The Eternal Search For Food In Italy Paganico to Subiaco

​So today was a long day testing everyone’s good nature. For me it was the climbing.  Being the least fit in the group, I am still in serious boot camp.  Today there were several long climbs a couple over 5 k then the final one over 10.  Shawn was challenged by the downhill descents. She is having some brake issues probably related to some damage to her bike in transit to Italy and maybe a little due to the fact that it can be really hard doing steep descents on cobblestones and today we had some rain to compound all of this which challenged everyone.  

Then there is the quest for food challenge.  Feeding yourself sounds easy right.  At home there is always an open grocery store and restaurants maintain pretty regular hours.  Before I told Shawn and Doug about searching for food challenges in Italy and of course they were skeptical.  Here restaurants don’t open till 8.  No respectable Italian would eat before that.  Some restaurants are open for lunch but only for a few hours and then they close.  So as a bike tourer if you arrive at your destination in the afternoon you are often out of luck because everything including local markets are closed.  Sometimes not reopening till seven.  

Well I am getting ahead of myself.  We were fortunate to be in a bnb last night so a wonderful breakfast was prepared for us before we plunged down the hill from Paganico. 

We were soon in our first big climb of the day up to a lovely town called Collalto Sabino. A young man with his dog on a scooter passed us on our way out of town 

Then another big climb going through several typical charming towns clinging to rugged mountainsides.  We always forage for food enroute and today was one full of figs and even some roadside grapes.  

Then serious hunger has set in after lots more climbing.  Shawn and I start a food quest in a small market in Arsoli hoping to find some quick food. The market is packed with people some sitting in chairs blocking food and produce.  Shawn and I in a hungry fog are almost beaten by the chaos but we persist and manage to walk out with albeit an uninteresting lunch some things to tide us over.  

Then the really long climb is underway and basically we are soon surrounded by thunderstorms.   Because I am slow and Jim didn’t ditch me yet, Shawn and Doug are a ways ahead of us.  We come upon them hours later at the entrance to a tunnel where they appear to be disrobing.  Apparently they got dumped on with rain where Jim and I only a short ways behind them did not!  So raincoats and extra clothes on for the really big fast descent down to Subiaco.  One exciting thing of the day was we did see wild boars running across the road.  

No one took a lot of pictures today due to the rain and our final few k into Subiaco was in the rain.  Then the final (or at least we hope it is the final) food failure for the day happens. The plan for today was to sightsee in Subiaco (which is the Italian home of the Borgia popes) then ride to our hotel a ways out of town which has a restaurant.  We didn’t sight see because it was raining and when we arrive at the hotel. I ask when the restaurant opens. The answer is that it is closed because there is a gastronomic festival going on in town.  So they are preparing food only to bring to the main piazza a long way from here!  So soon we will head out on foot to see if we can find any restaurant that isn’t miles away that is not doing the festival!  Here is the view from our hotel room looking at the town far away where one can only imagine there is a lot of food and we wish we had some too.