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- Oct 4, 2023, 6:12pm
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 300 m
- ItalyLatiumSutri42°14’30” N 12°13’24” E
Formello 21 miles
October 4, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
My body is a very strange thing to be sure. For most of my life I don’t open my eyes before 8am unless there is a very pressing reason. When I started this Via that still applied and if I wanted to be awake before 8am I needed to set an alarm. I was asleep usually before 10pm. It felt as if my body needed 10 hours to recover. Now I still try for 10pm bed but I’m awake regularly by 6am. Many will find that quite shocking. I am drafting this post at 5.30am for goodness sake. Admittedly it is now a much more comfortable temperature at night which does help with sleeping. I find it so much easier to cope with an extra 10C or even 20C during the day than when trying to sleep.
Pottered about until nearly 7am because it was still dark and I had some road-walking to do. No sign of any bars open when I left. Tad disappointing. Still there was another village only 6 miles, or 2 hours, down the road which looked more promising. Had a nasty bit of road to cope with before that. Thought that well before 8am it might be quiet. Didn’t reckon on Italian white van man. Plenty of them up and about at that time.
There are all sorts of corners. My pet hate are the ones that are not so tight that Stirling Moss has to slow down but tight enough that he can’t see very far round the corner so he (and I) get quite a fright when he discovers a cowering pilgrim standing on his preferred racing line. I used to stand my ground and force them to take evasive action while, I hoped, having enough time to take action myself if it didn’t look like happening. Game of chicken really. But that does rely on there being enough time for all that. No such finesse this morning. As soon as I was aware of an approaching vehicle I was into the undergrowth forthwith.
Another nicely timed lunch stop when a litre and a half of fizzy water and a sandwich fare perked me up for the afternoon. And only cost 3€. Amazing.
The early departure meant I arrived at tonight’s apartment before 4pm. It is about a third of the size of last night’s one and getting on for twice the price but I needed somewhere in this village as it is within striking distance of Rome. With any luck by this time tomorrow it will all be over. Relief for all of us.
Took a wander about before dinner to try to find a bar which might be open early tomorrow. As you would expect they are in the opposite direction to my route. If I get up at 6am then I should be at the bar by 6.30am and on my way by 6.45am. Will be beginning to get light by then. The rush is because the place in Rome where I can get my Testimunium to say I completed the Via shuts at 5pm. And I would really like to have another look in St Peter’s. I was quite impressed last time. It shuts at 6.30pm and the queues are legendary. If I don’t make it tomorrow then I could get there for a 7am opening on Friday. Seems a bit serious especially as my hotel is some distance from St Peter's.
Pasta for dinner. Lovely. On the whole the pasta dishes have been excellent and the pizzas a bit disappointing. Followed by a sort of deconstructed strawberry cheesecake. Served as 3 dollops of cheesecake mixture, lots of biscuit crumbs scattered over them and then strawberry sauce poured over. Tasted fine though.Read more
Traveler Been loving the updates Stuart. Congratulations on getting there in one piece. See you soon.