Saturday, October 16,2021

My hotel was located in the village of Stia. The hotel restaurant was also a bakery and I had this decadent pastry for breakfast.  It was fruit filled but I could not decide on the fruit.  Peach maybe?

I stayed near this fountain with a snake coming out of the lion's head and was fascinated.  I was unable to find the history of it.

I passed this garden with a all-white, Michelin Man scarecrow.  I wondered what kind of birds he was going to scare off.  Snow birds? Oh, wait snow birds are only found in Florida.

This hike is truly beautiful and the photos don't do it justice.  They need to be 3-D.  Here I am looking at a castle in the distance. 

Even higher.

There were many small shrines along today's route.  This one is the Shrine to Madonna del Poggio or Madonna of the Mountain.

I have to admit, this sign made me a little nervous.  I know from past hikes that herding dogs can be a little scary.

This pup was falling down on the job.  He licked my face and followed me for quite a distance.  Whether he heard something or not, suddenly he turned and raced back home. I was starting to worry.  I have read stories of farm dogs following hikers and ending up homeless in big cities.

They seemed most curious as I walked by. Such a regal pair.

The scenery was breath taking.  The air was fresh and clean.  We, who live in cities for get what the freshness of the wilderness smells like.  Invigorating.

This was today's peak and it was a tough climb of over an hour and rated strenuous. Pant Pant - Gasp Gasp! I don't care what anybody says about oh, they would rather hike uphill than down. BS when it is this steep. Give me down any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I made my way to the village of Camaldoli thinking this was my destination until I read my hotel destination carefully and realized that Camino Ways had combined two sections and I had 5.5 miles to go. OMG! It is already three o'clock.  Read those papers carefully. As much as I had been lost on this trip,  I was a little nervous that I would be lost in the woods at dark.  I love challenge but I am not stupid. Although it practically killed me, I enquired about a taxi.  Not possible.  I wasted 20 minutes trying to decide whether to take the highway, longer, or the trail, shorter.  Finally, I decided on the trail but luckily, pretty much ran parallel to the road. And at the end, because I made it, I was glad I had finished it at 21.8 mountain miles.  

This beautiful cross was about midway on my crazy race to beat dark. I knew God was with me so I didn't panic but, I figured he meant me to hurry up.  I maxed my pace totally out and it was brutal uphill.  I arrived at my hotel at 6:30 pm.  Whew! What a feeling of accomplishment to work so hard and get to my location, safe and sound.

Shortly before I got to my lodgings I had to cross this little bridge.  I found it amusing and I half expected the Devil pop out.

Mountain miles are much harder than regular miles. WHOOHOO!  Hotel at long last. I practically crawled in the door of my hotel. Then I had to drag my suitcase up the stairs.

My dinner at the hotel did not disappoint. The "vegetables" were not even a course on the menu.  They were so fresh and so crunchy.

Oh My Goodness.  I do love me some beans.  If I could make beans this good, my bean hating friends would be beating down my door.  This dish was called "Acqua Cotta" and was described as "Tuscan Soup with Onions and Beans." It had squares of Bruschetta in it and lots of caramelized onions. It was a bit like real baked beans but not so sweet and it had to have been slow cooked with some type of meat to give it that richness.  I rarely finish a dish this big but I practically licked the bowl.  Magnificent!

My next course was "Fesa di Tacchino Arrosto" which was described as "Roasted Turkey Breast."  It doesn't look nearly as good as it tasted. As you can see, this turkey is thinly sliced and sitting in something akin to red eye gravy with out the salty ham or coffee taste. It was served with "Bocconcini di Polenta Fritti" or Fried Polenta Bites. I am not usually excited about polenta but these were a whole new level of polenta and they were fried lightly and creamy inside.  Yum! Truthfully although I didn't order every course because it is way too much for me. I was already full. I even skipped dessert.  I slipped most of my turkey and two of the polenta squares into a bag in my purse.  They made a wonderful lunch today. I have never had turkey in Europe and never had it prepared quite this way.  I give it an A+  And the house white is much more than a house wine.  More like a $15 dollar glass of wine in the U. S.

 

So this post is a day late because I was too pooped  last night to write (and make any sense at all) and the internet service in the hotel was pretty weak.  In fact, you will get today's post tomorrow because I wrote yesterday's post today.  I have the day off and boy do I need it. I have time to write.

Good night and God Bless.