It was destined to be a repeat of yesterday’s trail structure when just after a very pleasant and lengthy coffee break in Formello with an Aussie couple who i bump into occasionally (we first met on the Po river ferry on day fifty-four!) when a sign offered an alternate route. Even though this alternate route was on my app as the normal route, it was an interesting trail across countryside through areas where significant archeological excavation have been done on the earliest of the Etruscan (maybe even pre-Etruscan) hilltop towns which have been dated back to 750BC, as well as burial tombs and major water projects With sophisticated tunnels used for agriculture. When first built, the trail must have been quite wonderful, but now it is badly eroded, and the wooden railings that go the entire length are the only thing that indicate its former glory. Still, the information posters are still inplace, which made it very interesting.
Less interesting was the arrival in La Storta. It is essentially an outer suburb of Rome, and is on the via Cassia so is rather busy with traffic. To add to the appeal are the ranks of dumpsters that seem to be placed every 100 metres r so for the residents of the numerous apartment blocks to dispose of their garbage and recycling. Unfortunately any spillage or overflow takes to the street, so the entire area has the feel of a city in the developing world. And tomorrow’s route is along this same road for a considerable distance. I can hardly wait.
At least the convent I am in is set back from the road and is therefore reasonably quiet – but at €35 it is more akin to a hotel than the church-run ostellos I am accustomed to! However, that the nuns have provided shampoo beside the bidet means I need to revisit my understanding of what a bidet is and how it is used.
2saunter 