Stage 3: San Miniato to Gambassi Terme

24.7 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 999/785
Steps: 33911
Total distance travelled: 71.1
Distance to Rome: 347.9

Well, I have to admit, those picturesque, rolling, Tuscan hills almost beat me into submission today.

We left the convent at 7:00AM sharp this morning under perfect weather conditions, once again. We had opted in for the breakfast package at the convent, which consisted of nothing but corn flakes, white sliced bread, jam, coffee and packaged cookies. Brenda and I each grabbed four packages of cookies, in case we got hungry on the trail, and hit the road.

We had been warned that there was no water or food available on this stage until we reached kilometer 12, the halfway point. When we got there, however we learned the water station was 100 meters away, but there was no food within a 2.5 km radius. Ok, cookies it is, then.

As it turned out, there was no food available AT ALL on this walk. So, by the time we got to kilometer 20, on empty stomachs, I began running out of gas. Over the last four kilometers, the elevation of the trail rises steadily from 78m to 324m. Cruel and unusual punishment.

On the plus side, the views for most of our walk were all worthy of being featured on postcards from Tuscany.

Once we checked into our accommodations, we went out for a really nice lunch along with a bottle of Prosecco. Once back at the AirBnb, I laid down and passed out for three hours. Man, I needed that.

Gambassi Terme is a small, but charming hillside town. It's main tourist attraction is it's thermal hot springs, which we sadly didn't have time to visit.

In the town square you'll find a bell tower with something seated atop the bell. I couldn't make out what it was, but using the zoom on my camera, I could see that it's a statue dressed like a wooden puppet. Apparently, there are a few bell towers like this in Tuscany, with each puppet having a different name. This one is named, "Membrino". In any case a few minutes later, at 4PM, the bell chimed the hour as Membrino raised and lowered the hammer. Very cute.

Tuscany is known for it's mushrooms, particularly white or black truffles, and porcini. On our travels today, we came across a wooden carving, but we weren't sure if the carver was celebrating porcini mushrooms or something else.

Tomorrow we move on to San Gimignano, one of the towns in Tuscany most popular with tourists. It's only half the distance and elevation gain we covered today, which makes me VERY happy.Read more