# Campari & Soda: 0, # Gelati: 0
Actual Distance Walked: 15km, Actual Time Taken: 4h 8m
Planned Distance: 15km, Estimated Time (them): 4h 30m, Estimated Time (me): 4h 12m
On the plus side, for today, the weather wasn't as bad as predicted. There was very little wind and no thunderstorms. On the down side, it did rain pretty much all day, just switching between light rain and drizzle. So this is the only photo I took while actually hiking.
The four Canadians at dinner last night are walking the Magna Via Francigena too. However, they are using a different company so I'm not sure where they stayed in Prizzi. I'm surprised I didn't see them on the trail. Today's forecast was for the rain to lighten up around 10am so they decided to wait for that before leaving Cammarata. I didn't see the point in waiting as no matter how much money you spend on Goretex, if you walk all day in the rain you are going to get soaked to the skin.
On the way I met up with a couple from Holland who are also doing this route. We didn't walk together, they were too fast for me, but basically leap-frogged each other all day. There was also another couple in front of us all the way based on the foot prints in the mud, but I never caught sight of them. This is a surprisingly popular trail.
The climb out of Cammarata got us to a small town called Aquaviva Platini. From there it was basically a matter of following a ridge line around to Sutera. In good weather it would have been a glorious hike as the scenery is spectacular. Even with the rain it was still amazing. Some times the path was so high and the clouds were so low you were actually walking in the clouds, not below them. It was actually wasn't as wet then.
What was less spectacular, but still incredible, was the mud. Not only did I get mud all over my boots, but my pants got caked in it almost to the knee. At times I tried walking bandy legged, like I was on a horse, in an attempt not to flick mud off my boots and onto my pants, but it was futile. At least I didn't fall over.
I made it to my B&B by around 2pm and luckily the owners were around to let me in. I'm now warm, dry and free of mud. I've cranked the heating up and my room is festooned with drying laundry. I just hope my boots dry out by tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.
I stopped in Acquaviva Platina for a coffee (my 3rd for the day, making up for yesterday) and a pastry. I had planned to get some lunch here in Sutera but everything is shut up tight for the afternoon siesta. A bar nearby opened at 4pm but by the time I got there another bunch of hikers (4 of them from England) had eaten all the remaining pastries. I had to settle for my 4th coffee for the day. I'm never going to be able to sleep.
Once I had arrived the rain, of course, stopped. I ambled around the town. Sutera is another of those towns clinging to the side of a cliff. Here are some views of the surrounding countryside. My apologies for the pole in the middle of the first. Can't you just imagine some sort of pagan/witchy goings ono happening in the middle of that outcrop in the second one?
It is Monday so all the restaurants in town are closed. However, there is one place here, a rosticceria, that is open tonight. It is on the other side of town to my B&B. The 4 Canadians are also staying here. The B&B is run by a husband & wife team. The husband drove the Canadians to the rosticceria and then came back for me. This sort of shop isn't a restaurant. Instead, it is essentially Sicilian fast food. They had little pizzas, arancini, single servings of lasagna in foil containers and some sort of bread-like things stuffed with meat & mushrooms. The 4 English hikers had snaffled all the arancini by the time I arrived and the Canadians had ordered all the lasagna. I had to settle for pizza and the bread-things which were very tasty.
The rosticceria also had a display case full of cakes. I had a piece of cake which was layers of (rather stale) sponge and pistachio cream coated in marzipan made with pistachios rather than almonds. I also had a square of what I thought was a chocolate brownie topped with more pistachio cream, but turned out to be a crunchy chocolate case full of pistachio cream. My Italian teacher back in Melbourne is from Palermo and is allergic to pistachios. I'm surprised she lived to adulthood. They put them in everything, even savory dishes.
After dinner, it had started to rain, so the Canadians called the husband to get a lift back to the B&B. I opted to walk. It only took 10 minutes and it wasn't raining heavily. I felt safer. The car drive to dinner was hair raising. The streets (and I use the word very loosely, narrow alley is more apt) are very harrow and very steep and very slippery. The husband just drives a little Fiat Panda. He explained that it is impossible to drive around here in anything bigger. I pinched this from Google but this car isn't going the wrong way. This is considered a driveable street here.
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