Montefiascone to Sutri, Day 38
I really felt I was getting properly close to the end of the journey here. You’re seeing much more “Roman” stuff.
58.0km, 836m climb
4h 45m moving, 6h 40m elapsed
69% off-road, Sun, 19°C average, 29°C max
Highlights
The “hexagonal” basalt paving on the ancient roman roads. There’s a few examples around. Over 2000 years old and still going strong. These aren’t fun to cycle on and I saw the locals on their motorscooters ride in the gutters at the side of the roads paved with these; it’s no surprise that they last so long if nobody wants to use them.
Viterbo was a busy town, full of small alleys and bigger squares. Plenty of places to take a coffee and watch the world go by.
The Etruscan roads just after Viterbo were amazing; carved into the karst landscape, 10m down these roads were still being used today.
Watching the olive harvest just before Vertralla. There were a lot of groves of olive trees and hazel trees in this area.
The Etruscan towers in the middle of the hazel groves between Vertralla and Capanica
The lush forested valley coming into Sutri.
The Etruscan remains at Sutri and especially the Roman amphitheatre carved into the stone.
Lowlights
Il Bagnaccio, the thermal springs right by the Via Francigena just before Viterbo were closed. I did hop over the fence and put my hand into one of the small vents … and scalded it!
