike, 6 miles round trip. It was beautiful and the rain held off all day. Amazing. Granted, when we reached the top, the clouds had socked in and blocked the view, but they lightened before we left.

Leaf tried to go 4 wheeling again up the mountain, but All Trails got us back on track and we found our way to the trail head. We actually could have driven a lot of it since the hike was on a rough dirt road, but we were all ready for some exercise.

It was basically up all the way through a forest of trees with some cool flowers and birds singing away, the first one we identified was a cuckoo. Fun!

We came to a stone monument and a metal cross. There was a series of 14 crosses on the way up to a giant cross at the top, an amazing feat of determination to put that cross up on the top of the mountain.

Cathy did her best to decipher the stone plaque, but bit confusing. It seemed a team effort between different regions. Later found a description in Wikipedia:

On the mountain top stands a high metallic summit cross, built in 1967. It was realised to replace smaller crosses settled there after WWII. The realization of the project was promoted in 1965 by the parishes of Diocese of Chiusi, after the return of the local bishop from Rome where he took part in the Second Vatican Council. It was officially inaugurated on October the 1st of the same year by Brunetto Bucciarelli-Ducci.The lighting system was turned on for the first time June 29, 1968 at 9 o’clock in the evening, via radio control, by Pope Paul IV. The cross is 10 metres wide, 15 metres high and its weight is 6.200 tons.

Honestly, it seems like there must be more of a story about this cross because the effort to get the pieces up there and to construct it would have been huge, but haven’t found any more. But the views – wonderful.

We hiked back down and then at the car Leaf started finding ticks – we’d already said we needed to check for them. Unfortunately for him, but happily for us, he was the chosen one. It was my turn to drive, so I drove, and we laughed at the ongoing drama of the back seat as he found 1, 2, and when he found 3, I quickly pulled into a parking spot. We all jumped out and started rechecking our pants and legs.

We got back in a then Leaf found numbers 3, 4, maybe 8 tiny ticks by the end. Sharon and Cathy were squeezing to get away from him. Per usual, he was a good sport about it, but he started laundry as soon as we got home and we all contributed everything we were wearing for the day.

Before we got home, though, we went looking for lunch. The timing is tricky here, couldn’t shower first because everything would close down before we got back out. We used the recommendations that Katia, who’d welcomed us to the house, had given us. We had the most incredible meal. Well into the country, nothing else close, unassuming house – and yet, that was the restaurant.

We had a HUGE lunch and relished every bite. Many different flavors and we tried a lot of different dishes. Cathy was given a very large glass of wine that she felt terrible about because she rarely finishes a glass, and certainly not one this size. But it was ok because the owners loved chatting with her.

The owner took pride in telling us that his partner had earned multiple awards for her cooking and so she should have. It was a simple kitchen and she put out really interesting diverse foods. Here’s a photo of a desert we couldn’t resist, Rick and I each had one to ourselves, though neither of us could actually finish it. But boy was it delicious trying!

Before we left, Cathy had gotten a recipe from the chef and directions for where to go to buy these delicious lentils that we all loved.

Then home, showers, laundry and reading/writing. In the early evening, the caretaker came and opened the chapel so that we could see it. Very small and sweet and actually cool to see what a place like this might have had for a family chapel.