The refuge is officially managed by an association. Lilith and Nicola are helped by people coming from abroad thanks to Workaway, a platform that allows its members to take part in cultural exchanges by staying with families and helping out in exchange for board and lodging. We meet two of them: Georg is German, Evangelina comes from Mexico. When we make our acquaintance, she is organising a Mexican dinner at the refuge.

“We are happy. This is exactly what we wanted: to create a point of contact between the energy of the wayfarers and the local community, to develop a cultural and solidarity project having a strong bond with the local area and capable of changing it for the better”, concludes Lilith. Something that would debunk the stereotype of unfriendly, unwelcoming mountain hamlets.

Now that the Acatù refuge is strong on its feet, the next steps will be to create a network of ‘solidarity refuges in the Apennines’, launching a ‘Santiago-style’ accommodation system along the entire Via degli Dei which will offer the warm hospitality guests can currently find at the house in Monzuno. In October 2021, at the end of their first season as refuge-keepers, Lilith and Nicola made new friends along the Via degli Dei. Obviously by walking, carrying a rucksack and a guitar.