Gallina to Radicofani (and partway back)

Today had fewer diversions, and was a c 17 km walk that went steadily uphill all the way - total gain: 500m. And then we walked c 5km back.

Breakfast at 8 was farm products: bruschetta and tomatoes, fried eggs, honey and yoghurt, plus brioche that tasted like doughnuts, bread, coffee and tea. We had not yet collected Pandora's frozen gel pack, so our bags were not out, and there was a small panic when a car picked up the Americans’ bags at 8:15. The owners assured us it was not our company, but the gel was collected, Pandora packed, and the bags put out quick-smart.

From the house there was a path to the trail, and we had around 8 km of white roads slowly up through a shallow valley, with medieval watch towers always somewhere to see, and a boarded-up old stone chapel that was visited and documented in 990 AD. Then a slightly steeper 9km walk to Radicofani, another medieval village and tower, with no villages or other distractions on the way.

We are staying in another agriturismo which has rave reviews, but it is 4km before the town, and we arrived at the turn-off to it at 11:45.... with the early walking around the farm, just a 13.2km day! Checking in before 12 seemed like heresy for anyone walking to Rome, so we sat on some rocks, contemplated the options (hills, blisters and sitting around all afternoon doing nothing), and walked 4.5km - all uphill - to the town.

Radicofani is another quaint medieval village, but with a sense of being more renovated, and many fewer tourists. The church was less ornate (stone pillars, arches and walls), but we passed on the extra 20mins to the very top and the tower. Instead, we bought bread, cheese and sliced rolled pork at a little cafe and sat under the trees by the church and had lunch looking out over a valley. It had changed from sunny to overcast as we reached the village, and then a cold southerly breeze, so we were heading back downhill by 2pm, past a flock of sheep (rare enough to warrant a mention) and checked in around 3:30.

This agriturismo is more business than farm, and has a pool (covered for winter), an artificial quarter-size soccer field (with inch-deep gaps all over the turf), and many old farm buildings converted to rooms. Our room ( more suite) has a grand four-poster bed, masses of space, and a super-heated bathroom. A chance to do some washing!

Dinner is at 8 (very dark, now that daylight saving has ended) in the downstairs part of our building. Big decisions are to be made by then. Not the menu, which is fixed, but whether we arrange a lift back to town tomorrow morning to save time. Anne has a work call at 8am, and tomorrow is otherwise an uphill/downhill 28+km (4.5 of which we have already done twice!) ...

Dinner was a new high. Bruschetta and farm vegetables, pasta with a beef sauce, pork in pistachio, chocolate pannacotta and roast chestnuts.

30,150 steps, 23.8 km and 39 flights.Read more