San Gimignano to Monteriggioni

It was raining when we woke up, but only persistent, European rain. Dropped our bags off before breakfast at 8am - DIY coffee (!), but otherwise standard - and left around 8:45 with rain ponchos on. We started on a road, then a stony trail with rivulets everywhere, and then the clay. It was slippery rather than boggy, but then the rain stopped, so we were back to sprayjackets and backpack covers in time for me to take two unnoticed (at the time) but spectacular slips. It was hard to hide the evidence, because this mud really stuck.

Up and down a lot, and almost all in woodlands, rather than vineyards or orchards. Going up was sweaty in the plastic ponchos or jackets, but it was not cold. Around 10:30 the rain stopped, so it was back to shirts as we reached a town called Bibbiana, where the first shop we saw was a bread shop. On the counter were fruitloaf looking things, which seemed a nice idea... and I hoped they were better than nice because they were 14 Euros. Made for a festival, full of fruit and walnuts...and it was pretty good in the end.

Around midday we were in Colle di Val d'Elsa, which was another medieval town, but just one long street and a cathedral and old palace. The shops had signs in English, but there were almost no tourists, so it felt less brazen. We were a bit surprised it took us just on 3 hrs to cover only 11km. Normally we are much faster, but muddy, slippery paths are very slow going, as was the km or so in which we went down 200m and up 250m.

Light rain started again, and down the hill from the palace, it started to pour. Serious rain! We stopped under a balcony to change raincoats as the cobbler in the shop beside us urged us to go into his shop for shelter. Once wrapped in plastic, we followed a path to and then along a river that had water roaring over long, flat boulders. It was probably barely audible the day before. We were walking upstream, so it was a long, steady climb. The river had a few dodgy-looking crossings, with ropes strung over flat-topped boulders, but by the fourth or fifth one we were laughing. The rain eased, so we stopped for lunch, and during lunch the sun came out, so back to T-shirts for the rest of the day.

After the river we passed another village and then several hours through open paddocks and then woods. We were tempted to take a few short-cuts, as the Via Francigena, like the walk from Le Puy, has some catholic deviations - ie extra kms or hills for no obvious purpose that simply put you back on the same track feeling more tired - but we are nothing if not purists, so we followed the path, not the Google maps shortcuts, and for our pains managed to walk through a village called Strove where the 11th C church was closed and we did not see a single person. More rocky paths through woods, then olive groves and fields (with Anne racing way out ahead) and on to an old church (first recorded around 1003) and monastery at Abbadia Isola. It was a serene place, and then we walked out of its walls and saw Monteriggioni hovering in the distance. It is more awesome than Sam Gimignano, we thought, because it is the real thing: a walled, circular town with battlements and towers.

Our hotel is about 1km outside the town, and close to Abbadia Isola. We could walk along a main road, or on a path through the fields. We took the field, and arrived at the hotel at 5pm in boots and an extra few inches high with mud. An unusual entrance to a 4 star hotel! A long day- 8 hours walking for just over 27km.

We left our boots outside when we checked in, and I cleaned them later at a garden tap, then washed my hiking pants. Dinner at 7:45 in the upmarket hotel restaurant that had about 50 people, and could hold maybe 80. a mixed salami plate appeared (one with aniseed), then spaghetti with baby squid/penne with garlic and mushrooms/ chicken and salad/cuttlefish, lemon sorbets- and they added pistaccio ice-cream. We like this hotel!

38,669 steps, 27.5 km and 67 flights. 307 km to Rome.Read more