Sezze - Abbazio di Fossanova - Monte San Biagio 8 November

To day ended up like kind of a funny day. As I had bought some eggs and bread in the village the night before, I made scrambled eggs and boiled the rest of them to eat for lunch, so  my stomach was filled when I left the BnB and went for a capucho in the nearest bar. Already after a couple of kilometers the path was cordoned off and even I didn't dare to risk my shorts on the barbed wire. So I warned the society of the Via Francigena and turned around and quickly found an alternative road  that would get me back on track within an hour or so. As it is November, also here in Italy the sun stands a lot lower on the horizon than previously and the temperature didn't rise to more than 20 to 22 degrees C I gather. Fantastic weather for walking. After some difficulty finding the track and descending to some 30 'm over sea level the path continued along a canal to the village of Priverno where another coffee was consumed. Only some 8 kilometers remained walking along the canal over a sandy/ muddy path which I like a lot as it feels so soft on the feet. I arrived at the abbey of Fossanova for my overnight stay but soon found out that they don't take visitors or even pilgrims. Also there is nothing around in the way of lodgings in a radius of 8 km from the abbey. I set myself down at the local pub and had a beer to find out what to do. I had already heard that there is a buss to the railway station of Fossanova and decided to try my luck and go to the next stage of the Franchigena on the seaside being Terracina. A train rolled into the station and I asked several people whether this train would stop in Terracina and they all confirmed this so I jumped on. Before I knew it the train disappeared into a tunnel for a long time and I couldn't figure out why there should be a such a long tunnel to this place. The train came eventually out of the tunnel and to a halt and it appeared I was in Monte San Biago/ Terracina which is the next stage on the trail. So immediately I had gained a whole 2 days of walking. Actually only one day as I had planned to walk 800 metres up and down over this mountain range to end up in the same place as I was now. Good thing I had not ordered any overnight stay in Terracina yet. Make sense? If not send me a note.

Getting off the train and finding out where I was, coming out of this long tunnel I quickly booked a BnB/restaurant which was only a 10 minute walk away and got a room organised. in the mean time it had gone dark and after a shower I went down to the restaurant to find out if I could get a stamp on my pilgrim pass. I Sat down at a table and asked for a beer ( I've taken quite a liking to Nastro Azzuro, the green bottle of Peroni)  Here comes this matron and askes me if I want a meal. I look at her questioningly as no one in Italy gets something to eat in a restaurant earlier than 19:30, but she throws the menu at me and stands there waiting. As the Italian menu still is an enigma to me I ask for explanations. The woman looks me up and down and decides that the mixed grill platter is the thing for me. I say nono, I haven't decided yet. No matter, she starts cutting some meat off a large piece gathers some other stuff, skewers and sausages off a plate and puts them on a wood fired grill right in front of me. I still wasn't sure I wanted this at all. She also brought two slices of bruschetta and some olives which I should eat while waiting for the grilled meat. Anyway she came with this plate full of meat ( good thing I'm no Vegetarian) and it was the best grilled food I have had in a long time, juicy with the right herbs and all. The sausage was fabulous! Just for the record I asked her to pose for a picture which she gladly did. I'm still sitting at this table doing this blog and finish my wine.

Tomorrow a long walk to Itri where I have already booked a BnB in the centre to be sure.