Day 19
This will be a quickie post. We’re reaching the end of our Via Francigena adventure. The hilltop town of Sutri is our destination for Day 19. We left Vetrella at 8:00 a.m. as vendors set up for market day, blocking off half of the main two-way street through the historic city center. The traffic jam was horrific. Two-way traffic fought for the portion of the street without vendors, some dropping kids at school, others going to work, some simply pulling over to park. What a mess! We scooted out of town as fast as we could.
Historians suggest that two of the towers are funeral monuments from the Roman period and the third is the remains of a bell tower from the 10th century. I only got photos of these two.
The trail took us up and through the hilltop town of Capranica. It was a charming walk along a narrow, cobblestone street. Smaller alleyways branched off the main street, hiding homes of the almost 6,000 residents. We reached the end of town and traveled down below it before heading back uphill.
Soon we entered the woods along a canyon trail following the Fasso Mazzano stream. We crossed back and forth on numerous rickety-looking bridges. There must have been some sort of freak wind at some point. Downed trees looked like spilled Tinker Toys, lying helter-skelter across the stream and down the hillsides. This was our favorite part of the day. So different from anything we’d seen yet.
At last the town of Sutri appeared. Another hilltop climb to end our day. We had a cute little one-bedroom apartment just off the piazza where, after a 15-mile+ day, we quickly made ourselves at home. Surprisingly, it didn’t feel that long…we must be getting stronger.
carryoncouple 
Leave a comment