Day 36: One Day Away from Rome

Ed and I will be in Rome tomorrow. If you have been following the blog, you might wonder how we got here so fast considering where we were a few days ago. We must admit that we took the train and the bus a few times for various reasons, most importantly that we decided that being in Rome and enjoying it for four or five days is more important to us than trying to walk the whole way, especially since we have already been obliged to take public transit. We did wak through most of Tuscany. 

We were prepared to make a good long walk today, but what should have been a good night's sleep camping was prevented by several barking dogs, whose homes we were not really close to at all. After waiting a good 20 minutes for the dogs to just give up their incessant barking, we finally decided to leave. After walking for ten minutes, the dogs had continued barking on and off. We searched in vain for another suitable spot. Finally, we arrived at a tiny town with a church. We decided to sleep in an alcove behind the church, but it was too late to get a decent amount of sleep, especially since we had to wake up early to make sure no one from the town happened upon us. 

After a morning of having to walk on a moderately busy road with and then having to climb an unpleasant hill to Acquapendente, all the while being harassed by even more dogs. Not to mention that it started to rain and that Acquapendente was not a particularly enchanting town. So distressed and tired were we that we decided to take the bus all the way to Montefiascone, where we had booked a hostel. Sure we 'could have' walked there, but I blame the dogs. This trip has determined that Ed and I will never be dog owners but that we may be donkey owners. Aw, Baracuda!

But the day before yesterday, we had a great day because we made some new friends. Ed and I met two Italian guys doing the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome. We walked with them from Ponte d'Arbia to San Quirico d'Orcia and talked about many things. We all enjoyed the Tuscan landscape together. Along the way we met a young lady from Denmark who joined our party for the rest of the day. She is an engineer, which was cool because it made me remember my own engineering days. She and Ed and I talked about differences between Europe and the US and she also taught me to count to ten in Danish. Together the five of us enjoyed a splendid meal in San Quirico. 

So though there have been difficult days like today and yesterday, but meeting new friends along the way makes it all worth it.