Joanne's long walks: Via Romea Germanica Day 92: Forlì

Basterebbe una passeggiata in mezzo alla natura, fermarsi un momento ad ascoltare, spogliarsi del superfluo e comprendere che non occorre poi molto per vivere bene

(All you need to do is take a walk in nature, stop a moment and listen, get rid of everything superfluous, and realise that you don't really need much to enjoy life)

- Mario Rigoni Stern

Up before dawn, we went straight back to the bar where we had our end-of-stage beer last night, but this time for cappuccino and croissants. The bar had been open since 5, and was already hopping: it was surprising to see how many people were out and about so early in the morning! We had to watch out for traffic while crossing the road, and for bicycle commuters while crossing the cycle path beside it!

We eventually made it to the other side of the road and headed down Via Lido, following the directions in the guidebook - only to come up against a fenced-off construction site, right away! But it was easy to see where people had climbed up the embankment to the path at the top. So we scrambled up there too, and found ourselves on a gravel trail beside the river Ronco.

There are two Via Romea Germanica routes from Forlì to Cusercoli: one starts in the city centre and follows roads, passing through San Martino in Strada; the other starts right by the pilgrim hostel in Ronco, follows the river and is, according to the guidebook, more of a nature trail. That sounded great!

But, we discovered, you can have a trail with too much nature! 😅

Here's the thing: the guidebook was written in 2022, before the disastrous floods of May 2023. The fenced-off construction site turned out to be a former park and football field, damaged in the flood and since abandoned, awaiting repair. I guess the authorities had more important things to fix first; the park and the trail along the embankment did not seem to be their top priorities! Both were abandoned and overgrown.

The trail was, however, practicable; you just have to duck here and there to pass under the arch of bamboo canes! They were wet with dew, and so was the grass; my boots ended up getting soaked through.

After walking along the embankment path for several kilometres, we left it just before the ford over the river, where hiking guide Lorenzo had warned us we might run into problems. No problem: mapy.cz devised another route for me, which not only avoided the river crossing but saved a couple of kilometres. Just after circling a small lake, we walked a grassy track across a field to reach a minor road, where I stopped to take off my wet socks and put on waterproof socks under my wet boots! Then we followed a minor road for various twists and turns, eventually joining a cycling track and then a considerably busier road into the town of Meldola.

A town of almost 10,000 inhabitants, Meldola was historically a centre of silk production. Nowadays, it is renowned for its hospital, specialising in the treatment of cancer. Because of the hospital it is practically impossible to find a room in a bed and breakfast in Meldola, I learned - I had originally thought of stopping here. In any case, it was still early in the day - the Tuesday morning market was still open, and was in fact sprawled all over the town centre, making it difficult to take pictures! It is a very pretty town, if you can ignore the market stalls blocking the view of it, with arcades over the sidewalks and unusual stone-paved sidewalks.

We went into the first church we passed and were lucky enough to find a sacrestan (or perhaps a priest in plain dress) who had a stamp handy for our pilgrim credentials. On the way out of the town centre, we stopped in at the pretty little Oratory of the Stigmata of St. Francis. Then we were back out in the countryside for the next section of the Via Romea Germanica, featuring something new after two weeks of walking in the plains (three weeks, including the last week of walking in June): hills!!

We didn't actually go up many hills today, but they were there, all around, and getting closer!

After a brief rest on a park bench by a drinking fountain in Gualdo, we had to walk for almost a kilometre and a half on the side of the highway; it wasn't too bad, as the highway was wide and had a decent amount of shoulder. Several buses drove past us, going exactly where we needed to go, but we resisted the temptation - even when one pulled up at a bus stop right in front of us and opened its doors! 😅

We were only on the highway for about twenty minutes, after which we turned off onto a small road, passing between houses, gardens and vineyards - and met the first loose, barking, territorial dog I've met so far on the Via Romea Germanica. Welcome to central Italy.... 😬

Right after the house with the dog, we crossed a bridge over the river Bidente and then followed a riverside path/dirt road the rest of the way to Cusercoli. We missed a turn-off and ended up in a vineyard, but managed to walk around the end of the vines and get out of the property and onto the road, finding ourselves among the first houses in the village of Cusercoli (population 1200), where we met Alberto, the man with the keys to the castle.

That's right: we are spending the night in a castle! The pro loco tourist office of the village has set up a pilgrim hostel in the castle at the top of the town.

Walk the Via Romea Germanica, and you can be lord or lady of the castle for a day - for only twenty euros!

A bit of history - and a lot of legend: the castle of Cusercoli

Built in the 9th century to guard a strategic narrow curve in the river valley, Cusercoli means "Chiusa d'Ercole": the narrow point in the river was created when Hercules, whose twelve labours included cleaning the Augean stables in a single day, got fed up and threw a big rock down from the mountain into the river, so that the resulting tide of water would do all the cleaning for him. At least this is what Alberto told us, as we laboured our way up the hill to the castle together!

Mythology aside, Cusercoli castle was built in the 12th century over the foundations of an older, late Roman construction. In 1269 Beatrice, daughter of Count Uberto, lord of the castle, was given in marriage to Paolo Malatesta, who was however in love with his brother's wife, Francesca: Paolo and Francesca, the famous lovers of Dante's Inferno.

Paolo and Francesca, as depicted by another Dante: Dante Gabriele Rossetti

So here we are spending a night in Paolo's castle - where he fell in love with Francesca, and (it is said) where her husband discovered the lovers and murdered them both.

Hmm, not sure I'll sleep so well tonight, now that I know that....