Proceno  to Bolsena June 10

                                                                   Current Day.                         Trip to Date

Distance walked- miles.                                15.3.                                       365.3

Gross Climb- feet.                                        1238.                                     29,206

Song of the Day: ghost Song by the Doors:

Choose they croon the ancient ones 

Choose now, they croon 

Beneath the moon 

Beside an ancient lake 

We woke up a little after 6, determined to get an early start on the day.  Linda fixed us a delicious breakfast from our leftovers last night, plus yogurt that we purchased in the store.  A great way to start the morning.  We then set out for a 5 mile hike to Acqupendente, a hilltop town.  We love these morning hikes, when it is a bit cooler, and with a fresh set of legs.  

While in Acquapendente, we noticed a bus that goes to our destination, Bolsena, but also stops after 6 miles in San Lorenzo.  As it is going to be another very hot day, we decided to take the bus to San Lorenzo, then walk the remaining 9 miles to Bolsena.  The bus system in Italy is quite impressive, and seems to do a great job of connecting the various little villages.  We had about 45 minutes until the next bus, so we took the time to explore Acquapendente.  It's always fun to see the hustle and bustle of life starting in the morning, particularly the elderly ladies out doing their wash, getting their shopping done, etc.   

While waiting for the bus, Linda and I sat across from each other on a couple of 6 foot benches.  An Italian woman came up and sat right next to Linda, even thought there was plenty of room to slide down.  She then proceeded to chug a bottle of water.  At this point, I could make a lot of smart ass remarks, but I think I will just let the photos do the talking:

We then took a short 10 minute bus to San Lorenzo, then walked the rest of the way to Lake Bolsena.  It was a very enjoyable walk through the countryside.  Fortunately, about half of the walk was through woods on shady paths, because the heat wave here in Italy continues on.  The temps hit about 95 degrees byes rely afternoon.   Which is very hot when you are climbing a steep hill with a pack on your back!  Much of the walk was also overlooking Lake Bolsena, a large lake created by a volcanic explosion. 

 

And of course, we saw animals along the way:

We stayed in a nice hotel in Lake Bolsena last night.  Lake Bolsena is almost two towns in one- along the lake, you have classic resorts and beaches.  Very much a summer sort of place.  Then, a little higher up, you have an ancient medieval village.  We stayed very near the water, more in the resort part of town.  However, we spent a lot of time in the afternoon  exploring both the lake front and the medieval village.  While,we were exploring the lake front, we ran into Christian from Germany. Me had not seen him for almost a week, and we ended up having dinner with him last night.  

It is going to be hot again tomorrow, so we will be leaving early.  One thing we are also noticing is that it is staying hot in the night as well.  Most of these places do have air con, or they have not yet turned it on, so sleeping could be a challenge.