Stepping Up To Soriano Nel Cimino

We left our Rome hotel on the 12:30 shuttle. The driver kindly dropped us at the main Rome train station, and we bought tickets to ride a train as far as Orte, one of the earliest stops on several main routes.

These trains arrive in a slightly separated part of the termini in that you have to walk several hundred meters to reach Tracks 1 and 2. We did that and the train finally arrived only a couple of minutes late on Track 1.

Since the distance was short, we bought tickets in first class rather than second class for the first time (and probably the last time). The difference just doesn't seem to be worth it, although our first class was very quiet.

Eventually it started to seem too quiet, and we belatedly realized we were the only people on the train, other than a cleaner who'd wandered through picking up litter with a distinct lack of enthusiasm shortly after we'd boarded. Off we hopped.

We'd probably missed an announcement, but at least another train was leaving from Track 2 in 20 minutes and we confirmed with a friendly passing employee that it went through Orte.

On we hopped and the train did leave on time, putting us in Orte about 45 minutes later, after traveling through several tunnels of significant length. It appeared there was a long wait for the bus and we'd just about talked ourselves into splurging for a taxi to transport us to Soriano nel Cimino. One small problem: Not a taxi was in sight at this smallish train station. At that point, the second person we asked confirmed that the bus for Soriano nel Cimino would be arriving shortly. Brian was directed to the bar where he quickly bought two 2-Euro tickets and then jogged back to the bus stop.

On we hopped and enjoyed the winding ride up the hill. We got off the bus about 30 minutes later and gazed at the town of Soriano nel Cimino stretching up above us. We wanted to avoid having to walk up the wrong way and then having to retreat. It's steep. The third of three innocent Italians we accosted was a genial fellow in our own age group. Stopping every so often to chat with friends, he escorted us up the steps, up the hills, and around the bends before literally dropping us off at the hotel entrance with a smile and a handshake 10 breathless minutes later.

And so here we are at Palazzo Catalani. We're all checked in and unpacked, we've walked back down to the square to pick us some essentials to get us through Sunday when all of the shops are closed - coffee, bread, two kinds of cheese, bread, and wine - and our little room, naturally on the very top floor, is cozy. We've signed up for seven days of Internet at four Euros per day, a pretty good deal in this part of the world.

We're trying out the hotel's restaurant tonight and in the meantime enjoying some relaxation time in our room. It looks like it'll be a very pleasant week.