Tuesday, April 16, 2002 12:03
Weather: Sunny morning, but the clouds are moving in
Location: Civita square

I woke up early and had a shower. I wanted to get out and see the area before the light got too flat. I was also expecting Franco to show up at any minute, hoping for a coffee )as the second part of the "B&B" is supposedly included here). I went out into the square to sit and read my book.

The film crew (actually a Brazillian soap opera, apparently) started mustering and got to work on dismantling some of their gear from the day before. A man passing offered me some of their coffee, and as I couldn't think of a reason to decline I politely said "grazie" and went and got some. It was delicious.

At 9:30 or so, I decided not to wait for Franco any more and set off down the bridge to Bagnoregio. Walking back to the point where I'd hopped off the bus took a while: it was, according to a sign when I got there, about 2 1/2 km. I stopped in a small bakery and picked up a pastry and went and explored a little park, which had a tall three-sided pyramid dedicated to the village's war dead -- from 1867.

I took a left and turned onto a side road heading down into the valley. There was an incessant din of birdsong, the occasional clang of goat- and cowbells, and the occasional buzz of a car engine as it roared by me at warp 6. They all seemed to drive at top speed down the narrow road, and I was curious as to how close they would come to colliding, but never saw two at once.

The road turned back and forth as it descended, and I walked on. I passed a woman walking the other way, who seemed to have rather a dour expression, but she brightened to a smile when I said "buongiorno". A farmer on one side of the road was ploughing a tiny field with a hand-propelled plough. I wondered briefly about what kind of crop he could possibly grow that would make such a small field pay.

Eventually, I came to a paved trail climbing steeply up to my left towards Civita. A sign post described the trail up to the village, and I copied it into my notebook. As I was doing so, two dirt bike riders drove up the trail; one soon returned and continued up the road.

I started up the trail, which clibed up steeply, passing a farm house that seemed to be under renovation. Soon thereafter I came to a view point, but from here the reality of the trail diverged sharply from the signpost's suggestions. There was a dirt track going upwards, but it seemed to be a farmer's lane, and when I got to the top of that it opened into a field, with no further signposts. On the far side of the field I found a further trail, but this one was narrow and overgrown. Feeling more and more like Indiana Jones cutting through the jungle, I continued up, crossing a couple of fences and stepping through a gate, until I found the signs of an ancient staircase leading up. I followed this, and it wound up to the cliff walls of Civita, where it met a more travelled path leading left, to the Etruscan tunnel under the village, and right, up a broader stair past ancient animal pens cut into the rock to the village's "back door".

I came back to Civita shortly before noon. Immediately I ran into the first of a couple of groups of American tourists who'd invaded during my hike. It's amazing how much they stand out, all with cameras and piercing voices: "oh Joyce you must come and see this over here, there's this beautiful flower arrangement"... etc.
posted by Tom at 12:42 PM | link |