Saturday 5th October 2024
Day 22.
Tonight we are staying at Hotel Willy, yes we smiled, it’s 15 euros a night for very good services. We are approx 2k from the town of Gemona del Friuli which hard to say after a drink or two.
Gemona is a town with a long history and has long been a staging post on the road from the Adriatic sea to the Alpine passes of the north east. In 1976 an earthquake occurred in the Friuli region in north east Italy near Germona and 990 people were killed and up to 3,000 injured. The epi centre was close to Germona and caused much structural damage, the town has been rebuilt to resemble the original and work is still continuing on its castle.
The walk into town was up a long steady incline and thankfully the weather was warm just as we entered the heart of the town magically we came across a bar that was open, a welcoming cold drink was enjoyed by all.
As we walked up the steep steps and path to the castle, which sadly wasn’t open as construction work continues, we were rewarded with views over the town.
Below the castle is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta which has been built up against the cliffs of Mount Glemine and dates back to the 13th and 14th century built on the site of an older church. It too was severely damaged by the earthquake and where possible it has been painstakingly restored as the original. Michelle went inside ( whilst I sat outside with Layla 😊) and was impressed by the interior she took photos amongst which were three of items damaged in the earthquake.
We had booked a table in the restaurant for 7 pm and it turned out to be quite busy, the menu was quite extensive and had over 100 different pizzas on offer, we didn’t choose one, the service was a little slapdash and our meals didn’t arrive at the same time which was annoying but Peter and I tried an espresso with grappa which was interesting.
taraabit 