Montefiascone to Viterbo

By 9am we were back at the old Papal Palace, admiring the view of the lake that was yesterday hidden by cloud. Viterbo was only 17 km away, and it was downhill for quite a while, then an easy path through woods and wheatfields, and even orchards of kiwifruit. Part of it was the old Cassia Road - built in the 3rd C BC, and still rock-solid. A 2,300 year old road underfoot...

Viterbo is quite big, so we had to traipse through several kms of light-industrial blandness, and sometimes use busy roads. Once we reached the usual large stone gate, Siena style, our hotel was only a few minutes away, and right on the old pilgrim trail.

The early afternoon was spent back in the wastelands behind the railway station. Viterbo is not blessed with self-service laundries: there is a laundry metres from the house, but it was closed until 5pm, and was in any case really a dry-cleaners. When we found one, a young woman explained the machines, and I waited while Anne bought some bananas for lunch, which we had overlooked. We walked back from the wrong side of the tracks (yes, there was a hardware store) and went to an old church on the map that was somewhat on the way back.

That was a find! The Church of St Rose of Viterbo, 1233-1251. Imagine finding St Rose on Rose's birthday (and Happy Birthday, Rose, btw).

The church had a monastery attached to it, and some of the old sections were open. In the old room for scribes was a copy of a letter from 1255 mentioning St Rose and a church, and then items (papal robes, documents, embroidery, kitchen utensils) spanning the next 770 years... like the robes from a papal visit in 1984 as well as, of course, her body.

That should have been the day's big surprise, but we walked down a few medieval side-streets on the way home and ran into Halloween. Streams of costumed and made-up parents and children were flowing up and down Viterbo's Ginza, and instead of visiting houses, they were visiting shops. The Max Mara store, for one, was handing out lollies by the kilo as child-sized Italian witches and ghouls veered in, but so were the gelato shop, the fruitshop, the perfume stores, the clothing stores and any store that was open. There were buskers, fairy-lights and a bemused small crowd. The only quiet space was a 14th C deconsecrated small, gothic (round) church called Santa Maria della Salute, with a few ancient tombstones on the floor.

Another uplift was the ferry to Hydra in 10 days. The November timetables came out yesterday evening and had no afternoon ferries, which ruined several bookings and plans. Anne emailed them all, and we started on Plan B with Caleb the travel agent. Then this afternoon, one emailed back with a 5pm ferry. At ease, everyone.

For dinner, we walked outside, turned right to miss the city-centre throng, and soon found a little restaurant that had menus only in Italian and no QR code. It was very good; bruschetta/ gnocchi in 4 cheeses/steak/salad/ house red. Another highlight was two dressed-up children coming in seeking sweets, which the lady in charge had ready.

I had been quite willing to write Viterbo off as we traipsed through the suburban, light-industrial sprawl, as Anne charged off into the badlands behind the train station in pursuit of washing machines, but St Rose and Halloween were big surprises, and there is apparently more like it (but perhaps not Halloween).

30,940 steps, 24.5 km and 22 flights. Tomorrow is an easy day. We are meeting Adam and family at 11, and then having lunch. No need to pack!Read more