Coffees: 2, Gelati: 0, Wine: 1/4 litre
Actual Distance Walked: 14.5km, Actual Time Taken: 4h 52m
Planned Distance: 15km, Planned Time: 4h 30m
The discrepancies between actual and planned distances and times is because I didn't turn the GPS on until I had left the centre of Viterbo and because I had a good, long lunch break (approx 30m) to de-stress after the spidery path section.
Today was not at all pleasant. At one point a large tree had fallen across the (narrow) forest path. I wasted quite a bit of time backtracking to see if I'd missed the turnoff, then blundering through the bushes to the left to see if the faint path off in that direction really was a path or whether it petered out (it did) before finally clambering over the tree and discovering the path continuing on. Obviously no one has walked that way in a while given how much grass and weeds had grown up around the fallen tree.
A little way further on there was a stretch of about 800m that the notes said were overgrown and the path quite narrow. It wasn't as it has been cleared and widened. However, it was home to many large spiders who have built webs across the path. There was a web every 4 or 5m. I couldn't move quickly (as much as I wanted to) because of the risk of running face first into a spider. Instead I scuttled along slowly ducking under webs when I could and gingerly knocking them down when I couldn't and having mild hysterics the whole time. Thankfully I haven't seen a forest path like that before or since, otherwise I'd been packing up my boots and taking the bus all the rest of the way to Rome! Also thankfully there is very little more of this route that goes through forest so I'm safe.
Nothing much else to report for today. Tonight's hotel is inside the Lake Vico nature reserve. Besides the hotel, there is nothing here but a bar (which doesn't serve gelati) and a playground. Actually, that is not entirely true as there is the nature reserve itself. However, that will include nature, which will include spiders so I gave it a miss.
I didn't quite dine in solitary splendour. There were 3 occupied tables in the cavernous dining room. I guess I am at a holiday resort out of season, in spite of the seasonally warm weather, but I still can't understand how they make a living. As I have half board here I got to choose from a more limited menu of just primi and secondi rather than the full menu. For primo I passed on the pappardelle with wild boar sauce and went for the tortellini with fresh porcini mushrooms and truffles. The tortellini were mass produced, which isn't really a surprise, and really it was all quite good. Although I shouldn't bother ordering tortellini after Il Silene. That place has spoilt me for life. For main I had grilled quail with a side of stuffed zucchini flowers dipped in batter and deep fried - yum. I was expecting one quail but got two. They had been grilled over charcoal and were crispy and delicious with a nice, big wedge of lemon to squeeze over them. Even though I had more than enough I still nibbled all the meat off their bones. Small, defenceless birds are just so tasty. Forget worrying about cholesterol levels. By the time I get home I'm going to be as big as the side of a (largish) house!
Grand Final Day dawns wet and freezing cold. Jim and John have gone off to see if they can get tickets at the gate! Good luck to them. By the time you read this it will be all over, one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what's worse: the spiders or the snakes. Leeches perhaps? But i do like the sound of the defenceless little birds with all that meat on their thighs!