9th May 2016 Bolsena to Montefiascone
Supposedly 14km but I did 15.6
Overcast but fine all day.
(Am sorry some photos are not appearing correctly and am looking into this, but as I am not an expert in this technology…so I hope you are seeing this on a tablet and not a PC)
I woke up to bird songs outside as I was away from the street. Had a surprise when I heard a thump and it was a cat, who had come from under another bed and jumped at the door handle, who must have slipped into the room when I’d left the door open earlier, so I quickly let it out.
I set off but stopped straight away for a cappuch in a good bar on the piazza (and I even succumbed to a delicious little cherry tart) but as I settled down to read welcome mails, I was devastated to hear news of a younger friend’s sudden death. Far from home, one feels so alone when such things happen but I will walk today in his memory, thinking of happy times spent together in the past. Had another cappuch just to sit for a little while…
An Irish friend sent me the following which gave me a good laugh (& this was before she knew I was now walking with some blisters…)
“Words of an Irish Prayer to accompany you …
Get down on your knees and thank God you’re still on your feet. (Now that can only be Irish, you’ll agree?).”
Out along the main road for 3 km & then on up, up, up on dirt roads until I was in a nature reserve (Parco di Turona). Bird calls, even cuckoos.
Visited the tiny chapel of the Madonna di Turona.
I caught up with the 30 plus Italian walkers from yesterday and they told me they were ending their walk at Montefiascone.
Came across a man living in a beautiful spot with views down over the lake & asked him about fording a stream further on & he said no problem!
Further on, through woods, fields, many wild flowers, then down an awful path (memories of Aulla to Sarzana…) & the stream to be forded was coursing down!! Have now learnt the Italian word for a ford – “guado”…may be useful to know this in later life. I studied the situation with some trepidation as rocks were everywhere and of all forms and sizes, and then I very gingerly made it from rock to rock, praying all the time I wouldn’t slip, and finally made it to the other side. Relief!
Bad paths back up & finally out into the open again. I wondered how the group of Italian walkers would get on with the fording…
As the path joined the end of a dirt road in a very rural setting with olive groves and views down to the lake, a man drove into his garage opposite a lovely house & garden & I asked him if he lived there. He said yes & he was a sculptor (not a farmer!) in churches so I thought he restored them. Not at all, he created new sculptures & said I could see 3 of his works in San Flaviano church and another outside the basilica in Montefiascone! He had a baseball cap marked with “Kansas” on and carried a couple of packets of pasta!
Just afterwards I was walking on a long section of original Roman paving with very big paving stones, a pleasure to walk on!
Further on I saw my first hay being cut, before coming to a junction where I met the Italian walkers coming from another dirt road who had obviously not forded the stream… Along the main road a little and then up, up, up again along dirt roads until the outskirts of Montefiascone. I was surprised to see signs pointing to a lake as I knew I was more than 250m above the altitude of Bolsena…
I passed the San Flaviano church on the way (one of the highlights of the town) and it was open. It was built about 1020 of Romesque design at the crossing of 4 main roads but had a gothic facade added later, all in the typical dark stone of the region.
Inside their are some great frescoes although many have been lost and I saw what I think were the works of the sculptor (a font, a lectern with a winged bird, and a statue).
There is a well-known wine here (Est! Est!! Est!!!) and the German responsible for this name is buried in the church (* see story if interested below). As for the signs to the lake, this is from where one can see the view to the Lake of Bolsena!
As I needed wifi and a bathroom, I didn’t want to stay in a hostel so I took a hotel just opposite the old gate into the old town. However the wifi didn’t work in the bedroom, only in the bar or common areas (so what’s new, this is Italy), so I caught up with some correspondence and then walked through the arch and up along the narrow and steep main street of the old town which was lined with little shops all the way along, and of course a gelateria with its own production. So, my friends, I have been sacrificing myself and thinking of you and trying gelati everywhere so I’ll be able to advise you where to get the best! This one was good.
I think people live so long here because they are constantly walking either up or down streets…
I went back to a restaurant on this street, recommended by the man in the gelateria, and had a delicious meal of wild boar stew (not in season but the owner said they make their own in season and freeze it as it’s so popular) with polenta and a green salad. All washed down with the local red wine. Est! Est!! Est!!
** As aGerman noblemen, Johannes Defuk, travelled he sent his servant on ahead to mark with ‘Est!’ all the establishments where good wine was served. When he arrived in Montefiascone the servant found somewhere where it was of such good quality that he marked it ‘EST, EST, EST’, upon which his master is said to have imbibed so much that he drank himself to death. On the tombstone, reportedly the work of the servant, is inscribed ‘Here, on account of too much drink, my master lies dead’. Lesson here…