Picking up where I left off the previous day, I walked along the road from Vescovado to Murlo, a tiny village dating back to Etruscan days. But the Etruscan museum wasn't open (yet?) and neither were the coffee bars; in fact, there was no-one about except the cat you can see in the picture below, and even it was not looking very lively. So I proceeded down the hill to the former mine of Miniere di Murlo and onto the trail that follows the bed of a former railway for transporting the coal extracted from the mine. Being a railway bed, the trail is perfectly flat; a new bridge has been built to cross over the Crevole stream at the point where a stone railway bridge once stood.
 |
| Murlo and its only inhabitant |
 |
| Leaving Murlo through the town gate |
 |
| Miniere di Murlo |
 |
| Il Ponte Nero |
 |
| Torrente Crevole |
The trail passes through outcrops of jasper, which is crumbling away to form shards that pave the path with gravel.
Coming out at the other end of the trail, by La Befa, I abandoned trail no. 2, which proceeds on to Montalcino, and turned toward Buonconvento on trail no. 5. After only a few steps in this direction I was intrigued by a sign marking the turn-off to Montepertuso:
"The bells of Montepertuso, from the mysterious hilltop, calling those who have lost their way back to the right path".
This was no doubt the function of the church perched atop the hill, which would have been a landmark for travellers between Murlo, Montalcino and Buonconvento in the valley below; and it is the function of this place today, now that it is home to the "Comunità Mondo Nuovo", a place where people who have lost their way in life can go for help. When I arrived, two men were retrieving honey from a beehive, while a group of Austrian hikers admired the view from the churchyard.
 |
| Beehives with a view |
I got talking to one of the men living in the community - the youngest member, and the newest, he informed me. Only 20 years old, he said he had left the big city and come there of his own will in order to change the direction his life was taking. Judging from our chat, I would say he has the all the intelligence and willpower he will need to do it. I wished him the best of luck, bought a jar of honey to take home, and set off back down the hill onto the road toward Buonconvento.
 |
| A sweet souvenir of my visit! |
 |
| Prickly pear flower |
 |
| Wild rose - and the bee that stung me (or one of its companions) |
 |
| Thistle |
 |
| The road between Murlo and Bibbiano |
 |
| Coming closer to Bibbiano - but alas! The pub is closed |
 |
| Buonconvento comes into view |
From here I was once again on a familiar road - the route from La Befa past Le Carcerelle to Bibbiano. Home to our local pub! But unfortunately it happened to be the pub's weekly day of rest. A man who was doing some cleaning in the kitchen gave me some ice water - though on a hot afternoon it was torture to see the beer taps, turned off!
After Bibbiano I ventured to take a shortcut, marked as path number 515, which would have brought me out at the gas station just below Resta, my final destination for the day. But I forgot one detail - in between Bibbiano and Resta there is a river! The trail fords the river, but in spring time the water was too high and fast to risk. So I had to trudge up the hill - hot and weary by now - where I looked for trail number 5, which would at least take me to Buonconvento without having to walk along the road. Found the trail marker, but when I followed it... the trail quickly petered off into a field of tall grass. As I was studying the map looking for an alternate route, a car pulled up, and the driver informed me that the trail had been ploughed under and offered me a lift into town, where I was able to catch the bus on the fly, ending up at the gas station I would have been able to walk to if the water in the river had been lower. And from there up the hill to Resta - quite weary after the day's total of 21 kilometres!
No comments:
Post a Comment