1st June 2015 Sienna to Ponte d’Arbia
26.5km
Beautiful weather but quite hot – weather getting hotter as the week goes on.
Am now starting Section 5 of my guide book (from Sienna to Rome, 255km)
Shorter version:
Walked out of the hotel right onto the Via out of Sienna! Quickly onto a small road through houses and I was in the countryside along a ridge with splendid views on each side, then a tarred road and path into Borgo Vecchio (where the best surprise of the day happened). Then walked alongside a railway & across country up and down through Grancio di Cuna, and then on good dirt roads to Quinciano, then several km along a railway line & into Ponte d’Arbia. All well.
Longer version:
After an early (for the hotel) good breakfast I had to sling my rucksack onto my shoulders again and be on my way, easily done as the road next to the hotel was the Via! I was almost immediately going through houses on the outskirts of Sienna, virtually in the countryside, and along a ridge for 5 km with beautiful views to both sides. One could see the many valleys with early morning mist rising from them and magnificent landscapes which were impossible to capture on film. I was drinking this beauty up!
I came to a main road and there was a bar so I was able to have a very early cappuch as I had decided not to let any opportunity pass… About a km later I had the great surprise of the day when I came to a big roundabout which I was to cross over and then turn onto dirt roads through fields for 3km, but what did I see at the roundabout but a wide track with the word NEW with an arrow onto it.
It was a stone path parallel to the road, about 2-3m wide and flat, so instead of zig-zagging through fields I probably walked for a km less with no stress and I even heard frogs and birds. At the end of this wonderful track in Borgovecchio there was another bar so of course I went in for a second cappuch & a glass of water (to keep the water levels up) but the lady refused to serve me tap water (when I’d filled up my bottles at the hotel!) as she said it was not potable.
I walked along a dirt road beside a disused railway line into Isola d’Arbia and then zig-zagged a little to the outskirts of a very modern little village Ponte a Tressa and I noticed that two parallel streets were named after Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the anti-mafia judges who were killed in explosions over 20 years ago in Sicily so they are not forgotten in this tiny place. Up and down a little through countryside, and into Grancia di Cuna which is a very old and pretty little hamlet with a unique example of a fortified farm and a drinking fountain. So I quickly emptied what remained of my water from the hotel and refilled my bottles! Then it was a really beautiful (as opposed to just beautiful) walk along good dirts roads, seeming always to be going up and down with 360 degree views of the southern Tuscan landscape. There were big fields of cereals, some fodder plantations, even sunflowers which were about 30cm tall, all less green, more yellowish, than further north and more undulating with many fields already harvested for hay with big bales scattered around them. Magnificent!
I met a pilgrim & when I asked him what language he spoke he replied German, and I said that I was sorry not to speak German he replied “that’s not my problem”! He asked me how long I’d been walking and from where (28 days from Pavia) had replied he’d been walking 28 days from Munich!!! Perhaps he’d had a little help with public transport to pass the Grand Saint Bernard Pass which would have been snow-covered until last week…
Then I came to a big two-story farm on top of a hill with 360 degree views, with a table and chairs covered by a roof outside the farm. I called to the people working outside constructing something and a man came over & said no problem to sit down & would I like some water?
I declined with thanks and sat there with fabulous views to eat my sandwich lunch feeling like a queen! On through the hamlet of Greppo to Quinciano (with a very substantial church for a hamlet…but closed as is now private property) and then I started to walk beside the railway again for a few km (flat!) & imagine my surprise when a small train came by!
From then on along a dirt road into Ponte d’Arbia to the hostel which was closed. A man working nearby kindly called the person who was responsible for the hostelI and said I’d reserved & then I was let in by a couple already inside. Giuseppe arrived to say that his wife had sent me a mail this morning (at 11h15!) to say the hostel was full as a group of 19 were arriving but now said I could stay…relief! He also gave me information on the route ahead and allayed my fears a little as to Wednesday’s climb up to Radicofani.
After a shower I walked into the village to have a tea went to the osteria which Giuseppe has recommended as perhaps having more typical food of the area than the pizzeria opposite and I asked if I could eat there this evening. It was the bright young girl behind the counter who asked Are you alone or not? Good question! Returned to the ostello & was able to let the group (18 instead of 19! which gave me a bed…) into the hostel & Giuseppe’s wife arrived to see them all in. They were a group of friends from the Veneto region and were walking a little and visiting many places for a couple of days (with “il ponte” making it a long weekend with the national day tomorrow) but with support of transport. They are thankfully going in the opposite direction which means they won’t be blocking the ostelli in my direction…
Not long after I smelt wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen & my roommates invited me to eat with them but I went to the osteria garden. I had a meal of antipasti of the area, meats & cheeses, with an nice anchovy & parsley sauce and a little bowl of delicious pickled garlic.
Followed by a dish of picci (a thick type of spaghetti which I ate in this area 2 years ago) with a ragu sauce followed by grilled vegetables with a salad, and an amaro to digest it all!
Lively ten year old Emma, apparently the daughter of the owner of the osteria, was the star of the evening enabling me to get onto wifi and an all other sort of information-giver! Returned to the hostel for hopefully a good night’s sleep…slept like a log!