qual'e il percorso piu facile?

apparently there is a tradition in Italy to name a village after the principal characteristics of the inhabitants...

so I'm glad we are taking the right fork.

Le Marche, Umbria and now Lazio.  And back to Umbria.  We pretend we can guess the profile of our route just by looking at the map and geographical features.  Lake Bolsena is formed inside the caldera of an ancient volcano, but to our surprise we don't have to climb up and over to the lake.  Instead we just freewheel down to the shoreline.  Bolsena itself is a pretty little town.  The old town is very very quiet but then it is siesta time and in siesta time everywhere looks abandoned.  It seems the true test of whether a community is still alive and functioning is whether there's a school or not.

timeless Bolsena

 

really timeless

Riding southwards along the lake we spot a sign for the Via Francigena so we quickly hop off the main road and find ourselves on narrow country lanes with no traffic.  And some olive terraces - perfect wild camping.  
 

lovely country lanes

happy camper

recipe book coming soon

The road leads us through woods and into a park area the next day where the route becomes a proper footpath.   We pass different groups of walkers and stop to chat.  Some Italians, a couple from the Czech Republic, two Dutch women.  Most have started walking in Tuscany and are heading to Rome.  We enjoy the social aspect of the pilgrim's route but not the pushing up old cart tracks after crossing a couple of footbridges.  The weather is a little mixed up.  We find ourselves climbing to Montefiascone, (or Monty Fiasco to il cognescenti.)  The shabby outer edges soon give way to grand portals to the old centre inside substantial walls.  From a hustling bustling city we seem to have entered a museum.  The best part of being here is the view north over the lake and over there on the horizon is the unmistakeable point of Radicofani.

Lake Bolsena

We descend from the city along a very straight lane with some enormous stone cobbles.  You'd think it was a Roman road it's so straight.  It is a Roman road.
And it cuts through the surrounding farmland and orchards and olive groves.  When we find ourselves in woods beside a stunning meadow of wild flowers we decide to camp.  It's going to rain.  The field is beautiful.  Sadly many flowers are destroyed as we push through the waist-high foliage to the only flattish hidden spot available.  Typical thoughtless tourists trampling everything down.

they don't build 'em like they used to

The pilgrim's road leads us on to Viterbo where we've booked an Airbnb room for a couple of nights.  It's another showery day but we are enjoying the bridlepath and it seems like we're actually going downhill all the way.  At some point Gayle's backwheel skids and she sticks out a foot to stop a fall.  The subsequent jolt hurts her leg when she puts her weight on it, although cycling is fine.  I wonder if she's actually fractured a bone but she doesn't seem to be in agony, just very uncomfortable.  A local group of cyclists help redirect us to the right track after we miss our turn.  They are cyclists of all ages out for a monthly ride organised by their local Decathlon store.  We end up riding with them all the way, chatting to a couple who have better english than our italian.

obligatory laundry shot

Viterbo is a very impressive city with a huge lived-in old centre.  It's massive in fact.  We get lost trying to cross the centre.  It's not too hilly but neither is it flat.  Typically it starts to rain and the streets clear quicker than Old Trafford after another home defeat.  We arrive in the Empty Quarter.  Roads curve this way and that.  We come to small piazzas with closed-up cafes.  And then we find the street we've been looking for.  It is actually a staircase.  Oh well.  Gayle is hobbling now.  At the bottom we have to push back up the other side.  We seem to have crossed an old moat.  Although we have arrived early our Airbnb hosts had considered the weather and thoughtfully left the key out for us. The appartment is in an old bakery.  It's small and cozy and we can squeeze the bikes in by the door.  Arrived.

 

Gayle spends the next four days hobbling about.  The city is really good fun to explore and wander and there are some recommended gardens to visit in a nearby town.  Thankfully Gayle is absolutely fine cycling.  But walking is painful.  We decide she must have damaged the muscles below her knee.  We stay a little longer than planned in Viterbo and when we finally leave it is to make a dash to the port of Civitavecchia to catch a ferry to Barcelona.  

 

this is what happens if you lose the key to your bike lock

The ride feels like it's downhill all day long - a strange experience after a few weeks cycling through the centre of Italy.  We really have enjoyed it here, despite having more rain than we like.  And we are already making plans for the next time we come back.

flat and sunny on the Lazio coast