Walking Across Italy

My blog tonight will be relatively short. Not because it was an uneventful day, but because the lady bartender decided to pour me about a half a bottle of wine in one giant glass, so I’m ready for a good night’s sleep.

Today we hiked from Filottrano to Treia, Italy. It was supposed to be a 12 mile hike, but ended up being closer to 14 miles because we added a stop in Appignano to eat a hot lunch. (It was well worth the detour as my penne arrabbiata had just the right amount of spice and Joe and JP were moaning in ecstasy at the ice cream desserts.) Including this gastronomical detour, my Fitbit says that I completed 32,861 steps, climbed 176 flights of stairs, and burned 3,275 calories.

The day started very early for me, as the weather was forecasted to be heavy rain. As a result, I woke up about 3:30 am worried about how I was going to manage this situation with my backpack. It has a waterproof cover, but walking in the rain is slow and tedious. It is also really hot because rain gear doesn’t breathe. Needless to say, we were all feeling a bit of trepidation at breakfast this morning. But like good soldiers, we donned our foul weather gear and set off for Treia. As we walked out the door of our hotel, the rain stopped, but threatening clouds followed us for miles.

The weather was so humid that you could see clouds at the higher elevations in the town.

The sky remained cloudy for hours, but there were only intermittent sprinkles.

The only thing of interest along this path was the strange abundance of slugs and snails that we found on the road. They seemed to be migrating from the plowed field on the left, to the plowed field on the right. Some made the crossing successfully, others were not so lucky. I started thinking that slugs have gotten a bad rap. We think of them as aimless good-for-nothings, yet these guys are pioneers and adventurers— making the perilous journey to new pastures.

I am happy to report that we made it to our destination without any heavy rain. And in fact, about 4 miles out of town, Stephen suggested that we throw caution to the wind (like the slugs), and get out of our rain gear. The final climb to the center of town was steep snd slow. But just like the slugs, we marched onward and upward.

To celebrate the successful conclusion of Day 3, we feasted on a giant steak, which weighed in at 1.2 kilos (about 2 1/2 pounds). Now, I’m ready for my beef coma.

Vi vedo a domani. (I’ll see you tomorrow.)