19.5 km
Bolsena in the early morning light. I explored the old town, found a shop that opened early to get lunch supplies, had breakfast in a bar and headed for the Basilica di Santa Cristina.
Santa Cristina, an early Christian martyr, lived and was buried here at the the time of the persecution under Diocletian. Other local Christians at the time of the Roman Empire wanted to buried near her tomb, and so the catacombs were formed.
After leaving Bolsena quite late in the morning, the day's walk took me through farmland and vineyards high above the lake.
Lunch break
The path heads into the magical woods of Turona
Where I once again take a brief detour to what was a holy shrine in the third century BC, excavated in the 1950s but now taken over once again by nature.
Enchanted waterfall - the spell is broken by a group of motorcyclists roaring past. Don't think they're supposed to be on the Via Francigena!
Here I have a nice break in the sun and dry my laundry before setting off again.
The view from my bedroom window at the convent in Montefiascone at dusk. I dine in the convent with some of the other guests, also because the nuns lock the doors at 9 pm!
Locked in at 9 pm on a Saturday night! But I don't mind. I have dinner with some other guests of the convent, including some Romans who are here for the weekend to walk just one leg of the Via Francigena as a Sunday hike. They are very impressed with the story of my Long Walk. But the other member of our party at dinner is an African young lady who finds the whole idea of walking to Rome new and intriguing, but says she'd like to do it, because here in Italy she doesn't get to walk much. Back home, she says, as a young girl, when her family needed some money she used to put a big basket of fruit and vegetables on her head, walk 20 km through the forest to market, then walk back again at the end of the day.
Now I'm the one who's impressed!
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