Song of the Day: Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads
Another day back out on the trail. Let me fill you in on the last few days, since my last post.
Having arrived in the lakeside village of Bolsena after a challenging walk, the decision was made to forgo a couple of stages (up to Montefiscone and down again to Viterbo) due to extremely hazardous weather conditions. But before doing so Linda and I headed up to an amazing hilltop city called Orvieto, which was really a sight for the eyes. The central cathedral was amazing in terms of both its architecture but also its artwork. Linda and I then continued onto Viterbo, a mediaeval city, at which time I then caught the train down to Rome to collect our last three pilgrims (who were arriving from Australia) for the final 110km walk back into the eternal city. My three days in Rome were great, which included watching a massive concert (on TV) that was taking place just around the corner in Saint Peter’s Square (featuring Andrea Bocelli, Jennifer Hudson, Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Jelly Roll and others – highlights here). Unfortunately whilst the event was free, I didn’t have a ticket to attend, but the 3000-drone light show and the 80,000 people in attendance looked amazing.
Back in Viterbo, we really were treated as part of the local community. Our timing could not have been better, having stumbled across a 3-day festival with food and music. The last day of the festival culminated with ‘Grandma’s Lunch’, where the local nonna’s prepared us incredible pasta and meat delights. Then we drank flowing wine from the ‘magical’ wine fountain in the square. Was such a great day, before we headed back to our accommodation, where the walls in our room are more than 1200 years old!
But then it was time to head back out on the Via Francigena, but this time with four other wonderful pellegrinos to join me. It wasn’t long having left Viterbo on foot that we first came across an amazing human-made wonder – the Via Cava – a pathway carved into (at times 30 metre deep) stone and dirt by the Etruscan people, who lived in the area 5000 years ago. How they did it, who knows. Of course, the heat then started to take its toll, and it was a bit of a struggle for all of us heading towards Vetralla, our next overnight stop. We made it to town and headed straight for the Jolly Blu Bar for a well earned drink or two. All 5 of us have all now arrived at various our accommodation, and we have just had a very tasty truffle pasta and salad dinner – cooked amazingly by Chef Linda. We are tossing up about whether we might push ahead on the bus tomorrow just to give our bodies a break from what was a challenging day, after which we will then pick up the trail once more.
But overall – despite the challenges, it’s great to be out on the VF with good friends.
The food and music festival in full swing!
