Day 14: Cormóns to San Martino del Corso Italy

Day 12 on the Alpe Adria Trail

Our trail guide book summed up this day perfectly when they said “Waymarkings indicating the correct route out of Cormóns are not particularly conducive to finding the correct route.” This set the tone for the day’s walk.

However, the breakfast was wonderful. Our host was so lovely!

She had prepared several baked goods for breakfast and when we walked into the kitchen, there were frittatas and stuffed crepes warming next to the fire. It was a scene straight from a cooking magazine.

We left Cormóns with full bellies and smiles on our faces.

While the terrain was easy, navigating proved to be the real challenge of the day. We got off track several times. One time involved bushwhacking through pokey brush that left us grumpy, a little bloody and one of us was missing a pair of sunglasses.

We stopped for a beer break in the town of Gradisca d'Isonzo, which was where we’d originally planned to stay the night, but due to a huge food festival starting later in the week, we had to stay down the trail another 4 miles, which brought our total mileage for the day to 16.

Our stop for the night is in San Martino del Carso, which is a beautiful settlement on a rugged hillside with scrubby trees (it reminds me a lot of Santa Fe).

Our host couldn’t be kinder. The only restaurant within walking distance is closed tonight, so he gave us his car for the night, allowing us to drive ourselves to dinner.

On our host’s recommendation, we drove back to Gradisca d’Isonzo for dinner at a rustic wine bar with regional seasonal food. One of the few places open on a Tuesday night!

We shared a delicious pumpkin gnocchi with toasted smoked mozzarella, a rich goulash with polenta, pickled beans with onions and for dessert a warmly spiced gnocchi stuffed with seasonal plums. It was such a delightful meal!

Although we had a bit of a rough, salty walk today, it was bookended with amazing hospitality and some beautiful Italian countryside.

Speaking of salty… we’re going to spend the night on the Adriatic Coast tomorrow night! We have 5 more days of walking before we wrap up the Alpe Adria Trail.

Con amore dall'Italia!

Jen & Bob