CAGLI (part II): Get clean on the cheap ... and see some amazing terrain

NO SHOWER? NO PROBLEM!

There’s no reason to stay sand-covered and salt-flavored after a day at the beach, and we learned just how easy it is to stay clean.

Even without the traditional shower curtain.

We found ourselves in a dilemma when our money spending started to exceed our money savings. It was only after a day of swimming in the Adriatic near Fano and allowing sand to accumulate all over our bodies did we realize that a decent hotel room was out of the question.

That’s when Philly came to a mind-blowing epiphany: bathe in the Cagli waterfall where we love to swim. It’s free, it’s clean, and it’s really the only option we had. Sure, the water was a little cold and there were tiny minnows brushing up against our legs while we shaved them. But once we got past these minor details – as well as the onlookers stares, points and laughter - we were as good as clean.

What better way can you freshen up (and in the process help preserve the environment) than bathing and washing in a natural body of water?

And unless you’re planning on moving to the Sahara, you’re never more than a few minutes away from a nice, clean shower.

Especially here in the mountainous Le Marche region.

- Ann Curran

WE PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH ...

Caitlyn, Philly, Annie and I return to Cagli, our home for a month last summer, to watch the World Cup championship game between Italy and France.

We are drained from spending the day in Fano but we are anxious.

With no plan other than showing up, we arrive in the piazza still dirty from a day at Fano’s beach. We have nothing more than a change of clothes and our sandy beach towels. Not seeing anyone we know we decide to resort to our back-up plan and head north toward the waterfalls, one of Cagli’s best-known spots for hot summer days.

The waterfalls are located slightly outside of town but easily within walking distance. The small path leading down the hill, however, is steep and the slightest misstep could lead to a very serious injury.

Having said that, we make our way down, excited at the prospect of returning as well as eager to wash the salt from the ocean off of our bodies. The path is small and winds down the side of the mountain, ending at a rickety (but recently added) bridge.

After the bridge, we hop down to a collection of large rocks. We scale our way down the final rock only to be presented with a 15-foot drop.

This is the tricky part: I drop my bags and shoes down the drop and then proceed to slowly climb down, blindly placing my foot on small pieces of rock that jut out of the larger wall

Happy to reach the bottom I help bring down more bags as everyone else makes there way down.

Philly grabs her stolen bar of soap from the previous night’s hotel, we climb over the rocks into the freezing cold mountain water and we proceed to bath.

Less than an hour later we emerge from the tall mountain weeds clean and in a fresh change of clothes, eager and happy to watch Italy humble the France.

- Berit Baugher