Sutri to Campagnola di Roma

Waiting to Get in to the Carmelite Convento in Sutri

The bed and breakfast was a wise choice in the end; I had a great sleep in the luxury of cotton sheets on a double bed, just the second one since I left home. I even slept through my alarm, but still managed to emerge on the piazza at the agreed time of 0700, rested and ready to roll (Thank goodness they do garbage collection here on Sundays). The others were fine and while they hadn't slept well at the convento, they were happy for me that I had slept.

Gisella asks the Police for a Dinner Recommendation

The situation at the convento reminded me that things are not always as they first appear; when we first walked in, I was taken with the cool, calm and clean feeling of it and envisioned that we would be housed in simple rooms, painted white and with stone floors...a dream... That reminds me of a funny thing that happened the other day when Gisella spotted something moving on the road ahead. She pointed it out and I began suggesting possibilities. "Its a hedgehog, no, its a turtle" I exclaimed as we ran to see it before it disappeared into the grass. In the end, it was... an empty can of Sprite...

The Necropolis at Sutri

Campagnola di Roma

Today's walk was just 24 km, mostly on gravel roads or trails. Just before reaching Campagnola di Roma, we had the requisite steep climb in hot sun on tarmac, and then after getting bad directions from a police officer, a lot of difficulty finding the Albergue, which was in the parochial hall. But Joel eventually found it with his GPS and in no time we were clambering up the three flights of stairs to the dorm, a large room that is normally used for Sunday School. We grabbed mattresses on the floor and set them under windows for maximum ventilation, and street noise and then had showers. By the way, a mattress on the floor is far superior to one on a crappy bed!

A Lavender Fiat 500... Too Cute

I was too wrecked to hobble back to the main part of the town for dinner, so I ate across the street at the Miami Snack Bar.... Sounds inviting, doesn't it? In fact, it wasn't bad. For € 9 I had a bottle of fizzy water, pasta, some kind of unidentified protein and a salad, all in a room filled with football frenzied teenagers Italians. I'm not sure who was playing last night, but it most certainly involved British and Italian teams, based on the anthems I heard playing at the start of the game.