The FRANCIGENA WAY - A FABULOUS WALK FROM SIENA TO ROME (Week Two)

The first week on the camino went by quickly.  We covered miles of beautiful countryside.  Surprisingly, neither of us came down with blisters or any other serious ailments.  Week two of the camino was also lovely.  The towns became larger as we walked closer to Rome, but it was still a very rural walk most of the time, and far from the madding crowds.

Day Eight:  12.0 Miles  Lake Bolsena to Montefiascone
We kicked off the second week with a most excellent day.  Although today's hike was only 12 miles, it was somewhat strenuous with the uphill ascent of 1,766 feet.

The weather we've experienced on this camino was warmer than we anticipated. There have been days when we walked for long periods of time under very little shade.

The first half of today's walk was through forested areas, which was most welcome.

Approaching a spring with natural well water

Worth the stop to take a drink of fresh cold water

Within an hour we pass by some lovely waterfalls.  We're appreciating the cool conditions.

Lush, overgrown countryside surrounds the falls

Ancient stone houses appeal to us on our trek.

Gerry pauses by the house

By mid-day Lake Bolsena is far in the distance, and we began our ascent toward Montefiascone.

 Bye-bye  Lake Bolsena

We didn't pass through any other towns between Bolsena and Montefiascone, though we stopped several times for water and to stretch (rest) our legs and take in the views.

Green fields abound as far as we can see

By early afternoon, after a steep final two mile ascent, we arrive to our home for the evening, the Hotel Urbano, located on Corso Cavour, the town's main street.

We've been impressed with all of our accommodations on our Italian camino.  The rooms have all been clean, spacious, comfortable, and nicely furnished.  Our hosts and the hotel staff have all been friendly, kind and courteous.  We are always made to feel very welcome.

We explored Motefiascone in the late afternoon.  The most impressive structure is the Montefiascone Cathedral, one of the earliest structures by Michele Sanmicheli (1484 - 1559).  The cathedral suffered a fire in 1670 and repairs took a decade.

The magnificent cathedral

The interior was elaborately restored in 1893.

Gerry stands in awe in this beautiful cathedral

The hill town of Montefiascone offers wonderful views, and is well worth the climb.

We stare down at the outskirts of town and the surrounding country

We work up appetites on these caminos, and today was no exception.  The Hotel Urbano gave us a dinner voucher to a restaurant down the street, la Piccola Osteria.

The tiny restaurant had a very limited menu.  Gerry and I both chose the homemade gnocchi for our first course.  It was our first gnocchi of the camino, and did not disappoint.  Portions were generous.

homemade gnocchi is a meal in itself

Gerry selected a stew with beef and peas for his second course, while I opted for the chicken milanese.  We had tasty tiramisu for dessert.

Day Nine:   11.6 Miles  Montefiascone to Viterbo
This was a pleasant and relatively easy walk to the bustling city of Viterbo. We began the day with a steep uphill climb to the top of Montefiascone, where there was a lovely city park, and view of Lake Bolsena in the distance.

At the very top of Montefiascone

The first half of the hike was relatively flat, along ancient Roman roads. I felt like was stepping back centuries in time as I walked.

This ancient Roman road is lined with kiwi trees

We walked farther and turned around mid-hike to look back and bid a final farewell to Montefiascone.

Montefiascone is miles behind us here

A highlight of the day was our stop at Bagnaccio, a hot springs on the outskirts of Viterbo about 7.5 miles into our walk.  Natural thermal water is channeled into five separate pools. It's set up resort-like with lounge chairs and places to relax.

Bagnaccio was impossible to miss.  The camino route takes you right by it.  We had read about it the evening before and came prepared with our bathing suits in our daypacks.

When we entered, the receptionist asked for my "pilgrim passport", as it was obvious we were hikers.  She gave us the good news that Bagnaccio is free for pilgrims.  (We saved $6 euro per person. Hooray for us!)   

 

Bagnaccio is a welcome sight

The weather was sunny and warm today, and we only had four miles left to walk, so stayed at Bagnaccio over an hour and tried several of the warm pools.

Gerry relaxes (handsome guy at top of photo)

The water temperature is quite hot and we can't stay in the pools for too long on this warm and sunny day.

Taking a break spa side

After the spa experience, we felt a bit weary and ready for a nap.  But, it was not to be, as we still had to cover four miles to get to the busy city of Viterbo.

It's sometimes confusing to find our hotels when we are in the larger cities, but we didn't have a problem this time.  We were booked into the Tuscia Hotel Viterbo.   We arrived by 2:00 pm, and fortunately, our luggage was already here.  So we showered, put on non-stinky clothes and took a stroll through town.

The Tuscia Hotel features a roof top patio.  We purchased a bottle of San Giovese wine and enjoyed a glass of wine before we returned to our room for a brief rest before dinner.

Gerry on the roof-top patio, glass of wine in hand

Dinner was not covered in Viterbo. Camino Ways covers most meals, but in the larger cities often you are on your own.  We wanted to take a break from the lavish three course meals of the past week, and decided to go for pizza.  We asked the front desk for a recommendation, and they did not steer us wrong when they encouraged us to walk 15 minutes to pizzeria Il Monastero.

The place was packed, but we could get a table without a wait.  There is great outdoor seating and a friendly staff.  The pizzas are "double"in size.  I am not kidding - they actually deliver them on two plates per pizza.  Still, the common protocol seems to be one pizza per person.  I ordered an artichoke pizza ($6.30 Euro) and Gerry ordered a porcini mushroom pizza ($7.50).  There was plenty to share, and plenty to take home with us.

Maybe we should have shared a pizza? 

Day Ten:  13.8 Miles  Viterbo to Vetralla
This was a lovely walk to Vetralla.  It was 81 degrees, with plenty of sunshine.  This is very unseasonably warm for late September.  The walk was relatively easy, and the only factor that made it challenging was the heat.  Not much shade today.

 Gerry packed "pizza rolls" for us for lunch.  (We had a refrigerator in our room in the Tuscia Hotel). The huge pizzas are with a very thin crust and conducive to pizza rolls.  (Maybe we should patent the idea.  This was actually my favorite lunch on the camino.)

We walked once again through the center of Viterbo, at the start of today's camino. This city was very quiet in the morning hours.

A final view of the clock tower of Viterbo, at 8:10 am

Minutes later, we walk through the archway and make our way out of town, heading southbound to Vetralla.  I have no idea when this archway was built.  Maybe I'll research it sometime.

I love this beautiful archway

We bid an adieu to another hill town city on the camino.

Peering through the archway window

And we're on a paved road for a few miles once again, as we head to Vetralla.  It is a narrow road, and we're thankful there is not much vehicular traffic as we forge ahead. 

Gerry in full stride

We approach Vetralla under sunny skies.  It's another clean and quaint town, with plenty of shops and cafes. 

In search of a gelato on the main street in Vetralla

There is a visitor center, where we stop and I pick up free postcards.We're feeling dehydrated, hot, and tired.  Thankfully, there is a gelateria in sight. We stop by and order triple-scoop cones.  Gerry takes my picture, and I look at it later in the evening, and realize I'm not smiling. Maybe, it's because I was too damned tired. 

An unusually solemn Mary with her cone

Within an hour, we arrive at our lovely accommodation, 2 km from the center of Vetralla.  It is the Antica Locanda.  Quite the beautiful place, and very isolated, which suits us just fine.

Antica Locanda

We are assigned a lovely suite on the second floor.  It is top right in the photo below.

Another wonderful place

It is peaceful here. After dinner, we view a gorgeous sunset, get a good night's rest.

A colorful sunset, just one of the many treasures of the day

Day Eleven:  17.2 Miles  Vetralla to Sutri
This was one of my favorite days, because it was not only lovely, but most of the walk was on trail.  Walking mega miles on soft surfaces is preferable than pounding the pavement.  It is so much easier on our knees.

We started our walk at 8:00 am and were in a forested area within an hour.

Striding along through the forest

Soon we were walking through fields of hazelnut trees.

Fields of hazelnut trees

It was harvest time for the hazel nuts and the ground was covered with them. It was a perfect opportunity to forage.  We picked plenty of hazelnuts, both from the ground and from the trees.

Picking hazelnuts, which I stuff in my pockets

A few hours later we found a picnic bench in the shade and we ate a healthy snack of hazelnuts, crackers and a pear.

Gerry gets busy and cracks open the nuts with a rock

This snack hit the spot (though couldn't top yesterday's pizza rolls lunch). 

We carry on, and walk through more hazelnut trees, and pass by this ancient stone relic in the midst of the trees.

Interesting, whatever it is

We climbed to the hill town, Capranica.  It wasn't on the official route, but we couldn't resist adding bonus miles to see another hill town and also (unsuccessfully)  search out gelato.

Our detour to Capranica

The following five miles were on the trail, a lovely, lush single-track path with plenty of greenery and the song of birds.

Into the dense forest we walk

We came across a handsome horse, who blocked our path.  We managed to navigate our way around him.

He's hogging the trail!

A few minutes later we encounter a second horse, who perhaps smell the banana in Gerry's backpack.  The horse butts Gerry's backpack, but Gerry befriends him, and all is fine

Gerry's new friend

A half-hour later, we came out of the forest and were with a mile from the hill town of Sutri.

The approach to Sutri

This time, we are successful and do find gelato in the town plaza. We deserved another triple-scoop, and couldn't resist selecting hazelnut as one of the flavors, since that seemed to be the theme today.

Our gelato cafe is on the right

We walked downhill from the city of Sutri to the Parco Urbano Citta di Sutri, where we viewed ancient tombs built into the walls, that date back to the 1st century B.C.

Tombs at Parco Urbano

As prearranged, we called our agriturismo from the Parco for a ride.  Alesandro picked us up within 15 minutes and gave us a ride to Agriturismo Montefosco, less than 5 km away.

This agriturismo is another winner.  The grounds are lovely.  We were there only guests this evening.  It was very nice to have this all to ourselves.

Very well maintained

We were glad to check into our room and take off our hiking clothes, and put on our bathing suits.

Our room is through the door on the right

The room overlooks the large pool, and Alesandro told us it was "free for you to use."  We didn't waste too much time taking him up on his offer.

Very refreshing, after today's 17.2 mile trek

Dinner was served in their restaurant on the premises.  We were their only guests.  Alesandro's mother and sister served us a generous portion of ravioli with three cheeses.  Second course was a meat and cheese platter, accompanied by a spinach-egg quiche with fresh ricotta.  Dessert was a flaky fruity pastry.

Although our host and hostesses at Montefosco spoke very little English, we enjoyed this place and felt welcome and well cared for here.

DAY TWELVE:  16.2 Miles  Sutri to Campagnano di Roma
The walk today under partly sunny / partly cloudy skies seemed fairly easy.  Perhaps it is because we have grown accustomed to long daily walks.

The weather looked ominous as we began our walk.

Is rain in our future?

By mid-morning we arrived at the pleasant hill town of Monterosi.

In Monterosi

The town has a lovely plaza, but not many tourists seem to visit.  We stop for a rest break and sit on the bench near the fountain. 

A place to take a breather

Soon after we leave Monterosi, it is time to don our rain ponchos.

The wind kicks up and we get a few sprinkles

But it clears up again within an hour, and we pass by fields of cannabis. (I didn't know this was cannabis, but Gerry made the identification, and I trust him.)

Cannabis looks pretty healthy here

The highlight of today's walk was our lunch break at a natural park with cascading waterfalls.  It was a beautiful setting for a long break.

Mary at "the lunch restaurant"

We see very few other people

It's always a pleasure to see waterfalls on a hike!  We took off our hiking boots and took time to relax and appreciate the surroundings. 

This is just one of several falls in this park

It surprised me that we didn't see many other pilgrims. We did pass a group of 5 or 6 pilgrims shortly after we left the natural park.  We are under sunny skies with no shade for the remainder of the walk.

A colorful abandoned building

A few miles later, we see Campagnano, our destination for the evening.

Our destination is a 3/4 mile climb from here

Nearly every day on the camino, we finish with an ascent. That's to be expected when you sign up to do a camino that features hill towns.  We arrive at the city gates within 20 minutes.

Entry arch to Campagnano di Roma

We easily find our way to Da Righetto, a lovely small hotel with only 12 guest rooms.  This was another charming boutique hotel.  Dinner was on the first floor at their famous Ristorante Da Righetto, which dates back to 1853.  We were in for another gourmet treat.

Toasting another successful day!

 Gerry selected their famous specialty, "Rigatoni alla Righetto" for his first course (rigatoni with sausage and cheese in a rich cream sauce).  I selected Gnocchi al pesto di rughetta (gnocchi with a pesto of baby arugula).

Generous portions are served to us once again

For our second course, I ordered pork scallopini in a lemon sauce and Gerry ordered grilled pork chops. We also shared a mixed salad and sauteed rapini.

The main course

This was our final dinner covered by Camino Ways, and it was a delicious final "dinner included" dinner.  We're on our own for dinners the final three nights.

DAY THIRTEEN:  14.2 Miles  Campagnano di Roma to Isola Farnese
It felt like fall once again, with cool temperatures in the 60s and 70s with a gentle breeze.  Ideal walking weather!  Surprisingly, we walked mostly upon dirt paths and saw very few people.

Mid morning we stopped by the Santuario Madonna del Sorbo, a church high on a hill.  This was a convent built for the Carmelite nuns in the 15th Century.  Much of the convent is no longer here today.

All that remains today is the church and a few buildings

The church itself is small, quiet, and peaceful.

The church still serves the faithful today

The santuario (sanctuary) sits high on the hill, with lovely views of the surrounding landscape.

The view from outside the santuario

We walk a bit farther and come upon a field of a dozen horses who seem very content.

They are enjoying the glorious day, just like we are

Gerry makes a new friend

We approach the small town of Formello, and see a strong and powerful woman as we near the downtown area.

She's a commanding figure, but I have no idea who she is

We stop in a local cafe to pick up panini, which we stuff in our backpacks for our lunch on the trail a few hours hence.  It will be our final lunch on the camino.

The view from our "restaurant"

We arrive in the tiny town of Isola Farnese.  It is hard to fathom that this hamlet is within 15 miles of Rome.

Chiesa di San Pancrazio in Isola Farnese

We checked into our accommodation, the Hotel Tempio di Apollo.  It felt good to get off our feet and relax for a while. There is only one restaurant in Isola Farnese, so we decided to venture to La Storta, 5km away, which is a bigger town with more dinner options.  There is free bus service between the two towns.  We ate dinner at The King, where we each ordered a pizza, and shared a liter of a delicious IPA.

Day Fourteen  16.0 Miles  Isola Farnese to Rome
Our walk came to an official end today when we reached St. Peters Square in the afternoon.  This final day was longer and more difficult than I expected, but it was also more rural.  We did have a noisy city walk for the first hour or so past La Storta, before the camino brought us onto a lovely trail.

Happily, upon the trail after 3 miles of urban walking

Soon we encounter a road block of a herd of sheep!  This was a pleasant forced rest stop, but I question myself, "Are we really within 10 miles of St. Peter's Square?"

We're happy to yield to them

We exit the rural area and walk upon the on the sidewalk adjacent to the busy city streets with much traffic and congestion on the outskirts of Rome.

Glad to be afoot, and not in one of these cars

Then we entered the Natural Reserve of Monte Mario, which is at a higher elevation than Rome. We walked switch-back trails, which offered distance views of Rome below and beyond.

Rome viewed from 3 miles away

We get closer and closer.  It is fun and exciting to view Rome from this Natural Reserve!  We encounter a few people in the park, but they appear to be locals, not tourists, which is logical.  Most visitors to Rome don't have the Natural Reserve of Monte Mario on their "to do" list.  Their loss.

Views of the Tiber river and the city

We're getting closer step by step

The stadium

Soon we'll be there! 

St. Peter's Square beckons

We exited the park and walked less than two miles along the main street leading into St. Peter's Square, the official end of the Camino.

St. Peter's Square

We easily found the "Pilgrim's Office" in St. Peter's Square. I walked up to the counter without a wait, showed them my Pilgrim Passport with its multitude of stamps, and receive my official Certificate of Completion of the Francigena Way.

I had mixed emotions at the end of the 200.6 mile Francigena Way.  I felt both exhilarated and exhausted!   Reaching the final point of a camino is satisfying, but for me, the true rewards are the daily journeys and experiences, and not so much the final destination.  Arriving at St. Peter's Square was merely the icing on the delicious cake.