Another Great Day

Sant’Andrea Bagni to Bardone, 20 km, overcast and cool but no rain.

Last night’s Hotel Salus was by far one of the nicest hotels we’ve had so far.… not just because of the size and cleanliness and comfort but also because of the proprietor who spoke excellent English. He was happy to share whatever he knew of the routes available to us from his hotel.

Dinner at the pizzeria next door was fabulous. Mike ordered…I shared….a pistachio pizza, believe it or not. Tomatoes, pistachio pesto, ham, cheese, pistachios and in the middle, a big ball of soft mozzarella. We were so amazed we forgot to take pics!

Some of the paths we followed today….

We bumped into I Quattro, now I Tre since Thomas forged ahead.

Stopped into an old church, built in 854! We got a pilgrim stamp and a chunk of delicious parmigiana reggiano cheese from the church warden in Formica, then continued on.

After that, lots of steep ups and downs but these were all on roads of one sort or another which suited me just fine.

I can imagine many of you readers wondering why we do these long walks. I’ll try to explain with an example from today. These long walks serve to change your thinking into …. Eat …. Sleep …. Walk ….repeated over and over. It’s not always easy but there is something addictive to overcoming hardship. The moments of joy become that more intense. Today, we came across the ruins of an old Roman foundation or wall, just as we were needing a rest. We sat there, and suddenly we were surrounded by the heady scent of mint, growing naturally. That was a moment of pure delight. The small, simple things in life become more appreciated. As we sat there, smelling the mint, other senses kicked in….the flowers growing wild….so we had a few moments of picture taking fun.

Then we trudged up and up and up some more to our lovely B&B where the proprietor was waiting for us. We asked if there was a bar. She answered no, but what would we like? We told her and 10 minutes later, it was delivered to our room.