Work in progress

A quiet day in Rocca Calascio for Bundle and me today, while everyone else went on a ridge walk high above the Campo Imperatore. Rocca is a strange place. It's perched on top of a hill at the end of a road; the only people who live there all the year round are Lorenzo's brother Paolo and his family. They have bought and renovated a number of houses to create a "distributed hotel". Other than that, there are a couple of other restaurants and a few small shops selling crafts. Plus a ruined castle. But as Bundle and I sat outside the bar on a sunny Friday, there was a constant stream of visitors: walkers, cyclists, but also people who'd driven up just to wander around the medieval streets and up to the castle, then have lunch. It gets so busy in the summer and at weekends that the road is closed and a shuttle bus laid on. So Paolo is obviously doing something right.

After walking up to the castle for our picnic lunch, Bundle and I had a walk round the shops; the lady doing the weaving was very friendly and spoke excellent English. Bundle succumbed to a scarf, but I'm being very abstemious about souvenirs.

The others got back fairly early, and at around 5:30 we all walked up to the castle. There'd been a vague plan to watch the sunset, but there were few clouds, an hour to wait, and it was a bit chilly. So we went for the "aperitivo in the bar" option before another copious dinner.