La Francigena

A 419 km hike from Lucca in Tuscany to The Vatican in Rome. Weiterlesen

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Beginn der Reise
20. September 2026
La Francigena
Andiamo!
20. September in Kanada ⛅ 18 °C
Four years ago, Brenda and I walked the Portuguese Camino with our friends, Anita and Ernie. Ever since, we've bounced around the idea of doing another Camino and, in August, we pulled the trigger and bought our flights to Italy for round 2.

Why this year? Well, I turned 70 in January, and, as we grow less young, we see more and more of our friends and acquaintances contracting illnesses or leaving this world. We figured we had best start scratching things off the bucket list while we're still fit enough and able to do them.

As it turned out, I've had some health issues of late (not serious enough to keep me at home), and Brenda's recurring back problem reared it's ugly head three weeks ago, and, up until this week, it wasn't clear whether she'd be able to fly. Fortunately, thanks to a good physiotherapist, Brenda diligently performing her exercises, and a little luck, she was given the all clear to travel this past Thursday. Phew!

But the travel gremlins weren't done with us yet. Yesterday, we checked in to our flight to Rome and managed to snag decent seats, with a short stopover in Montreal. I woke up this morning at 6:00 only to learn that our flight to Montreal was cancelled, and we've been rerouted through San Francisco. AND, the only seats available were middle seats for the San Fran leg. Not ideal for me with my long legs, and Brenda's need to stretch her back out every hour. We spent the next couple of hours trying to find an alternate route, to no avail. On the plus side, we have good seats on the almost 12-hour San Fran to Rome flight, so, despite breaking my promise not to set foot in the USA for the moment, everything worked out in the end.

We arrive in Rome at 1:40 PM tomorrow when we'll head straight to the train station to catch a ride to Lucca.

And so the adventure begins.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
The Adventure Begins
21. September in Italien ⛅ 30 °C
After departing Vancouver almost twenty minutes late, our ninety minute layover in San Francisco was reduced to twenty-five minutes by the time we de-planed. And then we learned that our flight to Rome was to depart from Gate G9, literally the farthest point from the gate we were at.

Typically, airlines close the boarding gates fifteen minutes prior to the plane's departure, which resulted in our making what felt like a two kilometer dash through the airport, with our carry-on luggage in hand.

In the end, it seems we weren't the only late arrivals, so we probably could have made a less frantic dash.

The last few flights I've taken have found me seated next to oversized people who infringe drastically upon my personal space, and this flight was no different. On a shorter flight, I grin and bear the discomfort and continual armrest war, but I was to spend almost the next twelve hours next to this guy, whose legs apparently required a ninety-degree spread. Fortunately, a flight attendant found me a comparable seat on the other side of the plane that had an empty seat next to me.

The flight was smooth, and the food and overall service were both shockingly good for United Airlines. However, I only managed to get in about four total hours of sporadic shuteye, and Brenda says she only slept for thirty minutes.

We arrived in Rome at 1:24 PM local time and made our way to the train station. We foolishly bought our tickets to Lucca from a self-serve kiosk, and ended up getting on the wrong train into Rome, which bypassed the station where we were supposed to make the first of our two transfers. The train that we were supposed to transfer to left the station three minutes after ours pulled in. The ticketing agent at the Rome station was obviously accustomed to stupid tourists screwing up their travel plans, and happily issued us new tickets at a cost of an additional €40. That was on top of the extra €10 we had to pay the conductor for having taken the wrong train from the airport.

If all goes well from now on, we should get to Lucca at around 8:00 this evening.

Hopefully the adventures we encounter on the rest of this journey will be more enjoyable than those we've encountered so far.Weiterlesen
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I hope everything goes smoothly from hereon!! We will be super careful when we do our train journey from Rome to Varenna ( with a transfer!!) eek [Boop]
21.09.26AntwortenÜbersetzen
Brenda and RochWe suggest you go straight to a ticket agent and walk right past the self serve ticketing machines.
21.09.26AntwortenÜbersetzen
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La Francigena
Lucca
21.–24. Sept. in Italien ⛅ 29 °C
After arriving in Lucca two days ago, Brenda and I have done little more than eat, drink, and recover from our jet lag.

Well, that's not entirely true. On our first day, we signed up for a walking tour detailing "Five Secrets of Lucca". Although it t sounded intriguing, in reality, it was not terribly interesting. Our guide (Sergio) who had a doctorate in the history of the region, and was clearly well versed on the subject, but his less than perfect English, and his tendency to stray from the topic at hand, made the tour a bit of a snoozefest.

Nonetheless, we learned that Napoleon Bonaparte's two sisters, Elisa and Patricia were instrumental in bringing Lucca into the modern age and out of its poor-cousin reputation.

Sergio pointed out to us the Labyrith that was carved into one of the columns of the Cathedral's portico in the 12 th century, which, he claimed, inspired Dante to write the Divine Comedy.

The Cathedral has a very quirky facade, in that all of its columns are decorated differently. According to local legend, the city announced a contest for the best column, then took all of the entries without paying the artists. The Cathedral is also home to a wooden crucifix, that tradition claims, was carved by Nicodemus, a contemporary of Jesus, capturing Christ's actual likeness. Art historians date it more prosaically to the late 8th or early 9th century, but its significance transcended questions of provenance. The Volto Santo made Lucca a major pilgrimage destination, drawing travelers from across medieval Europe.

The other major religious site here is the San Michele in Foro basilica, built in the 11th century, which also bears four tiers of unmatched columns. I haven't found any explanation as to why this building's columns are unmatched, but one has to assume that both structures had the same architect.

Our guide later delved into the life and times of Giacomo Puccini, who was born in Lucca. His image and name appear in various places all over Lucca, and even the names of his works, particularly Turandot, appear even on street signs.

The food here in Lucca has been amazing. Of course, no one does pizza and pasta like the Italians, and we've indulged considerably in both. Last night, we capped off our evening with a bowl of Gelato, and today, we hit a pastry shop and picked up a few goodies to end our take-out pizza-by the-slice dinner. All components were excellent. We washed our take-out pizza down with a bottle of Morellino di Scansano, a Tuscan wine we rarely see back home.

Lucca is surrounded by a four-kilometer-long defensive wall, eighty meters wide, that now serves as a walking/running/cycling path around the city. This morning we walked around the circuit to try out and get accustomed to the trekking poles we bought yesterday. We were both pretty clumsy at first, but we got the hang of things pretty quickly.

Tomorrow morning we start our 419-kilometer trek to the Vatican, with our first stop, Altopascio, 18.5 kilometers away. We're both well rested and eager to begin. The beautiful Tuscan countryside is calling us.Weiterlesen
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The walk around the wall is great. We were there in 2024. [Brent Graham]
23.09.26AntwortenÜbersetzen
Hey you two! Sounds like a great time so far.... enjoy the "little" 419 km hike, lol! And, I am familiar with the Morellino di Scansano wine!!! Amazing, and yes, not readily available here. Enjoy all the delicious food & wine in between your hikes! [Mabel]
23.09.26AntwortenÜbersetzen
Hey R&B, so good to connect with you guys. Good Luck on you 419 Kl trek - that's amazing. Stay nurtured, eat well, bring all that you 'know' with you. Enjoy. LOL Francie xo [Francie]
24.09.26AntwortenÜbersetzen
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La Francigena
Stage 1: Lucca to Altopascio
24. September in Italien ☀️ 26 °C
18.5 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 325m/328m
25,729 steps

We left Lucca at around 7:30AM under clear, sunny skies and a temperature of 15°C.

As is the case with most larger cities on any Camino, leaving Lucca had us walking through an urban setting, on main streets, during rush hour. Truly not the idyllic image one conjures when dreaming of hiking a Camino. In fact, about 90% of today's hike was on concrete or asphalt alongside fairly busy thoroughfares.

We had a couple of short forested trails and a couple that went through farmland,

And unlike the Portuguese Camino, which we walked four years ago, we didn’t see a single Camino directional sign until we were well outside Lucca city limits.

Ok, that's enough whining. On to the positive narration.

To be honest, I hadn't really done any training for this Camino, so I was a little concerned about how my 70 year old body would hold up. After day one, other than s small blister on the ball of my right foot , I feel pretty good! Tomorrow's stage is 29 kilometers, so I may feel that one a little more.

Today, we stopped for a macchiato, six kilometers into the walk, in Capannori. We stopped again six kilometers further along the road in Porcari for a water refill before reaching our goal in Altopascio just after noon.

We had a sandwich and a beer for lunch and checked into our hotel at 3:00. After rinsing out our clothes and showering, we went off in search of dinner to find the prices here to be worse than in Lucca. How about €12.00 for a bowl of vegetable soup? A little research led us to a restaurant just outside the tourist area, complete with red checkered tablecloths and a charming Itallian Nonna serving and prepping for the kitchen. We had gnocchi (hand made by Nonna) with pesto and zucchini, a side of canceling beans and onions, and a plate of grilled veggies with a large bottle of Morettti beer. My belly couldn't be happier.

Time for me to get my beauty sleep and rest up for tomorrow's long dail on La FrancigenaWeiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 2: Altopasceo to San Miniato
25. September in Italien ☁️ 26 °C
27.9 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 627m/544m
Steps: 38,803
Total distance traveled: 46.4 km
Distance to Rome: 372.6

We got a slightly earlier start today in light of the long distance between stages today. We were out the door at 7:00 and were welcomed with weather almost identical to yesterday's.

I'm not going to lie: Today’s walk was quite a challenge, to say the least. Hiking 29 km in 27° weather is one thing, but the hill at the tail end of the day was cruel and unusual punishment

On the plus side, the walk was much nicer than yesterday's, as about 80 percent of it was through forested areas or farmlands. It was also a day that had me using my trekking poles for almost the entire journey. I found that they took a lot of weight of my blistered right foot, and were literally instrumental in my completing the stage.

When Brenda tried to find accomodations for us a couple of days ago, nothing was available, except for a double room at a convent. Thank God! As you would imagine, the room is bare bones, but the beds are comfortable and the shower water is hot. We'll be spending two nights here to allow a little recovery time, and to explore the town.

Tonight we also dined at the convent, and met a lovely couple from France, who started cycling the Camino route in Paris. They reminded us that we are in the middle of truffle season, and many of the local restaurants have dishes featuring truffles on their menus.

I'm really glad this stage is over, but we'll faced with an almost equally difficult stage on Sunday when we cover 24 km to Gambassi Terme, with 999 meters of elevation gain and 785 meters of elevation loss. Tomorrow's day of rest should see us primed and ready to go.

Now it's time for me to get some well deserved rest, and dream of the food I'm going to enjoy tomorrow.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
San Miniato
26. September in Italien ☁️ 25 °C
Today, September 26, was a day of rest after yesterday's long hike. We explored what this hilltop city has to offer, indulged in a little local fare, and enjoyed the magnificent views from the highest point in the city.

Staying in a convent, one is surrounded by religious artwork, statues, and literature. On our way to a very disappointing breakfast, we came across three wise men and St-Francis, who challenged Brenda to a game of pattycake. (Sorry if I've offended any devout readers)

After breakfast we just wandered around the town and examined our choices for where to dine tonight. We found a great looking gourmet vegetarian restaurant that offers a five or six-course tasting menu, but they only begin service at 7:30, and we want to hit the road early tomorrow morning to tackle the 24Km hike to San Gimignano.

Our wanderings then had us heading uphill to the Cathedral. The first thing you notice upon entering are the imposing striated pink marble columns that line both sides of the main aisle. We both marveled at the craftsmanship needed to carve these magnificent supports.... until we read they are made of faux-marble! The Cathedral redeemed itself by naming one of it's six chapels after St-Roch.

Just around the corner from the Cathedral is the Vescoville Seminary Palace, which covers so much real estate it won't fit into a regular photo, thus the brief video clip below.

As if we didn’t do enough climbing yesterday, we continued up a long flight of stairs to the summit where el Torre di Frederico is located. The view of the surrounding countryside made the effort well worth it.

The tower was built for Emperor Frederick II between 1217 and 1221 to control trade between Florence and Pisa and the Via Francigena. It also served as a prison to Pier delle Vigne, the emperor's secretary, who is mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy.

The tower was destroyed by the Germans in 1944 to ensure the allies couldn't capture it and use it against them. It was rebuilt to the exact original specifications between 1956 and 1958.

By this time we had worked up a little appetite, so we stopped at Birra & Acciughe (Beer & Anchovies) and had a panino filled with anchovies and white truffle sauce accompanied by a Sardinian craft beer. Yeah, I know, it sounds disgusting, but the anchovies were nowhere near as salty as those back home, and the white craft beer was a perfect match. And in any case, the store was too funky to not earn our business.

We ended the day with a nice meal at L'Essenza Ristorante accompanied by a lovely Prosecco and blaring dance music from across the square.

On the way home, we were smiled upon by the man in the moon, whose whole face shone brightly over Tuscany tonight.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 3: San Miniato to Gambassi Terme
27. September in Italien ☀️ 25 °C
25 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 999/785
Steps: 33911
Total distance travelled: 71.4
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.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 4: Gambassi Terme to San Gimignano
28.–29. Sept. in Italien ☀️ 26 °C
13.6 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 560/551
Steps: 21,643
Total distance to date: 85km
Distance to Rome: 333.9km

Since we had only 14 km to cover today, we slept in and only started the stage at 9:25 am.
Before leaving, we stopped at a local café for macchiato and a Nutella cornetto, and met two Irish women, Siobhan and Claire, who were also just about to hit the trail.

We particularly wanted to be in the Square at 9:00 to watch Membrino strike the bell nine times.

Compared to yesterday, today's stage was a piece of cake. It was made even better as we are now heading into serious wine country, and every couple of kilometers, tastings are on offer. At the 7km mark today, exactly halfway to our destination, we stopped at Cesani Winery for a tasting. It was only 11:00, but we were thirsty, and the setting was idyllic.
We had the five wine sampling that was knowledgeably described by our host Riikka.

Today’s route started out with almost 3km of downhill, followed by an almost 300 meter climb spread over 5 km. Then another long descent before ending with a 2 km climb whose last 80 meters were quite steep.

After checking into our accomodations, we set out to explore the town. We were shocked by the number of tourists here. The streets are filled with people of all nationalities checking out the sights. At first we didn't understand why so many people flock here, but once we looked around, we understood.

This medieval city is a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is a perfectly preserved portrait of what walking these streets would have looked like 800 years ago. Back then, noble families erected towers to boost the family egos. At one time, there were 72 towers in the city, a literal medieval Manhattan but today, only 14 remain standing. There is a pair of towers that have stood side by side for more than 700 years. At the time they were built, no one was allowed a vanity tower higher than the old City Hall's 170 feet. So the Salvucci family built two 130-foot towers — totaling 260 feet of stony ego trip. Local guides claim that Minoru Yamasaki, the architect of New York City's World Trade Center, was inspired by these twin towers.

One could easily spend a couple of days exploring the boulevards and narrow alleys of San Gimignano, but alas, our time and energy are limited, so a more in-depth exploration will have to wait for another time.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 5: San Gimignano to Colle di Val d'Elsa
29. September in Italien ☀️ 27 °C
14 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 351/541
Steps: 26,305
Total distance traveled: 99km
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.Weiterlesen
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Wine and food sound yummy! [Nicole H]
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La Francigena
Stage 6: Colle di Val d'Elsa to Monteriggioni
30. September in Italien ☀️ 28 °C
16.6 Kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 547m/424m
23,864 steps
Total distance traveled: 115.6km
Distance to Rome: 302.8km

We got over the 100km mark today, and are now one quarter of the way to Rome.

A lot of pilgrims would argue with me, but both Brenda and I found today's walk to be the most beautiful so far. Almost the entire first half threaded it's way through forested ground and along the banks of the Elsa river. The sound of the river lulled us into an almost meditative state, and the waterfalls provided visual confirmation of the beauty of nature. The Elsa's water has an odd, white/aqua tint to it, created by the erosion of the limestone bed over which it flows. But the water is filled with fish frogs and newts, evidencing it's health .

Not only was the trail today beautiful, it contained a couple of loooong, leisurely inclines, a loooong, slow descent, and a short heartbreak-hill climb as we arrived at Monteriggioni.

Monteriggioni, another hilltop, medieval, walled city, is very cute, but also tiny. To walk across the town only added a couple hundred meters to today's journey. There's very little to see and do here, but it was worth the climb to take in what it had to offer.

Tomorrow, we head to Siena where we'll take another day off to enjoy the sites. The last time we were here was around 2009, and I remember getting into a Groundhog Day situation while trying to drive to our accomodations. It seemed that no matter which way I turned, I always ended up back at the same starting point.

Hopefully things will be easier on foot.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 7: Monteriggioni to Siena
1. Oktober in Italien ☀️ 27 °C
20.6 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 670/594
26,344 Steps
Total distance traveled: 136.2
Distance to Rome: 282.2

Today was the second longest stage of our trek to date. We got a 7:30 start, while the weather was cool, and the skies were partially overcast for a good part of the day, which helped make the kilometers fly by. The path was quite hilly, but for the most part, the ascents were fairly gentle, and short. The last one, just before Siena, however, was a real beast. We nonetheless finished the stage quicker than anticipated, and were rightly proud of our performance.

The official camino app said there were no water stations or places to get food on this stage, so Brenda and I both carried extra water and snacks. In the end, both food and water were available along the way.

The scenery today was pretty "meh", so I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Tired and hungry when we arrived at 12:15, we stopped for a pizza and beer lunch before heading to our hotel to shower.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so I may or may not write an entry. It will all depend on how interesting our day turns out to be.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Siena (Rest Day)
2. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 26 °C
Willie Nelson asked, "Ain't it funny how time slips away?"

Yeah, and I guess the same can be said of memories.

There are a couple of things I remember from our last visit to Siena in 2009: the hellish drive around and around the city, trying to find our hotel, and the discovery that I don’t hate all olives after trying Bella di Cerignola olives at happy hour.

But other than that, I have almost no recollection of the five days we spent here. I get the odd flash of familiarity, but, mostly, Im seeing things for the first time. Scary!

On the other hand, this is an astonishingly beautiful city to rediscover. The San Domenico Basilica, an imposing brick structure that overlooks the valley between the two halves of the city. The Duomo di Siena, a cathedral built with alternating bands of white and greenish- black marble, accompanied by a distinctive striped bell tower. The Piazza del Campo, regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares, home to another bell tower, and two annual horse races around the perimeter of the square!

I doubt I'll return here again seventeen years from now, but if I do, I'm sure I'll enjoy my visit just as much as the two previous ones....neither of which will I remember.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 8: Siena to Monteroni d'Arbia
3. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 27 °C
16.3 Kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 158/342
Steps: 24,787
Total distance traveled:152.5
Distance to Rome: 263.3

Because the official Stage 8 is over 32 kilometers long, we decided to split it into two parts, with the first part ending in Monteroni d'Arbia. Now, Monteroni is so small, we booked accomodations further south, in Buonconvento, almost 15 kilometers away. After our hike, we bused from Monteroni d'Arbia to Buonconvento, and will do the reverse tomorrow morning, resuming the Camino route where we left off.

We got off to a late start today thanks to some baggage transfer issues, but because the distance was short and mostly downhill or flat, we made really good time, finishing in a little under four hours.

Once again, there were few rest stops along the way, the first coming at almost the 12 kilometer mark. We stopped for cappuccino, and a cornetto (croissant) for me, before pushing on to the end.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I absolutely detest hiking uphill. Sadly, to rejoin the Francigena trail tomorrow in Monteroni d'Alba, we have to contend with a steep, 55 meter gain in elevation to start my day. On the positive side, we have less than 15 kilometers to walk back to Buonconvento.

There were virtually no photo opportunities today, except for this lone tree sitting high atop a hill, with a cross planted beside it. Because there are so few pics today, I thought I'd include a couple of stylized versions. I'm kinda partial to the B&W one myself.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Musings After 2 Weeks in Italy
4. Oktober in Italien ☀️ 27 °C
TREKKING POLES
When preparing for the Portuguese Camino four years ago, I poo-pooed the idea of using hiking poles. One of our group, Ernie, an experienced hiker , had poles with him and used them mainly on the more treacherous ascents and descents. In the end, I managed to get through the trek unscathed, and none the worse for wear, but watching Ernie's confident stride on the steep hills piqued my interest.

Here I am today, four years older, and maybe a little wiser. One of the first things we did when we arrived in Lucca was find a shop to buy trekking poles. We didn't spend a lot of money, about $40 CAD, since we're not sure we can get them onto the plane for the ride home. But I have to say: that was $40 well spent. Not only do they provide stability on uneven ground, they take a lot of weight off of the knees on the steep downhills, and engage your arms to help propel yourself uphill. It didn't take more than a day or so on the trail to get into the rhythm of walking with poles after watching a couple of YouTube instructional videos. I compare walking with poles to riding a road bike with your shoes clipped into the pedals. It's like adding a turbocharger to your efforts.

L'EROICA
Speaking of cycling, yesterday, when we set out at 8:45, we noticed there were a lot of cyclists on the road, and assumed it was just something Italians do on a Saturday morning. But as we continued along our route, we noticed that all the riders had numbered race bibs somewhere on their bikes.

When we arrived in Buonconvento at 12:30, there were hordes of bibbed riders enjoying snacks and water on the main street. I asked one of them what the race was called and he explained the cyclists were taking part in L'Eroica, an annual non-competitive ride that can cover up to 209 kilometers with elevation gains totaling 3700 meters. He said he had started out at 5:00 am, and expected to be riding for a total OF 15 HOURS!!!

Anyone can cycle the permanent Eroica route year round, but the official ride takes place each year on the first weekend of October. The theme of the event is vintage cycling, with participants using vintage bikes (up to and including 1987), accessories and clothing, and the route often including unpaved roads. It is held in the first Sunday of October. The event is open to everybody, but cyclists participating with a vintage bike are honored with a certificate certifying their participation.

The most incredible thing we noticed was the number of what looked to be 50, 60 and 70 year-olds participating in the event. Hats off to them!

FOOD
Don't get me wrong, I love Italian food. I've been known to say I could eat pasta every day. But after fourteen days of virtually nothing but pasta, pizza, and wonderful breads, I may have to retract that statement. There are soups on some menus but, call me cheap, I have trouble paying almost $20 CAD for a bowl of soup. For that price I expect unlimited refills! You can also find salads of various types, but they're in the same price range, or more. And don't get me started on vegetables. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and sometimes artichokes are what you'll find on,or in, most dishes. I saw broccoli only once in the last two weeks. Now, if we ate meat, a whole other world opens up, but we don't, so we are relegated to a high carbohydrate diet. Walking as much as we do every day should help keep all those carbs off my waistline, but variety is the spice of life and so far, all I can say is, please pass the salt.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 9: Monteroni d'Arbia to Buonconvento
4. Oktober in Italien ☀️ 27 °C
14.3 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 309 meters/369 meters
Steps: 21,811
Total distance traveled: 166.8 kilometers
Distance to Rome: 247.8 kilometers

We caught the 7:19 train from Buonconvento back to Monteroni d'Arbia which got us walking back to Buonconvento at 7:38.

Because the train station is 1.5 mostly uphill kilometers from the Via Francigena trail, we walked a little further than we would have if we hadn't overnighted in Buonconvento.

The scenery for the first 6 or 7 kilometers today was beautiful, and we enjoyed watching the sun crest the horizon. The second half was far less attractive and had us walking through very roughly plowed farmland.

Other than a couple of long uphill climbs, today's trek was pretty easy, and we managed to arrive back in Buonconvento in less than three and a half hours.

Neither of us had anything to eat before heading out this morning, so we were pretty hungry by that point. We had a really good Eggplant Parmigiano after stopping for a tall cool one at the local bar. To break the food monotony, we went to the local supermarket, picked up a nice Chianti,(no liver or fava beans) some Bella di Cerignola olives, a pot of brined lupini beans, some bocconcini and a piece of focaccia. I MacGyvered a little picnic setting that contained all of the supermarket finds, and we scarfed it all down sitting on our bed.

Ahh...the small pleasures of life.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 10 Buonconvento to San Quirico d'Orcia
5. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 26 °C
22 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 774/512
Steps: 29,901
Total distance traveled: 188.8 km
Distance to Rome: 225.8 km

Walking through Tuscany is beautiful; the colours, the vineyards, the olive groves, the iconic cypress trees, and the soft, rolling hills.

The soft, rolling, #$%*ing hills, there is no end to them. Big ones, small ones, short ones, long ones, steep ones and gentle ones. It doesn't matter if I'm walking, running, or cycling, I HATE THEM ALL!!!

Today was very challenging for me. I don't know if it was because of yesterday's fast pace, our less than nutritious dinner, or that lovely Chianti last night, but my legs felt like jello all day. I actually considered throwing in the towel at the 14km mark, but I would have had to wait three hours to catch a bus to our destination. Even if I crawled I'd arrive before the bus. I sent Brenda off to walk at her own pace, and I arrived at our destinations about thirty minutes after her.

The scenery on today's walk was breathtaking. We set out at 7:00am, and the sky to the east was ablaze as the sun approached the horizon. There was a line of mist hanging in the air that persisted well into the morning. We saw from several different angles, Montalcino, the hilltop town that's home to Brunello wines. There were chorus lines of Cypress trees, vibrantly coloured bushes, and an odd sculpture of upside-down feet outside St. Rocco's church. I was startled by the cry of a male pheasant as I walked past him.

San Quirico is a lovely medievel town, complete with a trebuchet and rusty iron hitching rings for parking your horse. At the enoteca where we dined tonight, there was a collection of thin, five-foot-long bottles of Grappa on display. I suggested bringing one home with us, but I doubt it would survive the next 225.8 kilometers.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 11 San Quirico d'Orcia to Gallina
6. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 23 °C
16 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 497/548
Steps: 25,344
Total distance traveled: 204.8 km
Distance to Rome: 208.1

The official Stage today is 32 kilometers from San Quirico to Radicofani. Brenda and I decided we would not do any 30+ kilometers days on this Camino, so we stopped halfway at Gallina, a tiny community with only one restaurant, and a bar famous for it's Panini sandwiches. Because the restaurant closes on Tuesdays, panini for lunch and dinner today. Of course, everyone except us vegetarians orders their sandwiches stuffed with Italian cold cuts: capicollo, mortadella, salami, porcheta etc... we had pecorino cheese on ours. We would have added tomato, but they had run out by the time we got there. However, at €3.50 per sandwich, and €3.00 for a half liter of red wine, these were our most reasonably priced meals we've had in Italy so far.

Today's walk wasn't long, but it was one very long ascent followed by one very long descent and repeated two more times. There were virtually no significant stretches of flat ground. I was exhausted by the end of it.

Tomorrow is even worse. The stage is a constant climb for 15 kilometers. After the last two days of hill climbing, I know better than to even try, so I'm throwing in the towel on Stage 11 before it's even started. Brenda is bravely soldiering on, and I'll be tracking her progress as I ride the bus to Radicofani.

We were once again treated to some lovely scenery today, and visited a tiny medieval hilltop town paved with 1000 year-old stones.
There's so much history here that you can't help but realize that the Americas are just baby nations in the eyes of the rest of the world. We stopped for coffee in Bagno Vignoni, which has a huge thermal spring smack-dab in the middle of the town square.

We may have to reward ourselves with a visit to one of the many thermal spas along our route before we head home.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 12: Gallina to Radicofani
7. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 20 °C
16.2 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 693/273
Steps: 24,142
Total distance traveled: 221.0km
Distance to Rome: 191.7

Since I (Roch) wussed out of today's stage of La Francigena, Brenda wrote today's entry:

Maybe it was the way Roch kept saying today's walk would involve 15 kms of ascent. Or maybe it was the way my Camino app described the climb to Radicofani as very demanding. Or maybe it was the rain in today's forecast, but as you can imagine, I was feeling a bit of trepidation about walking this leg of the camino on my own today.

But as it turns out, today was, oddly, my favorite walking day thus far. I hit the trail just before the crack of dawn and it was beautiful to watch the sunrise. It was mainly overcast so the temperature was cool but perfect for hiking. Unexpectedly, I saw no other pilgrims during the entire walk and I loved the solitude and quietude, just the sound of my breath and the tip tap if my trekking poles.

I was prepared for a slow plod of constant ascent, but it really wasn't bad at all, and as a bonus, I didn't even have to pull out my rain jacket.

Roch ended up taking the bus to Radicofani and we met up for a coffee before exploring the town. Coffee took us longer than exploring the town did because Radicofani is tiny. For lunch, we found a reasonably priced restaurant that served huge plates of pasta and amazing salads, a just reward after all the elevation gain I made today.

We are now over half way to Rome!Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 13: Radicofani to Acquapendente
8. Oktober in Italien 🌧 22 °C
22.8 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 450m/854m
Steps: 30,918
Total distance traveled: 243.8km
Distance to Rome: 167.4

It had to happen. So far, the weather gods have been very kind to us. We hadn't seen a single drop of rain on the previous twelve stages. That all came to a screeching halt today. Just before setting out at around 7:00, we saw flashes of far off lightning, and heard rumbles of distant thunder. It had rained quite hard late last night, but as we started today's hike, there was nothing falling from the sky.

Sadly, the low cloud cover obscured what has been described as the most scenic part of La Francigena, although we managed to see some of it a little later on.

The rain held off for about an hour, but then the heavens opened with a vengeance. I barely had time to put on my rain cape before the rain came down in torrents for about thirty minutes. It continued on and off until about the 10 kilometer mark when the sun finally popped through the clouds and stayed with us for the rest of the day.

Today was the second longest distance we'll travel in a day, just over twenty-four kilometers. We started out with a fairly steep eight kilometer descent from Radicofani before the trail leveled off. It was a long, but relatively easy walk, except for the last 1.3 km, which was a very steep uphill climb, cruelly placed, considering my old legs had already carried me twenty-three kilometers.

We didn’t see any other pilgrims today as La Francigena carried us out of Tuscany. There were a few sheep, some cows, and, at our 15 km rest stop, two terrifyingly vicious looking canines. The "Beware of the Dog" sign posted on the fence warned us to steer clear of these two Marremano-Abruzzese Sheepdogs. They are native to this region, and serve as livestock guardians. They are indeed vicious and powerful beasts when dealing with threats to their flock or herd, but these two came to the fence with tails wagging and smiling faces, so it was kinda hard to take the sign seriously.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Acquapendente Rest Day
9. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 20 °C
With a 24km day behind us and a 23km walk tomorrow, Brenda and I decided to take a day off to gather our strength. This will be our last rest day before Rome, unless for some unforeseen event we are forced to stop.

Today we spent the morning tidying up some personal projects before heading out to explore the town. The city's first recorded history dates to 964 AD and there are areas here where one feels as though a step back in time has been taken.

The Church of San Francisco is a massive building that was also once home to the Acquapendente hospital (now located across the street). In the 1400s, St Roch spent time here healing victims of the plague. Just meters from where not-so-saintly Roch will sleep tonight.

For lunch, we had a really delicious ravioli dish that was served with a butter sage sauce, fresh cherry tomatoes, arugula and Parmesan. It was exquisite.

To walk off our meal, we aimlessly wandered the hilly streets and alleyways, climbed to the town's high point to see the Barbarossa Clock tower, and picked up some sandwiches for dinner tonight.

Well rested and well fueled, we're ready to hit the trail bright and early in the morning.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 14: Acquapendente to Bolsena
10. Oktober in Italien 🌧 18 °C
23.4 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 638m/676m
Steps: 31,049
Total distance traveled: 267.2km
Distance to Rome: 143.6km

When we started out at 7:10 this morning, the temperature was only 11°C, but it didn't feel that cool. Although the skies were overcast, our weather apps indicated we would skirt around any rainfall.

Leaving Acquapendente, the scenery left a lot to be desired. It wasn't horrible, but there was literally nothing of interest to look at except for the clouds. At around the 6 km mark, very light and scattered rain began to fall. It was so light I didn't bother putting on my rain jacket. And so we trod on through the boring, moist countryside until we arrived at our 11 km rest stop in San Lorenzo Nuvo. The first thing we saw when entering the town was a market with the biggest Porcini display I've ever seen. Good omen.

After consuming a very good cappuccino, and two excellent pastries that were in the take-away breakfast provided by our previous host, we set out.

Those delicious pastries must have contained fairy dust, because from that point on, La Francigena regained it's beauty.

Mere meters into the second half of today's walk, we entered a wooded trail that resembled something from a classic Disney cartoon. The soft path was covered by a canopy of mature trees, and bordered by a forest floor carpeted with pale purple cyclamen. There were a few rocky, technical climbs and descents, giving us the impression that this portion of La Francigena had been teleported here from BC. As we continued on, the forest opened up to give us stunning views of Lake Bolsena.

Lake Bolsena is the largest volcanic lake in Europe, and it contains two islands formed by underwater eruptions. The volcano has been dormant for over 2000 years.

After we checked in, Brenda and I walked down to the lake and admired the scenery and the wildlife. I've often been called a miserable old coot, but I've never actually seen a young coot until today. The black water fowl wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask is a coot! Huh. Who knew? There were dozens of coots and Mallards swimming and walking the shoreline during our visit, all of them seemingly fearless of us humans.

For lunch we stopped at Kebab Queen and had THE BEST falafel wrap of our lives. I know we're in Italy, but sometimes you a little spice in your life.

Along today's walk, I saw three things I've never seen before:
1) Hunters using their dogs to flush fowl from tall grass.
2) A pile of porcupine quills on the trail, probably left after a battle
3) A shepherd directing his dogs to herd his flock. The whistles followed by the dogs' immediate response was a thing of beauty.

This evening we'll climb back up to the historic old hillside town to enjoy one of the local restaurants, which will hopefully feed us as well as the Kebab Queen did.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 15: Bolsena to Montefiascone
11. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 21 °C
16.1 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 700m/450m
Steps: 23,459
Total distance traveled: 283.3km
Distance to Rome: 126.6km

Because we had only 17 kilometers to cover today, we got off to a bit of a late start at 7:45, thinking we could finish in under five hours.
Oops!

This was by far the most difficult stage of the camino so far with a never-ending string of long steep hills, both up and down. By kilometer ten, I was ready to cry uncle. In the end, I carried on, but cut out a couple of the church-viewing detours on the official route.

Although the trek was brutally difficult, the scenery was magnificent. It started with several different views of Lake Balseno, and then we meandered through grove after grove of olive trees. In the forested sections, areas of the ground were covered in even more cyclamens than we saw yesterday.

Not far into the walk, we learned there would be a mountain bike race taking place today, right along the paths we were walking. When the racers reached us, we had just ascended a very steep, very rocky hill. These riders barely slowed down before plunging down that very same hill at breakneck speeds. And, to boot, many of the riders were not spring chickens. Very impressive.

The last part of our hike took us through a pasture filled with a flock of grazing sheep and lambs, and another pasture with a herd of goats. Last but not least, our path was lined for quite a distance with the first vineyards we've seen since leaving Tuscany.Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 16: Montefiascone to Viterbo
12. Oktober in Italien ☀️ 21 °C
17.9 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 396m/620m
Steps: 22,978
Total distance traveled: 301.2km
Distance to Rome: 108.8km

At around 7:45 this morning, Brenda and I were standing at a crossroad, trying to figure out which road would put us back onto LA Francigena trail. Just then, two young schoolchildren approached, and said something to us in Italian. In response, we stared blankly at the young man. He then asked "Viterbo?" Si, si we nodded, and he led us directly to the correct path. "Grazie mille", we said, and headed on our way, just knowing this Thanksgiving Day walk was going to be a good one.

To appease my tired legs, the trail started out with a six kilometer descent. Then there was a one km long, mostly gentle, incline followed by another long slow descent and a short gentle climb into Viterbo.

I thank you, Stage 16, and my legs thank you.

Today's walk was filled with wondrous surprises.

Near the beginning of the route, the path began showing signs of ancient paving stones. As we progressed, the stones merged to form an almost uniform roadway. It turns out that the road is the Via Cassia. It ran 303 kilometers from Rome to Florence and was built around 154 BC! It's in better shape than Montreal roads any given April.

When we stopped for a water break 7 km into our walk, there was a strange concrete domed structure with ventilation on one side. Google Lens informed us it is a well cover, commonly, built directly over hand-dug water wells or natural springs to protect the water supply from debris, animals, and agricultural runoff.

At one point, we believed we could have been in New Zealand. One minute we saw a shepherd and his dog walking through a field with his flock, and the next minute, we were in the middle of a vast kiwi tree orchard! The trees were filled with the fuzzy little fruit, but sadly, they were all hard as rocks, and were probably a week away from ripeness.

As we neared Viterbo, we came across another field filled with what looked like grape bushes. However, they were not trellised, nor was there any evidence of vines on the plants. Once again, Google Lens bailed us out, identifying the crop as hazelnut trees. I never would have guessed.

We left the Stage 16 trail just a little smarter than when we started.

It was only noon when we arrived, and our hotel check-in time was 4:00 PM. We sat down at a little Cafe, had a veggie and cheese focaccia, and by the time we were finished, Brenda received notice that our room was ready for us!

So much to be thankful for on this lovely Thanksgiving Day!Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 17: Viterbo to Vetrella
13. Oktober in Italien ☀️ 21 °C
22.2 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 522m/553m
Steps: 28,330
Total distance traveled: 323.4km
Distance to Rome: 86.6km

Today was a day of deviations and detours, some imposed due to road closures, some self imposed to make our walk a little easier.

We got off to a late start because Brenda's back, which almost had us cancelling this trip altogether, decided to act up this morning. It was touch and go whether we'd take the train to Vetrella or walk. Shortly after 8:00 am, Brenda made the decision to walk so we set out with the intention of taking it easy and arriving whenever we arrived.

The first deviation due to road work had us hiking through a very technically challenging, steep and narrow path. We couldn't wait to get it over with, not because it was difficult but because it was so indescribably eerie. The path took us through chestnut and oak woods but we didn't dawdle to take photos. It was too spooky. When the path met the road, we took the decision to walk along the road rather than continue along the Francigena to our first rest stop.

After stopping for coffee and pastries, we decided to make things easier for Brenda's back by staying on the road to our 2nd rest stop. As a result, we have no photos from the first 16 kms of our 22K walk.

For the last 6 kms, we followed the Francigena as prescribed and it was a delightful end to this stage of the camino. We passed a house with vines ladened with grapes. It was hard to resist picking them.

About 3 kms from Vetrella, we came across an oasis for pilgrims. We stopped in to have a look and had we not been so keen to finish this stage, we would have gladly lingered to enjoy a cold beer while taking in the peace and tranquility.

We saw a few hazelnut groves as we neared Vetrella. Had we stayed on the Francigena between the 2 rest stops, we probably would have seen a lot more.

Our accommodations in Vetrella was equipped with a kitchen and there was a supermarket close by. After weeks of eating out, we were so happy to have a home cooked meal that didn't involve pizza or pasta!Weiterlesen
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La Francigena
Stage 18: Vetralla to Capranica
14. Oktober in Italien ☁️ 23 °C
16.4 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 464m/393m
Steps: 21,128
Total distance traveled: 339.8 km
Distance to Rome: 70.1 km

Early October in Italy. The mornings are getting cooler, sunrise is getting later by the day, and La Francigena keeps providing us with fascinating discoveries.

To sum up today's hike in one word: Trees.
Majestic oaks, mature hazelnut trees, Italian Stone Pine trees, olive trees, and chestnut trees accompanied us the entire length of our 16.5 kilometer hike today.

Brenda and I were astounded not only by the quantity of hazelnut groves along this path, but also by the number of hazelnuts lying uncollected and rotting on the ground. This area is clearly the Hazelnut capital of Italy as once we arrived in town, hazelnuts, and chestnuts were for sale everywhere. Certainly, a large portion of this production goes into the jars of Nutella we find everywhere in the world.

I have never seen such stately and majestic oak trees as those we came across midway into our day. I will often stop and admire nature when I'm walking around Vancouver, but I don't ever recall stopping dead in my tracks in admiration of the beauty of a tree. That is exactly what happened today. While walking through an oak grove, one tree seemed to jump out and scream, "Look at me!" And I did. My jaw dropped, my gait stopped and I said to Brenda, "Oh my God, look at this". The roots at the base of the trunk were partially exposed, almost daring anyone to try to knock it down. The lower trunk was entirely enclosed in a blanket of vines, happily co-existing with their host. Immense branches reached out in all directions, shading all below from the rays of the sun. And the ground below was covered in acorns, all hoping to sprout, and one day grow to be as imposing as their father.

Out of nowhere, a couple of ancient towers appeared before us. Known as Le Torri d'Orlando these funerary monuments date to the first century AD. The name derives from the legend of Orlando (Roland), a paladin of Charlemagne, who was said to have rested with his companions under the large oaks in the area.

Towards the end of the trail, we were treated to some ubiquitous Italian stone pines before we exited onto the road that led us down to the pretty little town of Capricana.Weiterlesen
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