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5 Heavenly Visions I overheard a woman buying ice cream cones: "I hope it's not as expensive as Florence," she said. "Remember the gelato we had there? 32000 lira!" Thirty-two bucks for ice cream cones! Remember? How could one ever forget? After a punishing climb past Allerona we camped in a forest along a deserted stretch of highway, hidden amongst the pines. Hardly any traffic passed on the road. We had just settled in to watch the sunset when a car stopped to enjoy the view. I had a feeling of déjà vu. It reminded me of our sunset camp spot along the Gaspé where in the middle of nowhere three cars stopped to watch the sunset. In the morning we continued to climb. In about five kilometers we came to a picnic area with a hundred wooden picnic tables scattered throughout the forest. Looking about me at the desolation I imagined it must be a lot busier during the summer. After having our choice of tables, we crested the summit and the old adage of what goes up must come down proved correct once again. At Fabro I bought bread after three women brought it to the guy's attention that I wasn't an apparition. "Oh no," I wanted to say to him, "I don't want service--I was just standing here admiring your fine selection of cheeses." But to tell the truth, I was cheesed off after being ignored so long. Famished, we followed a gravel road to a condemned two story building. Leaning our bikes against the wall it didn't fall down. I surmised it mustn't be that bad--I had probably slept in worse. Slices of cold pizza were lunch--basically thin crust smeared with a thin layer of tomato sauce, canned tomato and a bit of cheese. I smacked my lips in appreciation and dug in as if it was the best pizza I had ever tasted. Sharon did too, then coming to her senses said, "I can't imagine anyone eating this back home." The Europeans were forever telling us North America had lousy food. Not so--we had the best food all round. Our food was both diverse and cheap. They were under the misconception that the only food available in North America was fast food. And Italians were not into convenience. Everyone cooked from scratch. Cooking and eating ate into a large percentage of their day. Not many people even ate at restaurants. Besides taking a long time, it was too expensive- lunch prices that we had seen displayed outside establishments ranged from $16 to $25 per person. In Chiusi we went into the Cathedral. I didn't think it was anything special. I was ruined after Orvieto. We camped on a sidehill overlooking Lago Trasimeno with a handsome villa on an island. |
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