22.3kms walked today
409kms walked so + extras
We love walking in the shade and our host advised us to take an alternate pilgrim route out of Viterbo.
This magical route took us along an ancient road cut into the rock of the surrounding countryside. Running on and off for maybe 5 kms it was sometimes encased in 6 metres of roadside rock with oaks etc providing deep shade from above. We believe the road was a gradual erosion job, aided by cartwheels, water and man tidying the sides as it got deeper.
Refortified and five degrees cooler in mind we headed off for the final 4.5kms to our Farmstay B&B.
The first kilometers, walking on the main road showed Ventralla to be a noisy dusty unpleasant town, dominated by the motor car. The remainder, on quieter roads with some shade, passed pleasantly.
Our host farmed 40 hectares of hazelnuts. He didn't know the English word so he said " for Nutella" and we instantly knew.
That night he kindly took us into Ventralla for their flower festival. The old town came alive and we saw a completely different town.
The Punch and Judy show had kids enthralled and their were bands, stalls and food of all kinds. Motorcars were banned!
The street came alive slowly from 8pm and was nearly full when we left at 10pm. Our Trattoria let us have a table as long as we were finished by 9.30 when it was booked for the main sitting.
Still smiling
No comments:
Post a Comment