Teano - Roccaromana 16 November

After a light breakfast at the BnB this morning I left Teano while the thunder rolled over the neighbouring hills and it rained as predicted albeit not to much at the time. So I put my rain gear on and left in good spirits to do these 22 km. The clouds hung heavily over the hill tops and the fields, so not much to see on either side. After a couple of hours my feet were soaking wet as I had had to cross this "river"of rain water streaming over the path. I came onto the SS6 (Strada Statale) and checked into a petrol station for a rest and had some coffee and a real good piece of pizza. My rain gear had held remarkably well. After half an hour I went on my way again and walked on this boring pretty straight road towards Riardo along hazelnut plantations for what seemed kilometers on end. There was little traffic when a big Toyota pulled up beside me and the driver asked where I was going. I mentioned my destination and he said he could take me as far as Riardo. I gladly accepted under the circumstances and threw my gear in the back of the car. His name was Sandro. It appeared he just stopped for a beer in his local bar in this place and offered me one as well. I had a coke and we sat down to talk for a while. His English wasn't good, but we managed to communicate. A friend of his joined us and gave him another beer. This time one with an alcohol percentage of 7,7 %. I thanked for the coke and was ready to go when he asked me to sit down. He would drive me to my destination as he had to be in the neighbourhood anyway. As I still had another 10 or so km to walk on these boring roads I was rather tempted but declined as he had had these beers. He insisted he was fine and would drive me. As it was still raining  finally gave in and he drove me without incident to Roccaromana. As I thus arrived early I first had a look around the village but there wasn't much to look out for. Found my lodgings  which are run by this nice young lady Maria and could finally get out of my wet gear and dry the shoes by the fireplace. She put some of my clothes in the washing machine and I just relax and try to keep the fire going as it is a rather big cold house which Maria inherited from her father. Just go out and find this one restaurant in town for something to eat.

When I arrived at the restaurant Casa Mathilda, the owner came up to me and asked if I was this pilgrim which I confirmed. He didn't speak one word English or any other language than Italian for that matter but seated me at a table and explained with my phone as translator service that he would serve me a three course meal including wine for free! I was overwhelmed and said I couldn't accept but he insisted. So I got these 3 local Italian dishes with a pasta and a meat dish with vegetables ++ and ended the meal with a piece of lemon cake and a couple of limoncello's all for free! I wasn't the only guest as there were several large parties going on at other tables and there was a good atmosphere in this establishment. As it rained a little Pietro, as his name was, insisted on driving me this kilometer back to the hostel. All in all a most remarkable day I must say which again shows how much goodness there can be among us people.

Tomorrow onwards to Alife.