At 1,440 feet above sea level, perched on a hilltop, the town sits on volcanic plateau overlooking a river valley. And while it is in danger of the edges eroding away, the several hundred year-old architecture, the quaint narrow streets, and the constant decorative flowers, make this town really cute.

To get to Civita di Bagnoregio, one needs to get to the town of Bagnoregio first…

Saturday, June 26, 2004

My destination for today was a really tiny town, one that I read about before I left for Europe, and knew that I had to go experience. I picked up some fruit and pastries on my way to the bus stop this morning, got my bus tickets, ate my breakfast, and was on the bus by 9:10am.

It was about an hour bus ride from Orvieto to Bagnoregio, the town that leads to my destination. More of that beautiful Italian countryside was seen from window of the bus. One photographic sight during this ride was rows of green grapevines each ending with a splash of red roses. And, I saw a field of bright yellow sunflowers, too!

After getting off the bus in Bagnoregio, I went into the first church I wandered by, as I seem to have been doing a lot during my travels thus far. A small simple church. I sat and contemplated for a few moments, as I seem to always to when I go inside a church.

And then I set out for my destination. I walked down a long street in Bagnoregio that leads to a bridge, which then connects with Civita di Bagnoregio. A pedestrian only bridge. And no cars in Civita.

I’m sure that one could just walk the main street of Civita from one end of town to the other end in only five minutes. But I decided to wander all the narrow side streets instead first, and then took the main street on my way back. Each side street ended technically pretty quickly, but I took my time going down each one, noticing the traditional brown-colored Italian buildings as I meandered, and finally seeing the breathtaking views beyond the edge of Civita at the end of most of the side streets.

Other side streets ended up in someone’s garden.

As I admired the gardens, I also noticed the flowers used as decorations on the buildings, and began to take a series of pictures of the flowers of Civita di Bagnoregio. I stopped to smell some of the flowers as well.

I also went into a church, some shops, and even found a path below the town to hike on so that I could look up at Civita from below the edge.

It turned out that the five minutes that it could take to walk the entire town of Civita turned out to be several hours and five minutes for me.

Sweet Travels!

that face!

I mean, for example, I had to “travel” to get to her, right? I flew from Seattle to San Francisco, and I even tried a different airline this time that I had never flown before. And then I stayed in different accommodations, other than my own home, albeit my mother’s and my sister’s homes, so that is considered traveling, too, right?

And when one travels, they visit different places. Which is what I did on my most recent trip there, a couple of weeks ago. With my now 8-month old niece, and her parents, we went to a park in San Francisco that I had never been to before. Not only was it a place for Annika to enjoy the fresh outdoors, but it was also a place of people-watching, another aspect of travel.

dress from auntie debby!

Doing different activities is another facet of travel. I have never before participated in seeing Annika on a swing, or taking her to her swimming lessons. While her parents did the pushing, and the pool-time, I was busy taking pictures. Ahhh – taking pictures – yet another travel related activity!

swinging!

apres swim

Experiencing different foods is another thing one does when not at home. Well, while I didn’t personally try her mashed peas, I watched (and took pictures) as Annika was fed with a spoon, and the result was food all over her cute little face.

reading about ABC’s

Different languages is another piece of travel. Babbling, cooing, short consonants, crying, laughing, and other “baby talk” was done by Annika, and I imitated and conversed with her as best as I could.

baby-kisses

And finally, when one travels, one experiences different people and cultures. This time, for me, it was the “baby culture.” Changing diapers, reading about ABC’s, playing on the floor, feedings at 2am in the morning, bath time, seeing Annika “eat” books and toys, and giving and receiving baby-kisses are just some of the examples of the baby culture I experienced while traveling.

So now, wouldn’t you say that visiting my beautiful, adorable, precious baby niece is considered a travel experience?

Sweet Travels!

Just two days earlier, Melissa and I had a re-supply day, where My Love Scott, and her love, met us at Mowich Lake to bring our extra food, our changes of clean clothes, and other supplies we had previously set aside for this day.

On this day, and prior to this day, Scott wanted to hike on this 12 night trip. But we have a cat, Norm, whom Scott cares for very much, and whom he prefers not to leave alone for long periods of time (even with visits from caring friends). Definitely not for the 12 nights we were backpacking.

The Wonderland Trail

I know Scott struggled with the desire to be out there in the wilderness. But all along, he supported me in my desire to backpack, and I supported him in his caring of Norm.

On our re-supply day, seven of the 12 nights had passed, and we acknowledged that we had missed each other terribly. And knowing that we had five more nights to go, we made our loving, supportive good-byes.

But then Scott went home, and unbeknownst to me, did some fast, and I mean fast, planning and packing. He got out maps and books, and along with our itinerary, he realized that there was one campground that he could meet us at, and be able to then spend the last three nights/three days on the trail!

During his quick planning time, Normykat (that’s my nickname for him) was a big help, pointing to the possibilities on the map, reading the books, and carefully, together, weighing out the options.

Normykat with books, maps, and pointing paws

For Scott, it could mean taking a side trail to the particular campground we were at. If he were to take the actual Wonderland Trail itself, he would have two days of catching up to do, and that was too much. The side trail, however, was eight miles in, and a good possibility.

Several years earlier, one could actually drive five of those eight miles, but that was no longer an option. The road had been washed out with some storms, so the only way now to navigate this stretch of the road would be to hike…or bike.

So Scott grabbed not only his hiking gear, but his biking gear as well, and on the morning of the tenth day, he drove several hours from our house to the entrance to the road, biked five miles through gravel and rocks and trees, sometimes paralleling a river, with his backpack on his back, then carefully hiding his bike and camouflaging it amongst the trees, and finally hiking the last three miles to show up to our campground that night. Wow, what a day for him!

I was so surprised, and of course, so ecstatic that he showed up. And for the next few days, he was able to be out in the wilderness!

Scott, and Me and Scott

Normykat was alright for those few days. Our friend Vanessa, who also loves Normykat, came over to feed him, pet him, and visit.

And as for that bike left in the woods…well, the day after I completed the entire backpack trip of 60 miles, Scott and I walked the five miles of the washed out road, with my bike at our side, recovered his bike, rode back to the cars, and drove back home.

the camouflage, the recovery, the ride back

Sweet (and adventurous) travels!