12/12/24
We slept very well. We were exhausted and the accommodation was very comfortable. At around 8’o’clock we ventured into the dining room to find Deborah cooking us, and the other two guests, banana pancakes. She was incredibly passionate about satisfying her guests, so yes, they were vegan.
There was plenty of coffee and even multiple milk options. Deborah was clearly interested in nutrition, and had even made sugar free cookies for us. They were very tasty with some peanut butter. The other guests soon arrived and despite only Deborah being able to communicate in English, she was born in America, we had a great time. Deborah’s 14 month old grandson arrived too and we were amused watching him try to destroy the kitchen while dancing to ‘Apt.’ We like the song too, to be honest.
The furthest thing from our minds, but creeping in slowly as the time went on, was getting back on the bikes. We eventually managed to set forth, into the town first to locate a cash machine. It was located right next to a bicycle shop but the owner was completely disinterested with selling anything, too busy chatting with his friends out front, and didn’t have spokes. They’re quite an important part of a bike so it was a little surprising.
We were heading south down the flatlands from Venafro. It was an absurdly sunny day and we soon realised the winds were in our favour as we began barrelling with ease down miles of open road. We were tracking a larger road and presumably most of the traffic was utilising that instead. We were surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains on all sides but the only elevation was a few climbs over bridges as we crossed the main road a few times.
We were tracking the Volturno, a historically important river. There was a large power station that we rode right next to, only later did we realised how close we had also ridden to the lower basin of the giant pumped storage hydroelectric plant. Owned by Enel, the second largest electric utility company in the world, only beaten by the State Grid
Corporation of China.
Just afterwards we met a very friendly cyclist, and we managed to explain our journey to him. A little way up the road a group of cyclists took our picture with one of their group. It was pleasing to have such admiration. We haven’t mentioned it before as the fleeting moments often get subsumed by the rest of the day, but often we get supportive toots of the horn and thumbs up from drivers as they pass. It’s especially nice on a long climb.
We came away from the main road and onto a smaller road which had an old rusted sign saying the road was closed due to a landslide. We decided it was too old to mean anything still and carried on, noticing some cycle route signs for the Volturno Cycleway. We’d actually been following it since Venafro. It now took us close to a mountain, where the desired rays of sunlight never reached. It was chilly and the road wasn’t in the best of conditions. We counted down the 3000m to where the possible landslide was, but happily the road was all clear.
Eventually we found the Sun again, waiting for us as we joined a main road. We were supposed to cross over onto a track, but we took one look at the rutted, puddle covered, muddy mess and used the road instead. The track only missed a kilometre of a road you ended up on anyway, sometimes the route isn’t very sensible.
We were following the SP34 as it bobbed up and down slightly, it wasn’t hilly at all but our legs were tired enough. We were happy that today was easier and shorter. We passed through several towns, it was hard to be sure but it felt more rundown than usual. The town of Dragoni wasn’t as exciting as an English speaker might have hoped. We’d found a B&B very close to the route in Alvignano, the next town over.
It was a nice building, with a small kitchen and newly decorated rooms. There was a small old garage to put our bikes in next to some large orange trees. The woman who was showing us in gave us a couple, but they weren’t very tasty unfortunately. The shop in town was about ten minutes away and very expensive, though this was to be expected when everyone can drive effortlessly to a huge store.
We bought some pizza materials and went back to the ill equipped kitchen. We used the lid of a serving dish as a mixing bowl and made some dough. The oven worked extremely well and it was possibly the best pizza we’d made yet. We continued watching Bond and ate the expensive jam with some freshly made hot bread which we had to recook as we were a little too impatient.
Surly They Won't Make It 