Element of Surprise: Dispatch from Piglio, Italy

PIGLIO, ITALY

ITALIAN WONDER WAYS SERIES

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I'm finally back Stateside and I can even say with some degree of confidence that the gruesome jet lag

is finally under control. Not that you really should care, but it should at least excuse some of my lethargy

from posting incessantly about my recently concluded trip with Italian Wonder Ways*.

It was an overwhelming six days (plus the days pre and post that I took to wander in Italy/Holland)

and it was full and total sensory overload - from visual, to auditory (man, Italians are loud - and I say that

in the most endearing way possible), and of course taste. The experiences were intense the last couple

of days that decompressing was essential, but I have returned home the richer albeit a couple pounds heavier.

Life is about trade-offs, after all.

And so the onslaught of posts from an extraordinary trip in Central Italy begins.

And instead of going chronological on you, I'm choosing to go unorthodox. Let my first Italy post

be about Piglio, a small inconspicuous walled town in the mountains, unheard of and unknown to me before,

but now a place I hold with incredible fondness. Mountains are synonymous to magic to me anyway,

but to add rock climbing**/bouldering/aerial silks/bearded guy with a tambourine at the city gate

to this already incredible picture? Where do I sign the waiver to attempt climbing these walls?

* What is Italian Wonder Ways? See prelude here.

**Note to self: find forgotten Groupon to climbing gym membership

Personally, as a traveler, one of the most precious things I value about experiencing someplace

different and/or new is that human capacity to be taken aback, to be caught off guard.

Devoid of any expectations of what an experience ought to be before it actually happens,

we make room for that oh so beautiful element of surprise.

And this is how I find myself writing about Piglio.

I'm sure I'm expected to write about the trails of the Italian Wonder Ways first (and I assure you,

it is coming), but this is an outdoor-centric blog after all and finding my biophiliac tribesmen who

adore rocks and walls and mountains as much, in obscure corners of Italy no less, gives me more

than plenty to write home about.

More than the delicious food and wine everywhere,

we take kinship where we find it, and for me, it is here.

In Piglio.

Now that that is out of the way, we were welcomed in Piglio in the warmest way possible

(as is the case everywhere we went) with dancing, drinking, and food.

And as it happens, we were in Piglio on a Sunday, the day Italians cherish a long meal at lunch,

more than usual, to savor time with family. And on that particular Sunday, I was with such great

company (not talking about the wine and food, but yes, okay), good enough to call family.

Osteria del Vitolo Fatato di Pompeo fed us a fantastic traditional lunch with flowing wine.

The dining area was a small, cozy room, walls lined with odd memorabilia, crackling swing

music emanating from an antique radio player. The food was unbelievable and

here I felt I had a true Italian dining experience.

I have also made up my mind that when it's wine that you're drinking for a couple of hours

on a Sunday afternoon in Italy, it definitely does not qualify as day drinking.

IF YOU GO

(and I do urge you to go)

Piglio is located ~85 miles southeast of Rome in the province of Frosinone, in the region of Lazio.

Their website (in Italian) is located here.

Rock climbing doesn't have to be your thing to enjoy Piglio. There's a trail for pedestrians and cyclists on the

Via Francigena that starts in Acuto that leads to Piglio. The distance is about 5-ish miles and not counting

the trek up the hill to the town (we got bused in), the elevation gain is negligible. But I'm getting ahead

of myself. More on this coming soon, but in the meantime, you can check out the Strava profile here.

If, however, climbing and/or bouldering is your jam, check out Wine Street Boulder Contest Facebook page here.

Osteria del Vicolo Fatato di Pompeo dia e Nadia located at Vicolo Forno Fatato, 11 is an excellent place for traditional cooking.

There seems to only be a dozen or so restaurants here but I can vouch for this one. I'm gushing like a schoolgirl, but really,

the food is fantastic. Spend a couple of hours at lunch. You're in Italy after all!

What is Italian Wonder Ways anyway? Funny you should ask. Check out the prelude here.

Disclosure: I was a guest of Italian Wonder Ways and Visit Lazio during this trip, but all opinions

in this and in related posts are my own.

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