Got a bit of a later start today – almost 7 before I rose. Not as sunny as yesterday, but doesn’t look like rain. Tried making my own hot water for some herbal tea before the store opens, but couldn’t get the stove to work with the fuel canister I bought the other day. I tested the stove at home before I left but wasn’t allowed to bring the canister with me on the plane – something must be different, although the folks at MEC assured me it would work in Europe. Waited until after 8:30, then picked up my bread for the day – still warm from the oven.

After breakfast decided to tear down my tent, clean off all the mud from the first day’s rain and move to a flatter area – tired of slipping to the right and towards the bottom of the tent. When I brought the fuel canister and my little stove to the store Luisa’s sister-in-law was there – figured out that my stove needs a ‘screw on’ hookup while the canisters here are ‘click on’. Will have to ride into Bevagna and go to the ‘agrismo'(?) store and see if they can help me. Told them I was going to move my tent to a flatter area, then started scouting out potential sites. Hardly anyone here, but most of the ground is on a bit of a slant. OK for the motorhomes, but not so good for the tent.

Hung the clean ground covers on a line, as well as my sleeping bag and silk liner to air out. Didn’t have to disassemble the tent as it’s so light I can carry it in one piece with one hand. Was just trying to decide which spot to move to when grandpa came over and indicated he knew where a good site was. Led me to a really nice covered area, private and with room for both tent and yoga mat. Introduced myself to him (in Italian!) and found out his name is Vincenzo.

View through my tent

Got all setup (not that hard) and did yoga under the oak trees (at least I think they’re oaks). First time since Monday, and can I ever feel it. Sitting cross-legged for hours at a time might be ok for Buddhist monks, but I’m not into it.

It got a bit cloudy and windy – decided to go into Bevagna tomorrow and just hang around camp today. Roland and Nell are leaving on Saturday, and have invited me to have dinner with them tomorrow evening. I think I’ll move to their spot when they leave, as it seems that my new, private area doesn’t get internet access.

Went for a short walk and up to the seating area outside the bar/store where there is internet. It’s nice and quiet here – right near a road, but hardy any traffic.

Pretty tired, but went for a short bike ride – it’s sure hilly around here. The grades on the road that the campground is on are frequently 15% – going down is great, but riding back up is not. Still threatening to storm, but no rain yet. At least my new tent space is covered so everything won’t be getting wet and muddy if it does rain.

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