History is written all over Spoleto and our apartment is within the medieval Umbrian city center. We took a day away from the Way of St. Francis to explore an area where civilization dates to the bronze age.
An aqueduct and theater helped emperors strengthen their control in Umbria.
Popes extended their influence here through the 12th century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the 14th century Rocca Albornoziana. The fort still stands guard above the city.
With the help of many, many euro from the European Union, Spoleto has built an elaborate people-mover system to help old folks like us get up the steep hills. It starts with elevators in hallways behind nondescript entryways around the city. They take you down to one of three escalator lines. Each line offers several landing areas where riders can exit for access to their destinations.
Unfortunately, we are unlikely to find any more escalators as we resume our mountainous trek to Rome. But, there will be wine, beer and Italian cuisine at the end of each day. We walk 11 out of the next 12 days, with what appears to be the more difficult half ahead. We could blame it on St. Francis, but instead will honor him for laying the groundwork for this great challenge.
carryoncouple 
I love when you find unexpected modern elements surrounded by history!
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The elevators and escalators are amazing! They really care about their elderly and disabled!
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Well, in a few years, Madam Councilwoman, we could use a little help traveling up Lithia Park, wouldn’t you say? 😉
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And the more difficult is ahead?!? You’re amazing with what you have accomplished. We wish you well as you continue your trek. The best may be yet to come as you have more unexpected encounters and experiences.
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Thank you, Jerry and Elaine!
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Hi Reg and Sue,
Thank you sharing your journey, it is certainly whetting the appetite for my husband and I as we will be walking St Francis Way in Spetember/October with a small group from Adelaide, South Austrslia. I am interested in how you have booked your accommodation. Are you booking as you go or did you book ahead and what is the average cost of the hotels, apartments? Keep up the great posts please! Sharon
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Hi Sharon,
Thank you!
We booked all our accommodations before we left home. Some people book a few days ahead as they go. We met a Canadian couple who did not book, except for high-demand places like Assisi. We used booking.com and Sandy Brown’s guide. He has a forum on Facebook and posts updates. We are glad we built in four rest days. The accommodations have all been en suite and almost all included breakfast. Some had restaurants for dinner. We have been paying from 50 to 90 euro a night. One more tip: GPS has been important for us. It has been a good backup to the guidebook. Sue got directions about downloading maps from Sandy’s forum.
Best wishes!
Reg and Sue
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More great pictures-beautiful and fascinating. Good luck on the second half of your trip. We are off on our own adventure now-well, not as adventuresome as your trip. But we won’t have much internet access for a few weeks so we will catch up with you when we return. Love to you both.
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Happy travels, Kathy and Doug!!!
Love, Reg and Sue
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Kathy and Doug, have a fantastic trip! See you both soon!💕Sue
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I ❤️ your positive attitudes. Looks like an amazing trip. You are inspiring. Happy trails
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Spoleto looks fabulous, what great photos. you really are seeing the best of central Italy arent you?
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