Middle-aged flash packers

The Appartamento Palazzo dei Duchi’s golden touch even managed to help me get 8 hours of unbroken sleep. I love this place. I also love shutters on windows. Sleeping in total darkness is wonderful. I could sleep until 4pm and have no idea of the time.

Today we decided to hike to the abbey Sacra di San Michele. There were a variety of ideas online as to how long it should take, one said 4.65km. I will give you the scores on the doors at the end but it definitely wasn’t that.

Steve had worked out a route on OutdoorActive but the trail was exceptionally well marked so we didn’t have to navigate too much.

We walked past some very traditional and old small holdings and homes. Many are being renovated and I’d say people from Turin and Milan are buying them as second homes. I’m sure it’s as controversial here as it is in the UK, but I see it as positive. These places would just moulder otherwise, no young people want to subsistence farm anymore, so let others breathe life into these buildings and bring work to the area.

Another thing I noticed was it seems very fashionable to go topless here. Not the ladies, but the men were definitely rocking the shirtless look. I’m guessing Piedmonte has long winters so the sun here is not to be taken for granted. Bronzed is in.

Eventually we arrived at the abbey and it didn’t disappoint. Dating back to the 10th century, it’s jaw dropping. Rock merges with the man made abbey harmoniously. Even more interesting is the story behind it. St Michael (known as Michele in Italy) is an archangel, with only mild responsibilities such as defeating Satan and escorting people to heaven. He is defender of the faith and there is a route called the St Michael Line ( or St Michael’s sword) which starts in Ireland (Skellig) incorporates St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, Mont St Michael in France, and ends up in Jerusalem. And no, I’m not doing that Steve.

After soaking up the views, we headed off back to where we came from. Which took an inordinately long time. Not that I’m complaining, I enjoyed it. But it was very hot, almost 2 litres of water consumed.

A quick drop into the local co-op on the way home and the total mileage of our round trip was – drum roll -14.5 miles. If you should ever come here and want to walk to the abbey, please don’t take any notice of the idiot who tells you it’s 4.65km away. And take plenty of water.