Day 22 Campagnano di Roma to La Storta

41 kms to Rome
23.1 kms walked today
501.5 kms walked so far

Nearly there and a photo to prove it.

Today was the last of the rural walking as we finish in an outer suburb of Rome. The walk was uneventful. No sign of any of our earlier companions. The only walkers we saw were a group of 4 Scottish women, walking the last 120kms which is the minimum needed to get their certificates.

Our room for the night was in a convent attached to a school and another large building in a complex with high walls. We entered with a little uncertainty as it was not signposted well. In the reception a tiny nun sat behind a huge counter. She telephone someone and advised that dua Pellegrini's (pilgrims) were here. She immediately returned to other duties and we waited, and waited and waited. After ten or fifteen minutes another tiny nun arrived.

She smiled warmly and spoke English fairly well. What followed created the longest check in in history. She asked us where we were from. Her sister lives in Bankstown. She showed us the best route into the city, she endorsed our pilgrims passports, she made us a coffee and tea, gave us water, told us about breakfast and after close to an hour, showed us to our room.

Several times she said finito before remembering something else and apologising for her English repeatedly. She was very welcoming in a very natural way.

The room was clean neat and cool in a hallway that reeked of silence and tranquility. 

When we left the grounds and went into La Storta we found the opposite.

We were assaulted by heat, traffic and garbage. This was a most untranquil suburb, dominated by cars and garbage.

The Italians do rubbish like experts. They usually don't have household bins but community ones. This is very efficient but a disaster when capacity is overloaded as it is seen as the towns problem as rubbish piles higher and higher. We frequently saw very large (metres high) piles of small plastic rubbish bags.
I wish there were less humans but
Still smiling