Via Francigena - Day 3
Monday 24th September Caprarola to
Sutri
Again we had breakfast with our German friends and then headed off at about 8.45am. Today was the shortest walk of the trip – just 16 kilometres to Sutri. Before heading out of Caprarola we had a closer look at the Villa Farnese. It’s certainly spectacular, but its pentagon shape makes it somewhat spooky – lord knows why, but it just does! The views looking south towards Rome were spectacular, with hills popping up from under the ground-hugging mist.
Nearing the edge of Caprarola we saw a sign for a Post Office, so took the opportunity to try and get stamps for the traditional postcards back to the UK. So far, our attempts to get international stamps at Tobacco shops had proved utterly futile. Sadly, I can see a day when postage stamps are a thing of the past. Aside from sending cards, there's something about the challenge of trying to get stamps in various places. It takes effort, and invariably means trying to speak the local language. Meanwhile back at the postie.... the man behind the screen must have had a large number of sloth genes. He was so slow; he nearly went in reverse. At one point, I genuinely thought he’d sloped off to “powder his nose!”. To use use one of my more brutal sayings, it looked like "he didn't know if he was having a shit or a haircut". Eventually, we left laden with "otto francobolli per cartoline per l'Inghilterra". (I await to be corrected on the Italian there, but that's what Google Translate told me)
Having got ourselves down to snail’s pace we also popped into the Pharmacy next door to stock up on Compeeds. All the chafage and sore toes was rapidly depleting our once large stock! The transaction there was a more seamless and speedy affair.
After bumping into the Germans (we hadn’t exchanged names yet) again, we then pushed on. Today, there might be a treat for us. There’s a town called Ronciglione en route, so buoyed by the prospect of coffee we had an extra spring in our step. We walked along a very quiet and bendy country road surrounded by Hazel Groves. Every now an again battered old Fiat Uno’s chugged past, invariably driven by octogenarians - it was difficult to tell who/what were the oldest - the drivers or the cars!.
Nice runner - one careful owner (for 30 years!)
Eventually we got the old centre of Ronciglione. Again, perched precariously on a hillside, the place looked pretty run down. Nevertheless, there was a scruffy looking café opposite the main church, and we were not going to be denied a coffee feast. We wallowed in our brief caffeine frenzy, and then departed further into the town, replete.
Ronciglione
Ronciglione turned out to be much bigger than we’d expected. The old heart was full of character, and we climbed another hill into the new section of the town where there was a lively market in full swing. Needless to say, we passed a number of far more attractive café’s, but couldn't give a …….(insert your expletive of choice here) about that. After roughly 20 minutes of walking along a busy road, we headed onto a path leading the through Hazel Groves, where the local farmers were busy harvesting their crop, using what looked like agricultural street sweepers – odd looking contraptions with two spinning fans at the front that seemed to push the fallen nuts into a vacuum cleaner under the machine. Proper noisy, but effective, things they were.
Down in the Hazel Groves
Eventually, we rejoined the busy road; and for the last 5 kilometres we had the displeasure of following it to our B & B on the edge of Sutri. With no footpath we dodged the oncoming vehicles. Not fun at all, and made worse by passing a couple of putrid animal carcasses covered in insects. Gross! Within 2 minutes of arriving at the B & B the heavens opened, and rained torrentially for about an hour. Excellent timing on part.
A Sutri soaking
We had a lazy afternoon at our very comfortable B & B, before heading up into the old town of Sutri itself. According to Wikipedia Sutri is one of "I Borghi piu bellie d'Italia"(The most beautiful villages of Italy). It is renowned for its Roman Amphitheatre and Estruscan Necropolis with rock-cut tombs. Unsurprisingly, it was perched on a rocky outcrop. Very characterful, but probably not at its best in the aftermath of the storm. Our host, Antonella told us that there'd be just one restaurant open on a Monday evening. We got there shortly after the opening time of 7.30, but had to wait as they weren’t really open! Nevertheless, were entertained by the elderly family Matriarch who, in between preparing cutlery, kept nodding off, then awoke to enthusiastically greet locals and family who came in. She was wearing an odd headpiece – something between a Captain’s hat and a scullery maid’s cap.
Sutri
We got chatting a nice woman sitting alone on the adjacent
table. She hailed from the Czech Republic, and had walked from Lucca, 300km to
the north. Impressive, and brave. Like almost all the hikers we’d encountered,
she had previously walked the Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago - you know, the one I'd have rather been doing!! The
food was excellent, and my cheese to body weight ratio increased again.
Strangely, the only beer they had was bottled Tennent Super – I guess there’s a
first time for everything, and fortunately it didn’t turn me into a raging
Glaswegian nutter, headbutting all and sundry!
Stuffed with pasta and cheese, it was early to bed, as tomorrow presented a bigger challenge. We were to rejoin the main Via route for a longer 26 kilometre walk to Campagnano di Roma. There is a potential coffee stop after 11km in Monterosi, at the aptly named Café Gorgeous. The weather forecast for the afternoon was poor, so an early, breakfast-free, departure was to be called for.
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