Via Francigena Interesting But Terrifying

Day 18

We’re off to Vitralia, another hilltop town just 11 miles away. But first, we were directed to the Strada Signorino where a narrow lane led us between cliff-like walls of an ancient Etruscan-era roadway.
It’s thought that the Etruscan Vie Cava (or excavated roadway) was built over 2500 years ago. I thought the cliffs were some sort of hard volcanic rock, but they are actually tufa, a porous, sedimentary rock that is quite soft and crumbles easily. It’s believed that feature may have led ancient iron-clad wagon wheels to create deep ruts, leading to ongoing road re-flattening which created high cliffs.

There wasn’t a lot of time to stop and look as we trekked through. Two-way traffic raced along narrow Strada Signorino, causing us to plaster ourselves against the canyon wall multiple times. As we turned onto a grassy path, Reg observed, “It was interesting, but kind of terrifying.”

The rest of our day was a pleasant walk through forests and orchards. We arrived in town with time to stop at the grocery store to pick up lunch items for the next day, and to relax a bit before joining our Dutch friends for dinner. Nothing terrifying about that!