Trucks, Traffic , Monster Hills: Our Last Day of Riding
Yesterday was a beautiful ride. Today was a completely different kind of ride. We had to ride with heavy traffic and large trucks that skimmed by, a bit too close for comfort. Garbage was strewn along the road side and prostitutes were waiting at lonely secluded spots along the road for business. Much of the day was spent struggling up hill after hill, and always, it seemed that when there were switchbacks with tight turns, there would be a truck right behind us. Unlike other days, today we rode through industrial areas with heavy traffic and the ever familiar crumbling roads, so we felt disinclined to stop and sightsee. Throughout our time cycling in Italy, we have found drivers to be courteous and patient, giving us a wide berth when they need to pass. However, as we get closer to Rome, this is changing. To be fair, most drivers are still respectful, but over the past few days, we have experienced drivers who honk, wave their fist and come much too close. And the speed that they come at us when they pass a car and are in our lane. Whew....that is scary. We are glad to finish unscathed. It was startling early in the day, in the country, to see a young woman standing at a break in the roadside bushes, scantily clad in a neon coloured bikini and heavily made up. Scattered along the route today, we saw this again and again. All in all, despite seeing some beautiful scenery, this section of the route was not our favourite. An exceptional part of the route today was Calcata - the medieval hill town set atop a volcanic outcropping, is seemingly suspended in the air. As we crested a hill, Calcata suddenly appeared through a break in the trees. We couldn't believe our eyes. As you ride around the switchbacks, you feel a sense of wonder that you share this space with its view of the dense forested park of hills and valleys below. As bad weather is coming for tonight and tomorrow, we decide to head on to our destination at Lake Bracciano. Looking at the hilly, forested valley below, we know that we still have some miles ahead of us. We may come back for a day trip by bus from the campground to tour Calcata. An interesting side note about Calcata is about its recent history. In the 1920's, the government decreed that its volcanic base was unstable and the town was abandoned. Residents moved to a newly created town nearby, Calcata Nuova. In the 19560's, artists, hippies and "new agers" moved here and created a life in these crumbling abandoned buildings. Today, they have remained, petitoned successfully for the government to overturn its ruling condemning the village and they are now the homeowners who have created a funky, artistic off the grid community. Modern day Calcata sounds like a unique community within the traditions of Italian communities. We hope that we have time to come back for a visit. In Reitsma's route, there is the possibility of connecting with a Dutch bike transport company,J Soetens, who will transport your bike and gear back to your starting point. This is why we are heading to Lake Bacciano, Camp Smeraldo. Here we will leave our bike for pick up and delivery back to Limburg on the Lahn in Germany. We have decided to stay in a mobile home at the camp and use this area as a base for exploring Rome and the area. We can't use our tent as our camping gear is being packed up to be shuttled with our bike. The heavy rain has begun and is predicted to continue through the night and all day tomorrow (20-50 mm of rain predicted). Glad we are inside out of the elements.
We enjoyed our stay at Hotel Umbria in Otricoli in this well run family run hotel.
Otricoli, like so many Umbrian towns, is built on top of a hill. The village follows the crest like a spine. The view on each side is lovely. Ironically, I asked for a room with a view of the hills behind the hotel - it really wouldn't have mattered, as any direction is beautiful.
Porchetta is also very popular in northern Ontario - particularly Sudbury where the Italian community has passed their love of this delicacy on to their offspring. A favourite activity is Porchetta Bingo Saturday afternoons in Sudbury - the winner gets Porchetta and the proceeds go to the local hockey team.
Porchetta is a regional delicacy. Delis, butchers, food vans and stores hang a sign outside their door when Porchetta is on the spit. It is made up of boneless pork roast and stuffed with layers of stuffing (with garlic, rosemary, fennel, etc), meat, fat, skin and rolled, then roasted on a spit over wood. A serving of porchetta is a thick slab sliced from the roast and served in a bun.
We escaped in to this Bar to get away from the trucks and aggressive drivers. From the outside it didn't look appealling, but inside was another story. It was a busy popular place with one counter for coffee and pastries, another with pizza (rosso, blanco and gusto) sold by weight, piadinas and buns, then a third section with ready made meals of porchetta, lasagna, etc and a full deli of meats and cheeses. We have learned that the best value for us is to go to a Bar and request a sandwich - here they took fresh piadina bread and filled them with fresh deli meat - 2 sandwiches for 1.80 euros total.
Faleria was largely abandoned in the 70's and now remains with a small population. It feels quite impoverished here. The palm trees remind us that we are continuing to travel in a southerly direction.
There is some evidence of restoration in Faleria and these homes have a marvellous view down over the countryside. A combination of earthquakes and younger people leaving small remote towns for the city have had an impact on rural communities.
We will leave the route at Calcata and cross over to Lake Bracciano. It is nice to see that there will be signage to get us to Mazzano Romano and beyond.
After we arrived at the campground and settled in to our mobile home Barry rode another 14 km and bought groceries at a town further on down the lake. He returned with a pannier full of groceries plus a three litre jug of red Italian wine for 7 euros - hope it's good. If you have your own bottle, you can fill your own from the barrel for 2 euros a litre.
