Tuesday October 9

This morning before I can leave this town I must find the bus stop and times it runs toward Bolsena. There is an option that Sue could take the bus from here to about the halfway point of today (7 miles) to San Lorenzo Nuovo. That would help her tremendously and allow her not to kill that knee of hers.

I actually had about a 20-minute conversation with the driver of a bus going where we wanted. He was trying to improve his English and told me I spoke it very well. Gee thanks!!

Anyway he had me connect to his hotspot on his iPhone and download the bus app with schedules. We did a quick tutorial and I was good to go. I screen printed everything Suzanne needed and sent them to her. It was time for both of us (the driver and myself) to go so we said arreviderci and left.

The remaining days are hopefully easier to walk and a wee bit shorter. Even yesterday, although all the information said the Day was 14.75, we had to walk on the road for part of the day which means we cross back and forth from side to side depending on the curves and visibility. It all adds up!

I grabbed my gear, said bye to Sue and I would catch up to her at the halfway point of the day in San Lorenzo. It worked out perfectly as I had chosen a bar to sit and have an espresso and put my feet up, and off the Bus she came about 50 feet from me!

Before I even could leave town I spotted two groups of pilgrims we run into daily. A group of 5 Germans who we shared a taxi ride with a couple days ago, and two women from the UK and Holland. They were all going inside this church so I followed. What the heck. It was beautiful inside but the basement was the interesting part… It was the Cathedral of Santo Sepoloco.

Now I can start walking. As I’m climbing the hill on the highway I was glad Suzanne chose the bus this morning. This way I can walk at a quicker pace and enjoy the afternoon with her.

The morning’s trail was rather boring in comparison to some of the previous days. Farmland with crops gone and the ground tilled doesn’t make for very interesting scenery.

Finally I enter San Lorenzo but it’s still a walk into the city centre. I decided to stop at a bar near the bus stop heading in the opposite direction that Suzanne would arrive but at least I was on the main drag. One single espresso with a small amount of steamed milk and a full bag of chips hit the spot. There was a flurry of buses up and down the street and here comes my sister! I saw a definite sigh of relief on her face when she heard me yell her name. That was awesome!

She joined me and I decided to have a sandwich and another espresso. She only had chips and had been too late for breakfast at our hotel. I encouraged her to get something for lunch, but she did not. Later her blood sugar dropped briefly. Now I have permission to insist she eat something substantial.

Off onto the trail we go now. The first thing we saw was the beautiful Lake Bolsena. Big, beautiful and blue, surrounded by forests.

Not more than a few minutes later we were headed into the forest where the fairies and leprechauns live. It was stunningly beautiful and other than one ridiculous climb up, it was a very pleasant stroll. It was not a fast pace type of hike because of the large rock hazards. But I’ll take it. Shade/shadow is lovely!

We could see the lake the majority of the afternoon and it almost made it a relaxing walk. Almost…

We passed by some houses with lake views. Tried out a ripe olive,,, and walked past a mining operation of some sort. It looked like it might have been clay that would be made into stones or bricks for housing.

That did not taste good!

The hill disappears…

We finally made it to town and the first sight we saw was this castle but had no time to visit. Evidentially it’s a combination castle, aquarium and museum.

We meandered down the street to our hotel and rested, showered and made dinner plans. I wanted pizza so that’s what we found. Margarita pizza here is so delicious! The food here is so plentiful that we often share which is what we did tonight…

I ate the whole thing

Suzanne thinks she ordered a vodka and oj…

We said goodnight to Bolsena. Until tomorrow!

#enjoythejourney #viafrancigena