No formal miles walked.

A very good thing. A chance to put bandages and braces on the parts that are complaining. A chance to get up when you want to versus waking very early to avoid the heat of the mid-day sun.

We have simply become tourists for the day in Italy. Speaking of tourists, we’ve encountered no Americans since starting the Francigena… until today. We met a pair of American pilgrims this morning as they were leaving town (not us, we’re on holiday! ). Today, our B&B will have 3 rooms dedicated to Yanks. That’s a whole lotta English being spoken!

We quickly encountered the Italian version of an iconic Spanish pilgrim monument:

We also stopped to visit the domed church in this village.

This is said to be the third tallest domed cathedral in the world, after Rome and Florence.

Why the big cathedral in this small town? Well, for 350 years,  from 1200 to the mid-1500’s, this town was the summer home for the Popes. (Gotta beat the heat in Rome during the summers, somewhere! ).

The home for the Popes was “Rocca di Papi”. Like a deserted cabin, the Rocca di Papi has fallen into a bit of disrepair;

I’m sure if our “Chamber of Commerce ” guidebook writers wrote about it, it might be offered as a B&B, as: “Charming and rustic, storied castle with excellent views of the stars (no roof).  Available for your stay, for that discerning guest”.

You already want to stay there, right?

God bless, Bill and Diane