Colle Santa Lucia: A Hike & A Meal

Another relaxing day at the apartment … at least in the morning and afternoon. In between, we went for a hike and then grabbed a bite for lunch here in the village.

After breakfast, Mui drove to a nearby village … larger than Colle Santa Lucia. His aim was to find a gas station that sold AdBlue, an additive required for diesel vehicles … which our rental car is. Success.

By the time he returned, I was ready for our outing.

Our first stop was the small tourist office in the square … to ask about hikes in the area. We walked out with a map and a recommendation to tackle the 4.5-mile Alta Via dell’Orso hike.

“It starts out steep but levels out” was the way the woman at the counter described it! Hah!!! She must not have done the hike herself. It was up, up, and up! So, we cobbled together our own trail by taking a spur that returned us to the village by way of another route. Sure, we hiked less distance, but still got in plenty of steps … and enjoyed the occasional views peeking out from behind the trees lining the trail.

Back down in the village nearly two hours later, we headed to Fursil, the local pizzeria recommended by our hosts. The tables outside were already full — too much cigarette smoke anyway — so we sat indoors. The food was delicious — pasta with mushrooms; pork Milanese (surprisingly reasonable portion); mixed salad with crisp greens; profiteroles … all to share.

Back at the apartment … we had a quiet afternoon … the noise from the jackhammers at the retaining wall repair site not nearly as intrusive as they were yesterday. I did laundry while Mui napped. Later, we planned tomorrow’s outing, which will take us further afield.

Tea — and later, wine & snacks — on the balcony to wrap up our day.Read more