Home was a 300 bed parrochia split into 6-10 bed bunk rooms that were not actually for walkers but for young people, which we were obviously not. However, only a young German biker arrived (and later ate with us) so the two men had a room to themselves as did we. We left the 2 men sleeping and spent the morning with the birds and the river, and, as is often the case, seeing no other walkers.
The men soon caught us for coffee as a Danish couple we had seen on the track earlier also walked in. The 4 of us, now an item, moved out through a rainforest, our first major waterfall and over small crusty stones (used for paving in wet spots) called tufo, which they get from nearby caves. We passed the Danish couple and I chatted with this amiable physio about Parkinson’s and new developments, while she talked about new therapy for those with MS.
I joined Corrie and the boys and we walked together in a very relaxed way, taking a long break on a corner of the track. After another hour or so we had another break 3km from home. The 4 Canadians now joined us for drinks before we left in the rain on our final leg. The lovely Swiss couple soon came by and walked with us until they arrived at their home. A lot of fun, discussion and laughter formed the theme of all these encounters.
Our new residence (also a donativo) has a similar ambience to the last, and each pair of us once again has a 6 bunk room to ourselves – only one other room is occupied. So we rest once more and for the last time, about 20km from Roma. It’s been another great experience where we have met some wonderful people from so many places. Sadly we will miss Sabina as she flies home to France tomorrow and we promised to see her next year, but we will see her good friend Bertrand who will still be there.
Just a note on one of the photos I sent – those trees over the house are pino – mediterranean trees. They are all over Italy as is the cypress or pencil pine. We love them as Corrie also loves the cypress so they are in many of our photos.
See you tomorrow – the last day on this Italian Camino blog before switching to Italian 2016.