I am discovering that the buildings in Italy, at least the older ones, do not have any insulation. Because it is almost December, outside temperatures in the evenings are generally in the low 50’s to mid 40’s. All the rooms we rent have ductless heat pumps. We turn them on to warm the rooms, generally setting the temperature to about 22°C or about 70-71°F. Yesterday the room was cold when we entered and Sally was having trouble getting warm so we set the heat pump to 24°C. It ran all afternoon and couldn’t get the room past 22°C. It also ran all night. Non-stop. And it was only 44°C outside. I felt guilty having it run all night, but we weren’t asking it to do anything outrageous. We checked electricity rates here. €0.33 per Kilowatt hour. About 4.5 times what it is at home in Toledo. I hope their room rent money wasn’t completely eaten up by the electricity bill.
Today was a long day. We got up before 6:00 so we could be on the route a little after 7:00. We were walking at 7:24am. It was a cool and blustery morning. The route climbed up a paved road on one side of a hill and then down the other side over a distance of about a mile per cycle repeating this three times. The first bump was in suburbia Monterotondo with houses lining the streets. The next two had us back in the country, olive trees or plowed fields. At the bottom of the third wave the route took a detour to the left into a field plowed and planted recently enough that the crop, perhaps wheat, was up and tinting the hillsides green.
The ground looked like good dirt for walking, but we soon discovered we were growing taller with each step as the mud stuck to the bottom of our shoes, growing thicker with each step. After a couple hundred feet the mud on the bottom of our shoes started oozing around the soles of our shoes and climbing up the sides. We started scraping it off with Sally’s trekking poles and washed the bottoms in a mud puddle. Luckily, the route turned a corner and some grass was now on the track so we were not on freshly plowed dirt. The two inches of rain from the days before had turned the dirt into a quagmire. About half a mile of this nonsense and we were back on paved road, peeling the mud off our soles.
About a half a mile up the paved road we were walking along when an approaching car didn’t move over at all to allow us room to stay on the pavement. This is not unusual. 9 of 10 cars that pass us do not move an inch even if there isn’t another car on the road. It takes a bit to get used to it but by now we are familiar with the Italian drivers and expect it. However, this approaching car seemed to be angling to force us off the pavement completely. It came to an abrupt stop right in front of us. Peering out the windshield, waving was our acquaintance of two days ago, Nik. He popped out of the car with a big smile and a loud “hello” then immediately reached in his pocket and handed us each a handful of unshelled peanuts, mentioning that we probably needed the energy.
Talking about this later, both Sally and I confessed to being a little uncomfortable with Nik’s reappearance. He struck us as a bit odd during our first meeting, making us uncomfortable then. To have him show up on a very unused road in the middle of nowhere was unsettling. But, we welcomed him and gratefully accepted his peanuts. He explained his house was just up the road about 3/4 of a mile, after we reached the top of the hill, second house on the right. He reminded us that we had his number, if we needed anything he was our “resolution” to any problem we might have. He hinted at being a little eccentric passing by us a second time and stoping (which made us feel better, he must be more self aware of his behavior that we previously gave him credit for) and soon was in his car and on his way. I think we might have unfairly judged him at our first meeting. Anyway, now we were anxious to see his home and how he lived. He said he raised dogs. What would we see as we walked by?
There is a preserve here that the route crosses. It is just outside of Rome, not more than 5 miles. It is gated and only land owners living inside the preserved area are allowed to drive in, although anyone can walk or bike through on the one main paved rough road. It is a couple miles by a couple miles in size. It must have been set aside for farming so developers couldn’t turn it in to housing. There is a path around the gate for pilgrims to use. It is in here that Nic lives. The hill was about a 300’ climb over 3/4 of a mile and then another 1/4 mile until we passed his house. As is true of most houses in Italy, it was behind a wall and shrouded in brush. Couldn’t really see it, but a few of his dogs came out to silently watch us pass by.
We stopped to sit on a piece of dry pavement and have a snack. The sign when we entered said no picnicking allowed. Wasn’t really a picnic, just a piece of pizza and a swig or two of Coke.
A cyclist passed us and we delivered our standard “Bongiorno” to him. About twenty minutes and half a mile later he came up behind us and stopped, speaking in perfect American English. This was William. He is a chemist working for an Italian pharmaceutical company and has lived here for 25 years. We got to pick his brain for a bit during a 20 minute conversation, then he took off on his bike, but not before telling us where to find pastries and Cokes a couple miles ahead.
There have been days on this trek where there is no food on our route. We start walking before things open and arrive in town between 1 and 5 when everything is closed. If we don’t carry a supply of food, we get very hungry for the day. But now that changes. We walked into the suburbs of Rome about noon today and started passing pastry shops and cafes about every 2 minutes. The food drought is over and I can quit carrying food. We celebrated by stopping at the first pastry shop for a treat and a Coke.
We had about five miles of city streets to walk to get to Ponte Sacro where our accommodation were. About halfway through town Sally needed to stop and use a restroom. She ducked into a pastry shop to use their bathroom and I stayed out on the street. There was a group of five men in their fifties standing outside talking. I make a spectacle with my pack on in the city and soon they were asking me where I was walking, how far we had walked, etc. They were curious and fun to talk with, smiling and laughing and were very inclusive and complementary as we worked through the language barrier.
We are staying with Dino for the night. He rents an apartment in his house to passing pilgrims for an unspecified donation amount. He sounded super interesting on the phone when I talked to him so I was intrigued to meet him. We called about ten minutes before arriving to give him a heads up. When we got to his place it was a large apartment complex. I called again when we got there and he guided us through the complex until we saw him in his second floor window and beckoned for us to come his way. He opened the main door electronically and we went up a floor and entered his apartment.
Dino is about 70. He lead us to our room inside his home and spent half an hour showing us all the features and amenities. He pointed out that the bridge we walked on across the river through town was just down river of the one the Romans had built in 200bc and Francis would have crossed on his way to and from Rome. It still stands. We resolved to go there as soon as possible to see it before it got dark.
Because Rob is studying medieval times we FaceTimed with him to show him the structure. It was really cool. Jeff wondered what was cooler, a 2200 year old bridge or the fact that we could share it live with them on the other side of the planet with a handheld cell phone.
After the bridge we walked to a Donar kebab place for dinner. €2.99!! Really? Delicious. We split one, then bought another one for me to eat cause I felt absolutely wasted.
Don’t know what it was about today, but when we got to Dino’s I was extremely exhausted. My lower back muscles were really tired and ached. I was lethargic and quite frankly, worthless. But I pushed through so we could enjoy our time.
When we returned to Dino’s we marveled at his main room. It was full of stuff, stuff that had a story to tell. Theatre posters, props from plays, photos of a younger Dino on stage or in costume. He came out and we asked him about his career. He shared about his life and his career as an actor and director. It was very fun and interesting.
Exhausted as we were, we excused ourselves much sooner than we wanted to and I climbed into bed for the night. Sally followed about an hour later. What an amazing day!! And now we are in Rome! The Vatican tomorrow and the end of our walking adventure.
Sally’s feet all taped up and ready to go.
Chuck adding the finishing touches to Sally’s feet
Our apartment - the tan/yellowish building-2nd floor
Powered by junk early in the morning. A cheery ice cream cone. New to me.
The goopy mud clinging to our feet
Sally washing the mud from the bottom of her shoes
Nic finds us again and gives us peanuts
Sign before entering preserve
Looking back toward Monterotondo
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in the distance
Love the umbrella trees
Sign along the way
Dino stamps our credentials
Our host Dino in Monte Sacro
Doors out to the balcony from our room at Dino’s
Our room at Dino’s apartment
Dino’s living room/museum
2200 year old bridge in Monte Sacro
Dino and his theatre masks
