Coffees: 2, Gelati: 3, Wine: 1 glass
Actual Distance Walked: 16km, Actual Time Taken: 4h 19m
Planned Distance: 16km, Planned Time: 4h 30m
The route today was almost all on roads, about 50% of those tarmac roads so navigation was easy but it was a bit hard underfoot. The first 3km was along the lake shore. I encountered quite a few joggers out running along this stretch. I encountered one jogger 3 times. First coming towards me, then when he was coming back the other way and "lapped" me and then coming towards me again. He was very grim and determined. It didn't look like he was enjoying himself at all.
About 2 hours in I passed through the town of Ronciglione. It was Maria and Giacomo's wedding day. I know this because there were signs up everywhere. As I was walking down the main street, the bridal party drove by with every single car tooting their horns nonstop. Very sweet, but for the sake of everyone's hearing I hope the marriage rate in that town is low.
Sutri is yet another town perched on a rock spur. Why do all my destinations have to be uphill? Downhill, on the next spur over, is a Roman amphitheatre carved out of the rock and Etruscan necropolis - also carved out of the rock. Some burial places had niches for bodies, some just shelves for urns but some had both. It was all fascinating. The amphitheatre looked like the one at Pompeii but smaller and as if it had melted a little as the rock has worn down. Unfortunately it was't open to the public that day, you could only peer through the gate. And this muppet had left her camera in the hotel so she doesn't even have any pictures. I expect Google has better ones anyway.
Dinner turned out to be excellent - among the top three I've had, even though the restaurant was my 4th choice. I like to eat unfashionably early as I'm hungry early plus I want to get an early night as I'm generally tired at the end of the day. By 7:30pm my first two choices didn't even have their lights on, my third choice was clearly open but said they didn't start serving until 8pm so I staggered into one that was open. It was the Il d'Angeli restaurant and is run by the d'Angeli sisters. One is the maitre d' while the other is the wine waiter.
I had the degustation menu and the wine sister recommended a glass of Sicilian red to me. I was a bit dubious (isn't it too hot there for good wine?) but it turned out to be a delicious big, spicy red without any hint of tannins. From what the wine sister said it is a small producer so I didn't bother trying to remember the winery.
For food, I was first given an amuse bouche which was a cube of some intensely capsicum flavoured flan thing with a spoonful of some moussey thing also made of capsicum. The plate had been decorated with a pattern in balsamic vinegar. All the plates turned out to be decorated this way (except for dessert) along with an individual garnish on each plate. Shannon would approve.
My official starter was three eggplant rolls stuffed with pesto. I forget the garnish on that one. The primo was lasagna Tuscia-style which turned out to be without a tomato-based sauce but with béchamel, mince and mushrooms (and cheese of course). The garnish on that one was a fan with two sage leaves at the base, then two thin slices of carrot and then a single petal from an orange coloured flower.
My main was pork sausages with grapes with a side of shallots in an agrodolce sauce. This was the first point where things were not perfect. The sausages had some sort of sauce on them which was sweet to the taste, which is something I dislike in a savoury dish. Fortunately the sauce on the shallots was more agro- than dolce so they were a pleasant contrast to the fatty richness of the sausages. The grapes went well with them too, although I could have done with three times as many (in a pile) rather than just 6 elegantly sliced and arranged on the plate. The garnish on that one was three perfect vine leaves perfectly arranged.
My dessert was a rum semifreddo (I count this as my third gelati) and was garnished with what at first I thought was a single blueberry on top and with chocolate sprinkles around it. Instead, it turned out these were both chocolate coated coffee beans - one whole and one crushed. I like these women. They understand what is important in life - coffee and ice cream.
I finished with a coffee that was sadly ordinary but then it was the first their machine had made that day, so that's not unexpected.
My hotel here is tiny - only 6 rooms. It is also the only place to stay in the town. The owners live next door. When I got to Sutri the place was closed as they were having their siesta and I had to knock on their own door to get them to open up the hotel for me. I'm to take my breakfast in their own kitchen tomorrow as they don't normally offer that to their guests and don't have any space in the hotel to provide it. That's going to be an experience.
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