Vetralla to Sutri 15/9/17

15/9/17 Friday

Day 42

Vetralla- Sutri via Capranica 24 km

Cloudy skies turn to blue, warm

Talk at 'breakfast' (packaged bread, tepid coffee) with the Danish pilgrim and a Hungarian woman who is married to an Italian; she explains about corruption and refugee problems in Italy. On the way out of town I stop for breakfast with Danish pilgrim Tilde at a place where cold coffee and hard bread are not on the menu (however rude, impatient service is).

Walk out of Vetralla, enter a wide forest, skirt around the perimeter of the forest and re-enter. Some time later I walk for hours over hazelnut acreages. The labour-intensive harvesting of the nuts helps me understand why they are so expensive.

After Capranica I re-enter a forest which is very similar to NZ bush except for the construction of railings and bridges which would not comply with NZ safety standards.

Fallen and felled trees form a magical canopy.

Quietude.

Two waterfalls.

No pilgrim traffic from any direction.

Pass the ruins of a monastery on a farm: Torre di Orlando. Also encounter two confrontational horses and am again grateful for my walking pole defense.

A scruffy little dog frantically scratches his way out from under a gate; he has three legs, matted fur and is a pitiful sight of neglect. Behind him is a dusty yard with little shelter, no visible water and a great number of stray cats. Little Dog is so pleased with my ten minutes' company and I am considering abduction when he turns and scrabbles back under the gate.

He has the wisdom to spare me the agony of leaving him behind unabducted.

Music. Sore feet. Ileo-sacral nerve compression has subsided.

Sutri dates back to the Bronze Age and was the site of the first hospices. Capranica was Etruscan; the Romans took a liking to the woods and fertile land and ousted the Etruscans whose tombs are deep within the Intufa cliffs. I pass more tombs on the way into town; some house rubbish or neglected hens.

I incidentally meet Pilgrim-Denmark in the tidy, charming village square where we unabashedly drink, smoke, smell, look and act like pilgrims.

A nun in full regalia at the Monastero Carmelitane greets us from behind a mesh barrier.

Later we visit the little church where the nuns are singing vespers, again shrouded from view.

We stealthily take a photo of them. An indignant nun exclaims “No!” as she raises her hand in protest.

We knew better.

Shame.

Oh, how we dine at a restaurant in the village square.

Late at night pealing church bells are accompanied by Rosary chanting.

Mother of God, pray for us sinners.

5 Second Breakfast

6 Bar

15 Accommodation

25 Dinner (discounted for pilgrims)

9 Supplies