Tuesday October 16

Our last day on the Via is finally here. Our plan was to be out the door at 6 am. It was 6:30 but close enough.

We realized after calculations that we have an extra mile+ this morning to get to today’s official section start which means it will be 13 miles today. Oh well. We have to get there. Rain is forecast for 2 pm today so we hope we arrive before then or the rain forecast is delayed. We will take either scenario.

We stopped at the same ristorante we ate dinner at last to see if they have a Via stamp and they didn’t even know what it was!

We stopped a couple miles later at a bar and they provided their mailing stamp so we could at least prove we walked through the area.

School children and auto traffic for the next couple of miles. Moms and dads walked their young children hand in hand. It was cute to watch.

LaStorta Church

Sidewalk walking

School-aged kids and parents walking to school

Traffic miles from Rome

Next we walked through a Parc. Along the trail we suddenly came to a stop. We actually had to climb, pull ourselves up onto a fallen tree, straddle and jump off to to the other side. It was climb over or crawl under. We chose the first. Videos to prove the act of daring!

More mushrooms

Beautiful clouds

The flower child I think

The remainder of the natural section was mild in comparison. The climb out of the area was a steep one!

Taking a rest break

Back at it

We stopped at the first bar for a cold beverage. I fear Suzanne’s knee is going to become noticeable again. She did such a good job resting it but when you have extreme inclines and declines that are not in your control it is difficult to know how body parts will react.

We weave in and then out of the city and in between we head UP to Monte Mario Parc. As we head up and down and all around, I looked at the map and looked at Suzanne and said we could take city streets the rest of the way to avoid more of the steep inclines and declines. She was putting on a brave face but I know that face well enough to understand the pain behind the smile. We had to brave some traffic but down just one s-curve there were stairs that had to cut off 1-2 kilometers and dangerous curves! We took those stairs ever so slowly and made it to the main entrance of the Vatican.

The steps that made me rethink our final approach

We have arrived! Our arrival photos were not great. Suzanne was emotional and didn’t care what her photo looked like until later… I have taken my camera away from Suzanne because she makes me so tiny in the photos that I’m nearly invisible. We will retake tomorrow.

In the meantime we asked about the special certificate and were directed to the left side of the basilica only to be told it’s the other side. It was seriously so crowded with what I estimate to be a few thousand people, and we were tired and wanted our hotel. We left and made our way there.

Emotions

More tomorrow on the Vatican experience.

#enjoythejourney #viafrancigena