Stage 5: San Gimignano to Colle di Val d'Elsa

14.5 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 351/541
Steps: 26,305
Total distance traveled: 99.6
Distance to Rome: 319.4

Today was another short hike, but the trail tested us with a couple of very steep climbs over extremey rough terrain

But let's start at the beginning.

Yesterday, we came across long lineups in front of two Gelato shops. One claimed to be the world's best, and the other, with the longer queue of the two, the world's most famous. Unwilling to wait in line an hour for a cup of Gelato, we gave them both a pass.

We set out from our apartment at around 8:00 this morning, and, as fate would have it, The World's Most Famous Gelato shop was open, and there was no queue! What could be better than a cup of The World's Most Famous Gelato for breakfast? And so we indulged. After having sampled their product, I would have to say that the Gelato Brenda and I had in Sicily years ago may have been less famous, but was certainly the world's best in our opinion.

Although today's walk was short, and not very hilly, it was nonetheless arduous. The trails were rugged and uneven, the uphill climbs were long, and very steep at times. The day was hot, but we were ever so grateful for the sunny weather because some of the paths would have been mud slides in the rain. And, once again, there were no water stations or restaurants along the way.

Colle di Val d'Elsa has an upper and a lower section. The upper part is a well-preserved medieval hilltop town, and the lower is not terribly interesting nor historic.

Sadly, today's stage ended in the lower part, so although we walked through the historic upper town, we were too tired to climb back up to explore it further.

On the plus side, after starting with Gelato, this eating day just kept getting better. For lunch we shared a large mixed salad and a plate of orecchiette with a broccoli and butter sauce. For dinner, Brenda found a restaurant that served tapas and wine. Some may argue, but one can only eat so much pasta and pizza.

At La Dama Juana, we shared a vegetarian tapas platter that was delicious, creative and filled with a variety of ethnic influences. Not your typical Spanish tapas. We accompanied the platter with sparkling Reisling that was fermented with yeast in the bottle. We'd never seen or tasted a Reisling made in that fashion, let alone a sparkler, but it was a perfect pairing with all but one of the tapas.

This was, all in all, a pretty good day on La Francigena.Read more