Category: 2015

5th June 2015. “Aftermath”** of my Via 2015.

I have had the privilege of living the “extraordinary” ordinary – the simple act of walking – over the last month for roughly 450km, accompanied and supported all along by you, my family and friends. I am grateful for having had the health and energy to do this. However, I now accept that I can’t complete my Via at this time and while I am somewhat disappointed (how I would have loved to take you all to Rome!), this acceptance is also part of the way of the Via… I often thought of what Sigeric and other such pilgrims might have experienced and this has guided me in my attitude towards what I was living through and enabled me to put things into perspective. I’ve also wondered about the meaning of a “pilgrimage” in today’s world. Mine was primarily a long walk which was always more about the “travelling” than the destination …but perhaps it will take some time to know what it has brought me and for its “lessons” to be assimilated…but I have a sense of happiness in having walked the Via thus far.

Although it was mostly a sheer pleasure, walking was not always easy, sometimes it was very challenging in difficult conditions, through some unattractive places, with a few moments of discouragement, but these were more than overcome by unexpected joys, encounters, and beauty that lightened my load and lifted my spirits. My main fear was in having an accident and injuring myself in a lonely place but this fortunately didn’t eventuate… Perhaps someone was watching over me…(and at times there had been the following Romanians and Italians…not to mention, among others, my ex-Belgian Army Reserve captain and mtimw!).

As in real life, no day is like another and one adjusts to what comes one’s way. I never suffered from “solitude” and have never had the occasion to read anything other than my guide-book or sometimes look up facts on the Internet when wifi was available (during the 5 hour wait at the airport in Florence I finally took out a stash of FT cryptic crosswords which I had brought from home). I have been completely cut off from what has been happening in the world at large and am a bit apprehensive at being part of it again.

I have met some wonderful people and seen and experienced many wondrous and beautiful sights, events and places, the warmth of unexpected and fortuitous encounters, marks of friendship, adventures, laughter and joys, incredible acts of kindness, the warmth of hostel receptions, the constant gratitude for the dedication of the people who mark the waysigns which so often comforted me, all of which have contributed to the personal satisfaction of my venture, have enriched me, and given me enough memories for a lifetime… I think I have even made a few new friends, which have perhaps come into my life “for a reason, for a season or for a lifetime”.

I don’t expect that I am a changed person, just someone who has perhaps learnt to know herself a little better, to accept her limits, to have a greater respect for people who live out their daily existence with courage, fortitude and good humour, to marvel at the beauties of nature, and to appreciate the wonder of the “present moment” – which it was a privilege to experience…  And especially for me with my personality, learning to take one step at a time, day by day…and to look where I was putting my feet! And I now have the gift of the slower-moving time of summer to try and digest what I have experienced and lived through.

I think that in a previous life I must have been born Italian. I love the Italian people, even though I tease them at times, their wonderful zest for life, their kindness and goodness, tolerance and consideration towards others (except their political class and rightly so!), their willingness to volunteer to provide service and to enable other services to function, the warmth which prevails in places such as bars, their appreciation of beauty even in the smallest of things and in their ways of doing things. And I love their beautiful country which I have discovered more fully walking on “other” paths…the Apennines, Lunigiana, the marble country… I accept that bars have a “closing day” and that wifi (like a cappuch) is not always available (for modern-day pilgrims…). I think that Italy, which is going through a terrible economic crisis which makes life difficult for so many, only functions because of the spirit of its people. I salute them!

Sitting on my terrace the world comes to me – the constant bird songs, the cries of the children in the primary school next door, the beauty of my terrace garden, and the bells of the church along the road ringing out the passage of time. So, yes, it is good to be home in spite of the deception I first felt in accepting that I wouldn’t make it to Rome this time around. However I am hopeful that my medical treatment will be successful and my trusty feet have already received some well-merited TLC from the podiatrist in my village.

My unfinished-as-yet walk is principally dedicated to Catherine, my friend, physio and Nordic-walking teacher who enabled me to be as active as I’ve been both before and after my knee replacement, and who, knowing me well, gave me the wisest advice which has accompanied me every single day and for which I thank her (il y avait des jours quand j’ai du utiliser plus de bonbons, et des jours pas de tout, chere Catherine, mais ils m’en restent toujours…). And it is also dedicated to those of my family and friends who can’t for many reasons contemplate such an undertaking – I have been walking for you and hope I have enabled you to “live” the path we have walked together. So it’s an”arrivederci” until we walk together again.

**. Aftermath is, a friend tells me, what the second harvest of hay is called and is I think, with a step back for reflection, an appropriate title for this final text.

3rd June 2015. Florence to Geneva
Good weather but have been inside all the time…

Shorter version:
Up early to pack up and I had breakfast in my room, then taxi to airport when driver became another angel & helped me, checked in but plane was 5 hours late in taking off, friend met me at Geneva airport, & home to find my brother and another friend who had brought crutches for me, dinner in a village restaurant & back to my own bed!

Longer version:
I awoke before the alarm as I had to pack up & breakfast & get a taxi to the airport. I called my (Australian!) rheumatologist in Geneva and got an appointment for 9 tomorrow morning! When I hobbled out to the reception desk to ask where the breakfast room was, the male receptionist took one look at me and said that it was up another floor & that they would serve me in my room! 10 minutes later a waitress brought me a great tray of food & hot tea – first kindness of the day which was much appreciated.

I was helped out into a taxi & at the airport I asked the driver to please be sure that I was at the right place as I didn’t want to have to move too much…to which he replied no problem & went to push a buzzer by the entrance to ask for help and he stayed for several minutes until someone came with a wheel chair! 2nd kindness of the day.

I went straight to the top of the line to be checked in and was then wheeled through security etc to the departure gate. Third kindness of the day. We were 8 people going to Geneva on a propellor plane & the departure time passed and we learned that a bird had hit the propellor on the way from Geneva and it had to be fixed…in fact there was no damage but an authorised person had to sign off that it was OK to fly…and that person was very elusive. A passenger sitting opposite started to speak to me and she was an American lyric singer, specialised in very early 17th C music, Jill Feldman who lives in Tuscany with her Dutch recorder-player husband. She was going to Lausanne to be a judge in a lyric competition tomorrow. She was delightful.

Time was passing with no news & Jill kept asking, but still no news forthcoming. Also no refreshment…at one time the young woman at the desk spoke of vouchers which she said she had “in her hand” (& Jill said “well please put them into my hand!”) but they still had to decide whether we’d have the right to €5 or €10 (for 8 people…but I don’t know who would have decided as it was a flight of Geneva-based Darwin airlines, with an Alitalia flight number, operated by Ethiad Regional…), but nothing eventuated… Jill offered to wheel me to the toilet which I gratefully accepted (& even though she’d broken her ankle in 5 places 6 months before in the crater of a volcano in Cap Verde she insisted she had to walk…another kindness).

We were all amused by the older gentleman in a wheel chair beside me who suddenly got up, put his suitcase in the wheel chair and wheeled it off to the bar! He was quite another character…long interesting story… Finally after 16h00 things began to move a little & I was taken away to be lifted up to the plane where I just had to walk to my seat and we took off nearly 5 hours late. The flight was fantastic and as we weren’t flying at great altitude I was interested to recognise a place or two I’d walked to, Sarzana, Pietrasanta, and to see the truly beautiful Apennines with many parallel valleys go virtually into the sea. The rugged Italian coastline was impressive in the late afternoon light, then we flew up and right over the top of Mt Blanc with Chamonix in the valley below, and then I could see the Jet d’Eau of Geneva!

Said goodbye to my travelling companions & was met by a wheelchair & taken right out to meet my friend and then to the carpark lift & I was nearly home, still smiling. At home Ross greeted me and another friend had brought some crutches so I could be mobile. We all had a glass of champagne!

Thursday morning:
My rheumatologist thinks it may be tendinitis (if it is this is great news) which we will treat with anti-inflammatories and cold packs for a few days and, if needs be, I can have a scan next week. So am fine and will sign off from my 2015 Via tomorrow. Thanks for all the concern shown since you have received news of my knee problem.

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!

31st May 2015  Sienna

Shorter version:
Lovely long breakfast in the garden (how I am going to miss this tomorrow…).  I walked to the cathedral for mass & saw one of the Contrade celebrating their saint’s day. An easy afternoon studying the route for the next few days which will be the most challenging of the Via in Italy… Wonderful experience in the Campo,this evening as the contrade which will participate in the next Palio on 2nd July are named!

Longer version:
After another lovely long breakfast in the garden of the hotel, I walked into the centro storico to go to mass at the Duomo at 11h00. On the way I saw a distinguished-looking man wearing a colored scarf with his linen jacket and he confirmed that this was the flag of his contrada (area of the city). In Sienna there are 17 contrade, each with its own church and patron saint. I asked whether he always wore it and he said No but today was the feast day of the patron saint of his contrada & also the Lord’s day. And then I heard drumming echoing through the streets and saw drum bands and supporters dressed in costume and waving flags, all going towards the same contrada church.

I walked on to the cathedral where I was admitted to the mass. The church looked splendid all ulit up and with many flowers (and no tourists allowed in during the mass!).

The service in this massive and so beautiful building, with the lights, the music and the choir was remarkable and allowed one time to reflect and think a little more deeply. At the end of the service the bells began to ring out joyfully. It was lovely walking through the city, a little calmer than yesterday. I spent some time this afternoon looking at the route for the days ahead as the next three days will be the most challenging of the whole Via in Italy – very long stages and ending up at an altitude of over 800m…so we will see.  It was so easy to tell mtimw that I would go to Rome but I know it will be a true case of day by day…one if the lessons I’ve learnt from the Via.
In the early evening we went in to the centro storico to see a very unique event – the selection of the contrade which would participate in the next Palio (the famous horse race in Sienna) on 2nd July. Of the 17 contrade only 10 can participate in one Palio. So each time there are the 7 who couldn’t participate in the preceding race and three more to be named (in today’s draw 4 had to be chosen as one was disqualified from participating).

So the flags of the 6 who would automatically participate were hanging from the lower windows of the Municipal Palace (while the flag of the disqualified contrade was hanging one level up for a future participation). The drawing was taking place in the municipal palace. We were comfortably installed on the terrace of a bar at the top of the Campo with a good view and our Aperol Spritz but then thousands of people started to arrive in time for the 7pm announcement.

The Campo was full to breaking point and all the little access streets and steps also, whole families out together wearing scarves etc of their contrada. At 7pm the trumpets played out of the lower windows and the flag of the first contrada selected was raised beside the other 6. Great cheering went up from the supporters. This was repeated 3 more times, with much excitement and noise everywhere. Then the flags of the unlucky contrade were placed out beside that of the disqualified contrade. Within 15-30 mins the Campo was almost empty again…I suppose the supporters were either celebrating or commiserating in home territory… It was a pleasure to be a witness to this important event for the people of Sienna. We went our merry way to a little restaurant where I ate local sausages with white beans. Then home to pack up for the big day tomorrow.

30th May 2015  In Sienna

Beautiful weather

Shorter version:
Lazy long breakfast in the beautiful garden of the hotel with views over the countryside. Then a walk through town, a stop in the Nannini cafe for coffee and cake, a walk through the town to visit the cathedral and the national pinocotecca. A drink in the Campo and then dinner in a lovely osteria. A good R&R day.

Longer version:
Long lazy breakfast in most un-pilgrim like place in a garden with incredible views over the countryside (which is so close to Central Sienna just outside one of the city gates) which was hard to leave…

We went into the centro storico and walked around, as ever marvelling at the architecture and the atmosphere of the city. Went into Nannini’s for a light meal before continuing walk through old Sienna. I left Ross & headed to the late 12th C Duomo which is a sublime building in white and dark green marble.

I bought an entry ticket with an audio guide and once again (was first here in 1973 and last here 18 months ago with several visits between) visited this magnificent edifice. Apart from the impressive marble facade in white and dark green (black?) striped marble, the interior is also in striped marble but the main attraction inside is the floor – with the inlaid marble designs depicting the sybils, scenes from the bible, etc, etc.

You would need to look on the Internet to have more information, but suffice it to say that it is a marvel…then there was the adjacent Piccolomini library with a magnificent ceiling and wall paintings and wonderful illuminated manuscripts.

Continue reading “Day 45 (2015) In Sienna”

29th May 2015  Abbadia a Isola to Sienna
19.8km
Beautiful weather

Shorter version:
After breakfast and a farewell ceremony at the hostel mtimw and I set off towards Sienna but via different routes for the first part of the way. All on dirt roads until outskirts of Sienna. Lovely stopping place on way. All going well & looking forward to a weekend of rest.

Longer version:
After breakfast provided in the hostel by our hospitaleros, we had a farewell ceremony to wish we pilgrims well outside the hostel, a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer plus another prayer for pilgrims. We took leave of our wonderful hosts, with hugs all round, and set off along flat dirt roads through fields of now ripening wheat.

I took leave of mtimw as they were going via Monteriggioni (a small completely-walled medieval 13th C town with 14 square towers in the walls which is now very touristy) and I was taking a short cut as I’d visited this unique little town before and didn’t wish to climb up to it.

I wished them Buon Cammino as I didn’t think I’d see them again. In fact I should have gone with them as the alternate route was through humid woods with tricky paths and mosquitoes AND it also climbed up to the same altitude as Monteriggioni…and at least I’d have found a bar there! Then on good dirt roads again, and not long afterwards, mtimw caught up with me and continued on past me (I said goodbye again!). There were also a group of British walkers who were walking for 6 days from Lucca to Sienna with their baggage being transported – they looked very bright and fresh! Onwards through fields and vineyards, up and down, through little hamlets (no bars!) but on good tracks.

Then I saw a sign for a resting place with water a little further on. When I arrived there who did I find but mtimw with 3 young Italians all drinking from a shared coffee mug and I was encouraged to stop which I did and have a sip of coffee as well as water.

It seems that, in addition to the water fountain, there was an Italian-style coffee pot and a water heater provided on a table under a shady tree with tree-trunk seats so one only had to bring one’s coffee ( they told me one could telephone for coffee but am not sure if they were joking or not as the young Italians, knowing the route, had their own coffee grains). Only thing missing for mtimw was the sugar! Anyhow a very pleasant interlude. Then off we set all aware that there was a division of the routes ahead where new signage took you on a very long alternative route to enter Sienna from the west instead of the north (to keep you off the road), and which we all wanted to avoid.

I don’t think I even saw the alternate route as we were through it before I realised it and then we were on the tarred road on the uphill road into the city. So once again I wished mtimw farewell as they were walking more quickly than me. It was 5.7 km on the road, quite busy and seemingly constantly up-hill although it can’t have been, and once again I caught up to mtimw and continued with them right into the magnificent Campo in the centre of the city.

I had asked a local (who looked up on his iPhone) where the street of my hotel was and it was right on the other side of the city, just outside the southern city gate. On the way in we passed the head-office of the oldest surviving bank in the world “Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena”, founded in 1472 and now Italy’s 3rd largest bank, which I had had the great fortune to be able to visit when staying in Sienna many years ago. So finally, after saying that I couldn’t join them for dinner, I took leave of mtimw for the last time as they will leave early in the morning to continue towards Rome (no rest days for them). On leaving Lucio said rather than asked “you are going to Rome, aren’t you?” to which I replied for the first time Yes!
It was a beautiful day, getting hotter, and I walked to my hotel where I awaited the arrival of my brother Ross who was coming to spend the weekend with me. A lovely day’s walk except for the long slug up into the city.
When my brother arrived we went into the Campo, hearing nearby church bells ringing 18h00, and had a drink looking at this magnificent fan-shaped sloping “square”, then dinner nearby where I had the very traditional wild boar & olive stew and roasted vegetables.
What a magical place Sienna is and there weren’t too many tourists there.
A good night’s sleep (after washing my clothes of course!).

28th May 2015  San Gimignano to Abbadia a Isola

20.9km
Fine weather all the way but getting quite hot in the middle of the day.

Shorter version:
Had a good breakfast with a view to die for from floor to ceiling! Walked up through San Gimignano before visitors arrived. Left the town in glorious weather and walked to Santa Lucia (no bar there), then on dirt roads through fields until Colle di Val d’Elsa, on to San Marziale on busy road, then on small dirt roads until Abbadia a Isola and into the hostel. Apart from a fall just before arriving (not serious), all going well. Wonderful reception at hostel (including a very moving welcome ceremony) & my aggressive fellow pilgrim becomes a friend.

Longer version:
I woke early to the sound of birds when, until last last night, it was only sounds of people in the streets. As I’d not had dinner in the restaurant I didn’t know it had a plate-glass back wall floor to ceiling with views over the whole valley (& this only a *** hotel!) so as well as having reasonable sustenance for my body I also had soul food as I ate. So beautiful.

I slipped up to the post office to try my Swiss post card in their bancomat (as it was rejected by a couple of bancomats which did not seem to recognise this type of card) but no luck there either. I hope it works in Sienna as it has worked before (& is supposed to work all over the world…). All the piazzas were full with a market being set up and perhaps this is a weekly happening as many local people were buying fresh food. Saw the streets without day-trippers.

I set off just as the first tourists from buses were entering the city and I saw many motor-homes with Dutch number plates going towards the town.

I was quickly out in the countryside with both fabulous views back to the town as well to the gorgeous green Tuscan countryside – undulating with olive groves, vineyards, woods, fields under cultivation, and valley after valley. No photo could do it justice. I walked to Santa Lucia along the road (no bar there…not looking good for a cappuch) and then got onto tracks which went steeply down-hill (& it’s well known that what goes down must go up…) through farms & olive groves. I passed a beautiful farmhouse (they were all very prosperous-looking) and there was a lovely fountain with a quote of Saint Francis of Assisi so I filled up my bottle (have to rehydrate for my cramp…) and then continued walking on little dirt roads.

I came out onto a little tarred road and met an older gentleman walking along the road and he spoke to me – he is 90 next birthday but I was a little sad for him as, apart from his family, there was apparently no possibility of social contact for him ( no bar). Then onto a track through undergrowth which was sodden and full of mosquitos…so as soon as I emerged from this I applied my repellent (bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted…). Continuing on small roads and tracks until Castiglioni at the entry to Colle di Val d’Elsa where I finally found a bar for a coffee just before noon! I didn’t need to walk up-hill to visit the beautiful old town as I’d already been there some years ago so continued on through the modern lower town to the road going towards San Marziale. It was getting very hot and I still had a long way to go… When I arrived there I sat under some trees to eat the remains of last night’s dinner which were good! Then off again up-hill through vineyards and farms on dirt roads. I was really seeing the countryside. Eventually I was approaching Abbadia a Isola on the edge of the road when, on a curve, I stepped back to avoid an on-coming car going quite fast and was on the ground again. No way to get up without taking off my back pack but no damage done which some Arnica cream to my shin and some Arnica granules couldn’t fix – however I was happy to arrive at the hostel which is in what was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1001 (Sigeric called it New Town in his documents) on a hilltop in a swampy area (why it is called an island) which welcomed pilgrims from its foundation until the start of its decline in the 14th century.

The church is Romanesque from the 11th century and is a treasure in cream coloured stone very similar to that in Chianni. The monastery is now been restored and is taking in pilgrims again since 2012 (with volunteers from a “hospilalero” Confraternity of Santi Cirino e Giacomo) and I am fortunate in being here tonight where I’ll have dinner and breakfast provided for a donation.

When I arrived I had been preceded by the three Italian male walkers (forewith known as My Three Italian Make Walkers – mtimw). I was fortunate as Paola put me in a second room &, as another couple who were expected didn’t arrive, I had the room to myself. I went to visit the church which is beautiful and tranquil. In the village this evening there is a “happening” to raise money for charity where it seems, according to the girl in the local bar, well-knows chefs are coming to prepare dinner for €35 a head, with a couple of big marquees set up for waiter service. I’ll be eating in the ostello which I am sure will also be good. Have just been speaking to Paola and Luisa who are here for a week as “hospitaleros” and are members of the association of Saint Giacomo in Montagnana, one of the seven walled towns near Padua in the Veneto area which I visited some years ago, so we were able to chat about that beautiful region and exchange information, especially on the painter Giorgione whose work, in the cathedral there, was being restored when I was there in 1999. His work is also represented in several of these towns and it is known he really visited the region as the walls of Montagnana (completely intact) figure in the background of several of his works.

Later: At 19h00 we pilgrims (I and mtimw…) met with Paola and Luisa for a very moving ceremony in which we were seated while Luisa washed and then kissed one foot of each pilgrim in turn as a sign of welcome while Paola read to each of us a prayer of welcome and a wish for the force to complete the pilgrimage. We all were very touched by this gesture even mtimw. Then we had a delicious dinner in a very convivial atmosphere and I ended up becoming good friends with the most aggressive of the Italians, Lucio, who has previously walked from Canterbury to the Gt. St. Bernard Pass & is completing the walk this year from St Rhemy), plus his two friends Mariano and Ivano (who joined him in Lucca for the walk to Rome). They are all from near Bolzano in the Alto-Adige province which borders Switzerland and Austria. One of them explained to me that the problem in Altopascio was that Lucio was used to being the first to use the shower whereas I had slipped in before him and he thought I was wasting time… And a very warm and laughter-filled evening for all (until 21.30 and then off to bed) and a wonderful end to a good day.

The spirit of the pilgrimage at its best. I can start to identify more with Chaucer’s pilgrims (who walked towards Canterbury…like Sigeric). Perhaps I begin to understand more Alison Raju’s dedication in the guidebook “to all those who begin their journey as a walker and end it as a pilgrim”.

Dinner consisted of spaghetti with tuna in a light tomato sauce with fresh oregano added at the last moment (good!), a delicious zucchini tart, emince of pork, lettuce and tomato salad, fennel salad, fresh onion, cheese, bell peppers stuffed with tuna, and fruit to finish. All accompanied by red wine & good Tuscan bread. We had no reason to be envious of the people outside…
Sent from my iPad

27th May 2015  Gambassi Terme (Chianni church) to San Gimignano
15.66km
Overcast day all along with very menacing clouds as I arrived in San Gimignano and a little rain, cooler.

Shorter version:
Breakfast in the hostel and then, after a quick visit to the church, I set off for Gambassi Terme for a coffee and then walked (down) out of town and quickly onto dirt or small tarred roads for most of the stage. Overcast skies but still incredible views. Finally into San Gimignano in rain and into hotel. All well.

Longer version:
As the volunteers do not sleep in the hostel Chiara had shown me last night where the key to the main building was so I could get in for breakfast – it was in one of 3 cups lined up on a shelf in an outside area. Breakfast, which had been laid out last night, was some sweet things but in a big tin there were slices of bread – Good! I slipped into the beautiful church again before setting off up to Gambassi Terme.

And I popped my head in the church there as well (the maps and the guide book always take you a church destination) before crossing over towards a bar but a priest called to me to point the way onwards but I said “Bar first!” and he said “OK”!

I was very quickly onto dirt roads (sometimes on the remains of Roman roads) & was going up and down. Over the day (ignoring the initial slog up to Gambassi Terme) I walked up for 6.3km (up 230m with a max ascent slope of 15%) and down for 7.0km (333m with a max descent slope of 15%) so it was quite a strenuous day, although over a shorter distance than yesterday. All the time there were wonderful views. I came across three men planting a new vineyard and they were putting the metal vine supports in place. When I walk in the vineyards next to my home I am always amazed how the metal poles line up perfectly from whichever angle you look at them and here were men doing the same, one with the wooden measuring stick, one being an overseer, and the other on a digging machine. When I signalled to the one with the measure (while he was waiting for the digger to get off the mobile phone) that they had to be precisely measured he nodded and smiled ‘Yes’.

Onwards up and down past vineyards, farms (once with a very fat and contented pig waddling across the road in front of me), olive groves, woods, roads lined with cypress trees and some very nice homes with the whole countryside a symphony of shades of green.

The little Santo Pietro church was a landmark but it is now a private home. In the village of Pancole there was the Sanctuary on the site of where the Virgin Mary appeared to a deaf-mute girl and cured her so the Virgin is venerated as the Mother of Divine Providence – of flour, oil,wine, and all life’s basic essentials. I went in to see the church, built in 1670 but destroyed in 1944 by German bombing and rebuilt in 1949. And there I met my Wayfarer friend again and she offered me some fruit and water while she was waiting for her charges whom she said would not be walking all the way as they had several visits to various places lined up and then it was two nights in San Gimignano before being bussed to Sienna to see the sights and then leaving for home…

I started walking up to the highest point of the day at Collemuccioli (uphill!) and I came across two middle-aged men planting in their vegetable garden & I teased then that they were running late & one smiled and said “in May” but we were the 27th… They already had the zucchini and tomatoes growing well and were planting onions, aubergines, peppers, cucumbers, beans, herbs, etc. Just after the summit there was yet another beautiful little Romanesque church, Pieve di Santa Maria a Cellole, first documented in 1109, which is now a monastery on the edge of a hill which dominated the valley below. So many gorgeous vIews but no photos as under the overcast skies they couldn’t do the landscape justice. And of course there were still the dogs but fortunately no pedestrian crossings…
At times I could see what looked like San Gimignano but thought it was just too close…but in the end it was but I had to do some more km to arrive there.

I was just thinking, 4km to go so I’ll be there is less than an hour, when I had a reality check with a bad cramp in my right calf…one must really keep one’s feet on the ground and not get ahead of oneself! I stretched my leg and just had to keep going (no Romanians or Italians coming along after me…). Very threatening skies when nearing the town and I had stopped at a little grocery store but with the black sky and it starting to spit I decided not to wait to be served but to go on as it was still a km to get up into the city.

On entering the city the rain came down and I asked a woman where my street was (on the other side going out of the walled town) & she said she’d show me on her way home. The old medieval town which is very well preserved with beautiful Romanesque and Gothic architecture, including its famous towers built by feuding families, is quite unique and has always been a stopping points for pilgrims on their way to Rome and is on the Via Francigena. It was also prosperous because of the fertile land around it. So this explains why it is a tourist centre and today there were already many tourists visiting and it seemed to me there was nothing but tourist shops selling specialised produce or gifts, restaurants, bars and gelati shops which claim to make the best gelati in the world (but I have some doubts about that)… I asked my guide how locals felt about about the tourists and she replied so matter-of-factly “It’s our work… No tourists, no work” which showed a sensible but completely different point of view to what I thought she’d say.

Into my hotel about lunchtime and my room overlooking the street, I found out the restaurant was closed (it’s Wednesday!) so after showering I decided to go back to the grocery shop (no others inside the town walls) and get myself some anti-pasti for dinner in my room. So off I set back through the town, had a gelati, stopped for a tea and a little cake, to the grocery and bought a wonderful selection of anti-pasti and some Tuscan bread. The rain was clearing so I walked around the various piazze admiring the architecture and the genius of those old builders and soaked up the atmosphere.
I was a bit worried about the cramp & it perhaps hindering me and then remembered a walking friend who warned about cramps if you get dehydrated, so I was pretty sure that I hadn’t been drinking enough so from now on a new drinking regime!
I took the opportunity to look at the route ahead and think about next week which will be quite challenging with a climb over Radicofani above 800 metres.

In case you are interested my dinner consisted of artichokes, semi-dried tomatoes, tuna, olives, grilled aubergine and capsicum, rice salad, fried porcini mushrooms, bread and wine.
Good night’s sleep as the tourists leave at the end of the day when all the shops close and quiet descends on the town.

26th May 2015
From San Miniato Basso to Gambassi Terme
27.99km
Beautiful day to start with becoming overcast about lunch time & spitting early afternoon

Shorter version:
Started out earlier than usual & slogged up 110m in altitude over a distance of 2 km to San Miniato Alto then took to small roads and dirt roads along the ridges for 15km, all the time accompanied by extraordinary vistas on all sides. Arrived in hostel which is attached to a most beautiful 12-13th century ‘pieve’, small church

Longer version:
Shared a room with the same Italian couple as the previous night but this time I slept well and was awake early so was ready to go about 7h15 (could only pack up once they woke up) & I then went to the local grocery/bakery to get food as today there will do no stopping places on the paths.
The slug up to San Miniato Alto was quite something but it was interesting to see this historic town spread along the crest of the hill and the views from its squares were fabulous. Had an early cappuccino before setting off to walk. Today was both a very strenuous exercise and also the most beautiful stage so far, walking most of the time along ridges with views to both sides.

To get technical, my map tells me that over the distance of 24km (ignoring my initial walk up) I walked up hill for 13.6km (a total ascent of 619m with an ascent slope between 7 and 12%) and downhill for 9.7km (a total descent of 596m with a descent slope between 8 and 11.5%) but suffice it to say it was a strenuous walk… However the views of a real northern Tuscan landscape were superb – rolling hills, very green as it is still spring, but with many wooded areas as well as olive groves, vineyards, some cultivation, and of course cypress trees everywhere.

The wild flowers were a dream in all colours. I saw some little dark red flowers I’d not seen before and they made carpets in the olive groves and in vineyards and at one point I saw a hillside which I thought brown but it was covered in swathes of these little flowers.

I thought that this flower would be today’s star until I saw some wild sweet pea flowers in a purple and red combination. I kept taking photos but they don’t represent the reality – as they say you have to have been there…

So, after leaving San Miniato Alto and walking along tarred roads (at one point there was a short stretch of subsided road with permanent traffic lights for one way traffic) for about 5km,

it was then for most of the time along the vie sterrate which are “dirt” roads except that they have much stone in them as well as many loose rocks, gravel and stones, so it is easy to slip if one is not attentative (& this evening the Italian man has a sprained ankle because he slipped…back home to Milan for them tomorrow). I kept looking at my sports watch to count off the km… My Italians (my Romanians of yesterday) were often in front of me but sometimes we caught up. Along the way I saw two First Aid boxes on stands, for the use of pilgrims, which contained basic medicines, syringes, a pen, phone numbers for help, etc. as well as commemorative plaques for the 500th anniversary, in 2006, of the founding of the Swiss Guards at the Vatican.

After 6km of these stone roads I walked along the remains of a Roman road into Coiano where I saw an Italian woman with a van and a T shirt with the logo “The Wayfarers”. We spoke and she was waiting for a group of tourists who were also walking but without packs and with every facility laid on – gourmet picnic, water stops, an olive-tasting in a fattoria in Coiano, etc. I saw her again a couple of hours later much further on and she said they’d be having a late lunch at 14h30 as they’d only just left the olive tasting place (where she said they tasted the olive oils but didn’t use the bread…). I asked her if they were staying in a hostel and she said no that this was an expensive trip and that they’d be in very good hotels but she did tell me to look out for the little pieve (church) at the entrance to Gambassi Terme and this is exactly where I’m staying tonight so perhaps luxury hotels don’t always have the privileges…

I kept stopping to look at the views, drink, take photos. After Coiano there were more narrow and grassy tracks through woods and then I saw that some of the paths had been widened by the grass each side being cut and I finally came across the man who was doing it.

It seemed he belonged to an association which was trying to improve the tourist possibilities of under-developed areas. It told me it would be another 2 & a half hours to Gambassi Terme so I thought I should have my delicious sandwich of fresh marinated anchovies with buffalo mozzarella which the woman at the grocery store said would make them taste less salty and she was right. I encountered a new pilgrim, a Frenchman who said he’d heard of me from another pilgrim…no secrets on the Via, but he is staying further on tonight. Then it became more overcast and started to spit rain (the Frenchman said we were only 5 minutes away from finer weather but am not sure how one could make up the 5 minutes) so I covered up my rucksack.

I walked the rest of the way in spitting rain and finally arrived at the little pieve and admired it from the outside (but door locked) & started walking the last km to Gambassi Terme when I suddenly realised the hostel name at the church was where I was staying for the night… Found some lovely volunteers running the restored buildings linked to the church and I splurged and asked for a single room (at the great cost of €4 extra) instead of a dormitory… Also for a small cost dinner and breakfast were provided. Before dinner I went into the Romanesque church from the hostel and it is simply stunning. Look up the beautiful Santa Maria Assunta church at Chianni (near Gambessi Terme) all in yellow stone (like the Cotswolds) on the Internet to see some photos. Chiara, the young woman at the desk, said people come from all over to get married here…

Then my new friend from The Wayfarers turned up with her group to visit the church…
I was sorry to hear that my Italian companions (& sometimes “Romanians”…) would be leaving to return home tomorrow because of his sprained ankle as they’d come for just the week and had only done 3 days… We had an adequate meal in the hostel and then it was off to bed. The weather has turned cooler and everyone had added a layer of clothes this evening. My room was quite cold so I was glad of an extra blanket.