Goodbye Lazio, Hello Campania

10/30 - Marina di Minturno to Sessa Aurunca - 12.09 miles

After a month and a half, it was finally time for me to leave Lazio and enter Campania. As always, I was excited for the change, and eagerly sought the sign. Right at the border, however, I was stopped by a large archaeological site, containing a beautiful Roman theater. Since the day would be a short one, and I had awakened early, I had the time to enter the old town of Minturnae and explore the ruins. Once again, it was just me walking on the Appia Antica, the same as the one I walked on my way out of Rome: just me sitting in the theater and picturing performance that took place here over the centuries: just me touching the stone columns.

Walking out, I saw an aqueduct which runs alongside the Appia all the way to Rome, and I wondered how it was possible that these works were still here, shading grazing horses and decorating the landscape so harmoniously.

I entered Campania without any fanfare, spying the entry sign into the region from the next bridge. Like a bad omen, it started to rain as soon as I walked across the border, so I fished out my rain gear, finished the Odyssey under the protection of a large billboard (thinking it fitting to finish the Odyssey after leaving the Riviera di Ulisse), and moved on. My first day in Campania was spent putting on and taking off my jacket, as the weather frequently changed from rainy and grey to warm and sunny. In between, I saw large fields of apple trees, and large expanses of farmland. When I reached my destination, a town called Sessa Aurunca, I walked to the main piazza, asked a man for information on hotels, and he kindly listed off all the options.

Having reached the hotel at 3PM, I dropped off the backpack and went to look for the one internet cafe in town, which turned out to be a driving school, and was closed for lessons. So, unable to use the computer, I went to a caffeteria, had a cappucino, and wrote in my journal (the old fashioned way).

Coming back to the hotel, I ran into the florist next door, who offered me the free use of his computer, which I used for fifteen minutes, not wishing to overstay my welcome. A lack of available services, a make-do atmosphere, and a friendly and generace populace all indicated that I had reached Southern Italy.