Vetralla to Sutri

We cheated for breakfast. There were coffee pods and tea in the apartment, so we (I) had some before we walked across the square to the cafe with outsourced breakfast. Smart move, as it was coffee and sugar, but there was a cheery man behind the counter, and a bakery 20m further on once we left...

Adam arrived around 9:15, and we walked back past last night's Pinseria, out of the town, and almost immediately into a chestnut forest. The whole morning was chestnut forests and hazelnut orchards, in which ruined Etruscan towers and Roman/12th C churches were to be found (the Towers of Orlando). We went through a village called Capranica, on the top of a steep ridge, with more Christian/Roman builds in BC Etruscan bases. It had perhaps 10 churches, including the rather gaudy 19th C Church of Santa Maria (built on an Etruscan base) that had a "tabernacle" supposedly painted or made by Michelangelo.

After Capranica came a narrow valley following a small rivulet downstream for about 6km in what felt like a rainforest. There was a 7m hill on the way through which the Etruscans had cut a 4m wide roadway, near which there were numerous caves/graves. We reached Sutri around 4pm, and the walk ended at the amphitheatre, which had been carved out of rock. Just over 7 hrs, and around 27 km. The rocks are a volcanic tuff, which is apparently easy to cut, but has a high cement content that makes it erosion-resistant. To our collective amazement, Adam's wife arrived to pick him up just seconds after we arrived... but she had been tracking his phone. It will be different not having the equivalent of a professional Italian guide with whom we can discuss life, the universe and walking.

We had passed our B&B on the way to the amphitheatre. It was 250m back, and a 13th C building, but right on a busy road. Once inside, it was rather quiet, and had everything, including milk and a teapot for tea. I wanted to loll about, but Anne wanted to see the town, so we walked up through the gate (yes, originally Etruscan) and looked around Sutri, which had closed churches, closed shops and little else.

For dinner we went to Liutprando, a restaurant about 150m away. It was named after a Lombardian king who, in 728, gifted Sutri to the pope, making Sutri the first papal land. The things you learn from menus, and then check on your phone! Dinner was fine.

39,528 steps, 31km and 22 flights. One of us has sore feet, the other still has blisters, but we manage. 27km again tomorrow, but quite flat, and just us.En savoir plus