Lazing About in Lazio

Continuing our stint of wild camping to save some money in high season we headed south east.

 

Wild Camp 21: Lago di Bolsena

 

Lake Bolsena

 

46KM east of Pitigliano, out of Tuscany and into Lazio, Lake Bolsena. On the way here we stopped at Sant'Egle. A 17th century customs house set on an organic farm and now also used as a restaurant and bed and breakfast. They welcome visitors to wander their home and gardens in order to understand and appreciate their Eco friendly way of living. When we arrived in our extremely noisy, air polluting, Eco unfriendly van we were greated by two cooker spaniels, two tabby kittens, a friendly little girl and the gardener. We read that 100% of electricity used is produced from renewable sources, waste water and rain water are recycled for watering the garden and heating and hot water is produced by a fireplace heating system and solar water heaters. Wandering around the grounds in ore we came across a synergistic garden, a vineyard, an olive grove, an orchard, a berry growing area, a well, a napping area with hammocks, a yoga area and a bio pool, a BBQ area and a hay bale amphitheatre. There was a relaxation area with chairs made from wheelbarrows, which were surprisingly comfortable and a fire pit. Everything in the grounds is made from recycled materials such as ornamental statues made from car exhausts, tractor parts and old petrol tanks. Inside there was a small shop selling home made preservatives, strawberry, cherry and raspberry jam, olive oil, olive oil beauty products and home grown fruit and veg. We bought some strawberry jam and headed to the wild camp. 

Our spot at the lake, spot the beagle

This spot is right on the lake, a beautiful area lined with trees which provide some shade meaning the camper doesn't get too stuffy. We are in the middle of nowhere here so not much to venture out for, we sat outside and had spaghetti bolognaise and a bottle of wine for dinner. We bumped into an English couple that had moved to the town 13 years ago, they knew loads about the local area and told us about all the festivals happening in the surrounding towns in the next couple of weeks. We also found out about a small island in the middle of the lake, we could see this from the camper. 

Jac's becoming quite the photographer, Lake Bolsena

The Pope once sat here, there was a large monastery in the middle and surrounding it were seven chapels, one for every day of the week. We spent the following day chilling by the lake in the sunshine Oscar made a few new friends and played with them most of the day. We packed up and left around 6, stopped at the shop for cheese and wine and headed to our next spot.
 

One of the many new friends Oscar's made

 

Wild Camp 22: Montefiascone 

Our wild camp at Montefiascone

Essentially this is just a large circular shaped car park with a nice view. There are 10 campers here in total, there is free electricity and water and no charge to stay here. We have wild camped for the last 10 days, we are need of a little luxury, a bar and some wifi.
 

The view from the wild camp

Jac put the solar shower to good use today. Showering outside in his superman pants whilst Kayleigh sat in the van crying with laughter.
 

Jac using the solar shower, Oscar found it funny too

 

The view from Orvieto

We also visited Orvieto today. Another town built on tufa rock with a lot of history. We parked next to the high speed railway and paid 1.20€ each to go on the tram, but before we were allowed on we had to buy Oscar a muzzle, luckily there was a pet shop within walking distance and we arrived just before the siesta. He was hugely unimpressed and rolled around on his back creating a scene the whole tram ride until we eventually took it off. We walked around not really knowing what to look for and were approached by a very strange man who was apparently a doctor, he looked a lot like Uncle Fester from the Adams family. He told us about the history of Orvieto and something about Kevin Costner, although in all his rambling on it was difficult to make out what. As if Uncle Fester wasn't strange enough we were then approached by a man that looked a bit like the wrestler Booker T. In actual fact his name was Don Konyon from Nigeria and claimed he had been given a gift by god. He wanted to pass this gift on by making music, so after he had spat his food crumbs all over Jac and explained every song he ever sang,  in great detail, he pressured us into buying his CD we gave him 2€. He said to add him on Facebook and look him up on YouTube so if you fancy it his Facebook is Don Konyon Roma he also scribbled on the cd cover Ing Joel don Konyon which may be his YouTube channel....Who knows. After being accosted by lots of strange people we finally made it into Orvieto.
 

A view into Orvieto

In the Roman period the city was destroyed and abandoned by the Roman Army and the people living there were deported to Bolsena. The only use for the city was trading wine, oil, grain and terracotta. In 1000 A.D. Orvieto began to repopulate and in 1004 they built a church that still stands today, between the 12th and 13th centuries Orvieto increased in power and many of the city monuments were built, the most spectacular being the Piazza del Duomo.
 

The Duomo

In 1348 a strong plague and internal fighting between two noble families destroyed the commune of Orvieto the city remained under the papal state until the 18th century. Between 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s structural interventions were made in order to restore Orvieto. The first water-powered funicular in the world was built here in 1888. Nowadays the locals still practise the artisan traditions of wood work, ceramic and lace. Its a beautiful place which is pretty much self sufficient, a far cry from the bustling cities we've been visiting.

Wild Camp 23: Varella 

Another car park, in the middle of a city, very busy and quite loud. There was man loitering around in the car park for ages which scared Kayleigh, she was awake at 5AM and finally gave in and got up at 7, woke Jac with tea and toast at 8 and we left for our next stop via Civita di Bagnoregio. 

Civita di Bagnorigio, 'The Floating City'

It's known as 'the floating city' because it has errorded away over time and is now only accessible via a very long foot bridge. We read that no cars were allowed in the village only foot passengers, bicycles and donkeys. There were mopeds and tuk tuks everywhere, no donkeys though. It was another beautiful village filled with narrow winding alley ways and quaint little houses decorated with brightly coloured pot plants lining the stairways and balconies. The village was also home to what seemed to be about 10,000 cats and kittens. Every corner we turned there was a gang of cats arching their backs, puffing up there tails and hissing at Oscar. After the initial shock, he wasn't bothered anymore and cocked his leg on one of the steps they were sat on to show them who's boss.

Wild Camp 24: Sasso

A really nice spot with an aqua blue lake at the entrance, the same colour blue as the natural baths in Saturnia. We were at the bottom of a hill in the middle of nowhere, the village was just one road about 4km long. We were told there was another hot spring in the area although we didnt see it. By night time we could smell the sulphur from the thermal baths wafting around, it wasn't very pleasant at first it smelt like a gas leak then it smelt a lot like egg! Behind our van was farmland and around 10 o'clock a herd of sheep trotted past with their bells around their necks making a right racket. Oscar was keen to investigate and make friends. We didn't do much else today which was quite a nice break from wandering around city's and villages in the heat, well at least until tomorrow when we reach Rome.