Rest day at Monteriggioni

It rained overnight and was still wet and cold this morning. As we were walking toward our destination, we came upon a taxi stand and a bus station. I asked Phil if he would like to ride to Monteriggioni instead of walking, and he said yes.

Part of my reasoning is that the path went by the river and had several river crossings. The photos show pilgrims crossing on flat stones hanging onto cables. Not really my thing in the cold, and with rain, I knew we'd be going through lots of mud again.

I bought 2 bus tickets to Monteriggioni, which is a tiny walled village on top of a hill. It still has towers and only 2 gates. Today it is mostly a tourist destination and in winter it is very quiet and not crowded.

We caught the bus and walked up the hill to our apartment. It is inside the walls of the village and it is really cold with authentic stone walls. We're sitting with our jackets on directly under the heater!

When we arrived, we walked around and then picked out a place for lunch. We had a Tuscan tasting menu with appetizers, pasta, steak, and cookies with Sherry for dessert.

The first references to this town were in the 900s. It was a stronghold due to its towers and location. It was also an important church headquarters. It survived because in the Middle Ages, it was hit hard by the plague, and it was in an out of the way location. People kind of forgot about it until more recent times.

Tomorrow the route is very long so I bought bus tickets to shorten the walk. We'll catch a bus about 9:30 and walk the last 5 miles or so into Siena. That will be our last pilgrim day until Spain.Read more