The bar next door to our billet produced an excellent supper last night. Tom said the mushroom soup was even better than his! As today was going to be a relatively long walk of 23.5 kms we decided to get up early and get going. Julie’s knee is still quite painful, though it is strapped up and she is medicated, so her walking rate is slower. But the sun was shining and it was another lovely spring morning. The views from the ramparts were glorious: long, wide, and verdant.

The only bar open for breakfast was just outside the Porta Romana so we went there with our bags packed ready to go. The tourist office across the street didn’t open until late morning and we had missed it last night so we left Radicofani without getting our pilgrim passports stamped. We did manage to find shops open and selling fruit and sandwiches for lunch. Down the road we were quickly onto a cobbled track heading south through farmland.

On the way out of Radicofani we had noticed that there is to be a car rally here on Sunday, and there were signs, tapes, and crash buffers already set up. The track we were following is to be closed for the rally, so like our near-miss with the Tour de France around Lac Geneva, we were fortuitously missing this road closure by luck rather than good planning. However, we hadn’t bargained for Sunday’s competitors to be out in force checking the route today, driving madly overly fast on slippery grits, and throwing up clouds of choking dust.

What should have been one of the best days of walking was marred by choking dust, some lunatic driving, and aggressive rudeness of many of the rally drivers. We had several conversations with them, when they stopped rather than swerving around us. Some just shouted and gesticulated as if we shouldn’t be on the Via Francigena, whilst others seemed to accept that the walkers, cyclists and local farmers were equally entitled to be here. At one point Tom watched as a farmer going about his daily business heading in the same direction as us in his Land Rover had a confrontation with one of the rally cars. There was much hooting and gesticulation as he resolutely held his ground. At another point the owner of a Pilgrim stop along the road stopped his pick-up to ask if we were ok, and spoke of the madness that was going on. We later saw him driving back the other way carrying the three women pilgrims from Vicenza we’d met yesterday in the back. During the lulls we had wonderful views back towards Radicofani and over the surrounding valleys.

Just before arriving at Ponte a Rigo in the late morning our track became a tarred road and we finally came to the start line for Sunday’s rally with a sense of relief. No more racing drivers! Ponte a Rigo was historically important as a river crossing on the Via Francigena, providing hospitality to pilgrims and traders moving through Europe in the 7th to 14th centuries. Today it has a pilgrim hostel, a couple of farms and a few houses, whilst the busy SS2 takes traffic rushing through.

From Ponte a Rigo we had to follow the SS2 almost all the way to Acquapendente, some of the time on paths through adjacent fields, but often on the road itself. As we crossed the regional boundary out of Tuscany into Lazio we concluded that Tuscany has made better provision for pilgrims, especially over the last section where the Siena Trekking Group has set up rest areas with water supplies at regular intervals, the signage has been good, and on the whole walkers have been kept safely separate from traffic.

The SS2 is still known as the Via Cassia, one of the Roman consular roads, and still today it is the main road from Siena to Rome. It is interesting how these ancient roads have evolved over time but continued to follow much the same route for centuries. The modern Via Francigena largely follows its original route, but now takes to smaller roads and tracks through the countryside, and passes through the modern day places willing to provide for pilgrims.

In Centeno, the only village on our route between Ponte a Rigo and Acquapendente, we found a plaque in memory of Galileo. We have not so far worked out why it has been placed in this village as Galileo lived most of his life in or near Florence. Wikipedia tells us that his return home from attending the Inquisition in Rome was delayed due to an outbreak of plague in the Florence area in 1633, so perhaps Galileo stayed in Centeno on his way home. Unfortunately there was no hospitality to be had in Centeno today as the trattoria/bar was closed. No afternoon cafe latte and cake for weary pilgrims today!

Along the road river gravel was being dug, but otherwise the main activity in this area is agriculture. Although the ground looked poor and poorly drained there was some arable cropping as well as pasture and a few vineyards. We saw only the second sign in Italy advertising a herd of pedigree Friesians – the first was the other side of the Apennines. There was no sign of the cows though there was the sweet smell of good silage in the air.

As we neared Aquapendente there was one more short stretch of walking along the edge of fields, protecting us from the roaring traffic. Ducking through an underpass beneath the main road, we had a short rest on a grassy bank and then trudged straight uphill towards Acquapendente, still hidden from view behind the hill. The road was narrow and little used, and the birds were singing in the trees as the sun lowered in the sky behind us. It was a beautiful and peaceful ending to the day’s walk.

We came upon Acquapendente at the last minute, perched in a col, most of the town on the south side of the hill beyond our view. A short walk back on the SS2 and we turned off into the old part of town to find our room above a restaurant just off the main piazza.

We are very much looking forward to meeting up with friends Dave and Judith for supper tonight, and to a day of rest tomorrow.

Our accommodation was very comfortable and we slept well. The birds started singing at dawn, and we were again delighted to see many house-martins nesting in the eaves of the house. It has been another bright and sunny day, though a little colder than the last couple of days, with a cold easterly wind kicking in around midday.

As we were leaving the dog started barking so we were able to thank Diva for giving us supper last night, and then headed off down the road into Gallina. The bar was closed, and we were later told by the three Italian women we met yesterday that the restaurant was also closed last night so it was just as well that Diva did offer to cook for us. Gallina as a village is rather blighted by being on the main SS2 road from Siena to Rome, with lots of heavy traffic pounding through at great speed. We had to walk down this road for about a kilometre, with the usual stick waving to maintain our space, until the path peeled off right into the fields.

To add to some muddy patches along the track we had the excitement of five or six streams to ford during the morning. Fortunately with little recent rain, water levels were all relatively low. We could imagine that one or two of these crossings would be quite difficult in different conditions.

After the first ford we passed some semi-derelict buildings which had once been a church and ospitale providing hospitality to pilgrims and other travellers, including Siguric (whose diaries are the source for the route of the Via Francigena) in 990/992. It is inspiring to think that we are walking in the footsteps of pilgrims who passed the same way over 1000 years ago!

At the same farm we saw our first sheep in this area, a small flock of lambing ewes, one or two already with lambs. We were surprised to see these heavily pregnant and milking ewes being fed straw rather than more nutritious hay. Perhaps this is the consequence of the very dry summer of 2022, meaning that hay is in short supply this side of winter. As the day went on we passed several more flocks of sheep out on the hills. We weren’t sure whether we are only now seeing sheep because the ground here is too poor for much else, or because flocks have been overwintering in sheds. We are quite high here.

Even though the soil here is thin and, judging by the vegetation, poor and poorly draining, there was still some wheat being grown, though less of it than lower down the valley. As we’ve noticed in other parts of Italy, it seems to be common practice to dig drainage ditches down through fields, taking run-off directly into streams and with it what little soil there is.

We had wonderful views up and down the valley again today, as we climbed steadily higher. We were able to see almost all of yesterday’s walk from San Quirico to Bagno Alto, and Castiglione standing out on its promontory. The horizon was slightly more hazy than yesterday, but we were still able to see mountains in the far distance.

By late morning we came close to the main Orcia river, and followed it upstream, first one side and then the other, dicing with traffic on the SS2 at a couple of points on the way. Our route mostly followed what we think was the old road before the current SS2 was built.

On up the road the wild flowers were enjoying the spring sunshine too. The pink daisies we’ve seen often over the last week were flourishing in profusion on the roadside banks, all facing the sun. Overhead, kites were out hunting, and way above them a regular procession of aeroplanes overflying at high altitude or gaining altitude, presumably after leaving Rome airport, now less than 200kms south of us.

For the next few kilometres we followed a gravel track alongside the SS2. The traffic was awful. On a stretch indicating no overtaking there were cars racing to overtake one another, swerving back just before double solid lines for a junction! There seems to be no enforcement of speed limits or traffic regulations here, so drivers do as they please. We’ve not checked the national accident rate but wouldn’t be surprised if it was pretty high. The driving is almost as dreadful as in Portugal!

The last river crossing of the day was the most challenging as it was on the main river, so much wider than the streams we had crossed lower down the valley. We don’t know how walkers would get across safely in wetter conditions with higher water levels and even faster flow as it was impossible not to get our boots wet.

The path followed the riverbank for a while, before turning southwards and beginning the long climb up to Radicofani, today’s destination. At an agriturismo (farm offering direct sales, meals or B&B) there was a conveniently placed picnic area where we caught up with the three Italian women we met yesterday. The carpet of daisies and dandelions in a newly planted olive grove was beautiful, and a reminder of the diversity we miss by mowing our lawns too often. Not a fault of ours!

The afternoon’s walk was a long steady climb of over 300 metres, partly on rough tracks which we assume had once been cobbled as there were well defined kerb stones in places, and partly on tarred roads. We usually find climbs at the end of the day especially tiring, but Julie’s knee has been less complaining on uphills than downhills so she was also complaining less than usual today!

We easily found our rented house adjacent to the church, and there is a convenient bar and restaurant right next door.

Today was another day of huge views around the beautiful Orcia valley, and off into the distance as we climbed higher. Tonight’s billet is at more than 2900ft and the temperature reflects that.

Tomorrow we shall leave Tuscany and cross into Lazio.

Last night’s supper was a little disappointing for a 4-star hotel’s restaurant, but we slept very well and woke to bright sunshine. Breakfast was back at the same restaurant, and was one of the best we have had in Italy, with fresh fruit and a boiled egg, cured meats and cheeses. And butter, which is so rarely offered it feels like a treat! Nutritionally we were well set, but Julie’s knee discomfort has not resolved so today she wore the compression bandage we bought from the pharmacy yesterday. Unfortunately they didn’t have an elasticated knee support in her size in stock.

We headed out along the main street, passing two more churches and several cafes beginning to open for the day. At the Porta Romana we had our first glimpse of the beautiful surrounding countryside. After yesterday’s rain the air was very clear, giving us far-reaching views in all directions. Outside the village we passed by extensive allotment gardens, overlooking the verdant Orcia valley beyond.

The path then headed uphill, climbing steadily, until we reached the first village of Vignoni Alto. En route we were overtaken by three Italian women who are walking from Siena to Rome and asked Tom to take a group photo for them. On winding our way through the narrow cobbled streets of Vignoni Alto we came to a small church with the sound of music emanating from it. We wondered whether there might be a service going on, but in fact it was just recorded choral music, lending a contemplative ambience to this simple well-kept church.

Having left our rucksacks outside as they were too big to get through the narrow entry door, we came out to find a very pretty cat nosing around them, probably smelling the food inside. A second cat around the corner was trying to scrabble down a very high wall to get at birds nesting in a creeper. Oddly, we have seen very few cats in Italy – and far too many dogs!

The path then headed downhill to Bagno Vignoni, a larger village with thermal baths which are evidently a big tourist draw as it was busy and the cafes were doing a brisk trade even this early in the year. Here we had a long and very interesting conversation with a Swedish couple who spend spring and autumn in Italy.

Immediately below Bagno Vignoni the path across the river was fenced off and a notice said there was a weight limit of 400kgs. As there had been no signed diversion earlier and the bridge looked viable we decided to climb over the fence and walk across it to avoid a long detour. We went one at a time as a precaution (Julie sent Tom over first!) but it felt safe enough. Once across we could see that the structure was warped, so maybe there was a good reason for it being fenced off.

A rugged footpath turned quickly uphill through woodland, until we eventually emerged into fields below Castiglione, the hilltop village we had seen from the other side of the valley. On the way up we encountered four Danish women walking in the opposite direction and, after exchanging news on our respective travels, again assisted with a photo opportunity.

Although a visit to Castiglione is recommended in the guides, it is not on the Via Francigena. In view of Julie’s struggles with her knee today we decided against adding on any detours. The path instead contours around Castiglione lower on the hillside, but still provides stunning views up and down the valley d’Orcia.

Still below Castiglione we found a sunny spot amongst some olive trees to sit and have our lunch, looking out over the Orcia valley. By now a chilly east wind had got up but it was warm in the sun. A young German woman walking on her own from Siena to Rome caught up with us. In fact, we realised we’d seen her in the restaurant in San Quirico last night and at breakfast this morning. She comes from Hamburg and is working at a chocolate factory whilst studying tourism.

Soon after the lunchtime olive grove our path rejoined an unmade road which was surprisingly busy. We continue to be amazed by how fast Italians drive on these rough roads, but maybe Fiats are more robust than Land Rovers!

At our next resting place, sat on a bank beside the road, we were overtaken by an Italian woman from Venice who is walking from Siena to Rome with her lovely little dog. A little further up the road we witnessed her dog being set upon by a very big Alsation dog which had been left to run freely alongside its owner’s truck. Even when the Italian woman scooped the little dog into her arms the bigger dog kept trying to get at it, until its owner eventually got it under control. We were appalled though not surprised by this after our own experiences with out-of-control Italian dogs.

Soon after that incident we took a left turn to follow another dirt road along a spur giving wonderful views up and down the Orcia valley as the sun was getting lower in the sky. Yet again the Venetian woman’s little dog was set upon by a hound which escaped from its garden. This time we were better prepared and Tom was able to deter the culprit by shouting and waving his stick at it, sending it off homewards.

We found our accommodation perched on the hillside a short distance above Gallina. Fortunately, after some initial linguistic confusion, our kind hostess offered to cook us supper as neither of us felt up to walking over half a kilometre down into Gallina for supper – even if its only restaurant was open, which was in doubt. From our bedsit we have wonderful views of the mountains to the west that we have been admiring all day.

Today has been one of stunning views of the Orcia valley, and meeting lots of people. We have met more pilgrims today than any other day of the whole trip so far. We also enjoyed hearing the larks singing over the fields, and more spring flowers coming into blossom. It has been a good day!

Giuseppe’s recommendation for supper last night turned out to be a very good Osteria serving home-cooked food at very reasonable prices. A kind Italian gentleman, who used to work in the oil industry based in Aberdeen, came to our rescue to act as translator as there was no written menu. He said he was more used to the Scottish accent, but managed admirably with our southern inflections! We enjoyed one of the best stews we’ve had so far – translated as veal, but we’re pretty sure it was beef – and the ‘frites’ (which weren’t at all like chips) were very good too.

We woke refreshed from a good night’s sleep, and made a leisurely start as we had only 8kms to walk today after splitting a long stage into two. It was just as well because liberal rubbing of Voltarol and two Ibuprofen tablets last night had alleviated but not resolved the problem with Julie’s left knee. As we left the sun was shining, though the wind was brisk and cold, and there were dark clouds gathering ominously off to the north. Retracing our route to the restaurant we stopped off at a cafe in the main street to buy lunchtime sandwiches, and then carried on out of town heading generally south on the road.

Most of today’s walk followed the tarmac road from Torrenieri to San Quirico, like yesterday’s route winding its way snake-like up, around and down several hills. The double and triple bends didn’t seem to deter some very fast drivers so we were careful to walk on the outside of the bends so as to be seen. On the hillsides near Torrenieri a few people were out repairing trellises in the vineyards, but much of the higher ground was uncultivated and looked to be poor grazing too – not that we’ve seen any grazing animals so far.

For a while it looked as though the squally showers scudding through from the southwest might bypass us, but by mid-morning our luck ran out. When the rain came it was short and sharp, but wet enough to make us don caghoules and pull the rain covers over our packs. The showers continued to ride through but there was little rainfall overall – certainly not enough to keep the farmers happy after an exceptionally dry winter.

A couple of kilometres out of San Quirico our route left the tarmac road to cross under a flyover carrying another road. We then followed alongside the new road on a good track uphill towards a large farmhouse undergoing restoration. It looked as though the new owners were also putting a lot of resource into replanting the large gardens and restoring the surrounding tracks. After a short stop at one of the many seating areas we’ve passed set up by the Senese Walking Group, the path took us through an area of woodland before emerging back into fields to reveal views of San Quirico.

Today we saw several more spring flowers in bloom, including some very ornate daffodils or narcissi, mimosa, bugloss, and a yellow flower we’ve not yet identified. Any botanists out there able to help?

For the last half kilometre we had good views of San Quirico, a walled village sitting on top of its hill, as well as back across the valley in the direction of Torrenieri. Our track joined a tarmac road to climb up towards the village centre. We were chased (but only just!) by a small three-wheel truck struggling up the steep hill on its tiny engine. A short final steep climb up some steps brought us to the Porta Camaldoli, one of four gates into the old medieval village. Just inside the gate a busy and colourful fruit and vegetable market was in full swing.

We easily identified our billet just inside the Porta Camaldoli, but had to walk on further to the 4-star hotel in the village centre to check in. The hotel owners have bought up and renovated a number of rental properties, as well as running a restaurant and a couple shops. A very enthusiastic young man with good English checked us in after ascertaining that we could go into our room early, and then escorted us back down the street to show us to our room.

Leaning out of our bedroom window we can see the 13-14th century Pieve dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta, with its romanesque arched west door and knotted pillars seated on lionesses. Inside there is a memorial to Mother Teresa, though we were unable to find out whether she had any connection with San Quirico. We were also interested to find a small plaque tucked away in a corner commemorating a nun who had contributed to the musical life of the church community for many years – something that took us several years of negotiating Church of England bureaucracy to achieve in our own village church.

As we were unable to dry clothes at our last billet, the first task was to get the laundry drying on radiators here. The second task was to find somewhere for lunch. And finally, we needed a rest as we are about to break our rule of taking a rest after five days of walking by walking six days in a row to get to a town of reasonable size for our next rest day.

So, a short day – just two and a half hours to get from Torrenieri to San Quirico. It took longer than that to write the blog!

Our accommodation was well appointed and comfortable, and Chantal was a charming and helpful host. On Chantal’s recommendation we went to the only restaurant, just over the bridge in Ponte d’Arbia, for supper. We had an octopus starter followed by sole meuniere, and it was very good. When we arrived there was only one other diner there, but by the time we left the restaurant was packed, and we could understand why. It is amazing that you can find such good eating in out of the way places, and at a very reasonable price too.

We awoke to the sound of what we thought was a rain-wet road, but on opening the shutters it turned out to be another glorious sunny blue-sky Tuscan spring morning. We were a bit slow getting going, having enjoyed a nice cup of Taylor’s of Harrogate Yorkshire tea (we carry it with us!) with breakfast. We had given ourselves a shorter day than the guidebooks suggest for this stage, stopping at Torrenieri rather than going on to San Quirico which we will do tomorrow instead. It was just as well because Julie’s knee was playing up today and needed a couple of rubs of Voltarol to keep it going.

Our route took us back across the bridge and immediately off the road, climbing up onto higher ground with spectacular views over the Arbia valley. Like yesterday, most of the cultivated land seemed to be given over to growing wheat in vast unhedged fields stretching for miles over the undulating hillsides. There was a lot of evidence of gullying and soil loss even after the exceptionally dry winter they’ve had here.

More quickly than expected we found ourselves descending to the small town of Buonconvento, a medieval walled town in the valley, surrounded by newer development. The old centre is delightful, and provided several cafes to choose from for our mid-morning cafe latte and snack. In its heyday, Buonconvento was the most important settlement in the d’Arbia valley, its fortifications built by the Senese in the late 1300s to protect trade in the area. There was some damage caused by the retreating German Army in WW2, but of the original 9 watch towers 7 are still complete and the 13th century church was rebuilt. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the town’s museums, which include religious art taken from local churches and a sharecropping museum, which would have been interesting.

We were intrigued to see sign up in the cafe supporting the prosecutor who is famously pursuing the mafia. Unfortunately – or possibly fortunately! – our Italian is not up to exploring such subtleties, but we wondered whether there may be a local issue with corruption or organised crime as three smartly uniformed carabinieri came into the cafe for their mid-morning caffeine fixes just after us.

Suitably refreshed we walked on out of Buonconvento, greeted on our way by several people asking us where we were from, whether we were going to Rome, and wishing us ‘buon camino’. After passing an area of light industrial units and extensive allotment gardens, we were once more into open countryside.

Our relief at being off busy roads was short lived, for our track took us back down onto the road and behind a crash barrier, before climbing steeply uphill alongside but above the road. The ups and downs were tiring, but the views in all directions were rewarding. We began to see more vineyards as the day went on, with people out mending trellises and doing other maintenance work with diggers which seemed to involve dumping mounds of rocky soil beside the road.

We passed several vineyards offering sales at the gate, and even one offering pilgrims a glass of wine, a bottle of water, and a sandwich for 8 euros! Having resisted the temptation we were impressed to see that a picnic table was provided even for those who had walked on by without tasting their wine.

Just when we thought we were nearly there the track we were following turned uphill and then snaked around the hills for about 4kms before eventually bringing us into Torrenieri, our destination for tonight. It was a well used track, with quite a lot of vehicles belting up and down throwing up dust and grits, few slowing down as they passed us covering our faces or turning our backs for protection.

We found our billet easily in a small apartment block on the edge of the town, and Giuseppe was waiting to let us in, as arranged. A charming man who has walked to Rome himself and clearly understands pilgrims’ basic needs are for a comfortable bed, bathroom, breakfast and recommendation for where to get supper. We are the first pilgrims this year, so we will be starting a new page to write in the visitors’ book before we leave tomorrow.

It was a shock when our 0645 alarm went off. For some time during the night there had been a lot of noise from the restaurant below. Then in the early hours the street cleaners started up. Oh dear!

After a quick breakfast we were on our way by 0810, aware that we had an appointment for a phone interview with BBC Radio Wiltshire at 083o our time. Leaving our lodgings, we crossed the Piazza del Campo and then turned south on the Via Roma.

We couldn’t help but notice a rather grand looking entrance to the Ospedale Psichiatrico as we passed by. It looked as though the facilities are housed in a huge old villa in the style of our old psychiatric hospitals. Overhead was the unmistakeable sound of a balloon being fired up in short bursts as it floated across the clear blue sky above us – another sign of spring.

We reached the Porta Romana at around the appointed time, found ourselves somewhere to sit with reasonable phone signal and waited for the appointed call. Julie took it and gave an informed and we hope interesting interview about our experiences and the relevance of it all to her time at the Salisbury District Hospital.

On the way we met a Canadian-Korean lady who is walking the Via Francigena alone from Lucca to Rome. We made our excuses while we did the interview, but met up with her again some time later.

Remarkably for a large city we found that we were through the suburbs fairly quickly and into semi-rural country dotted with well-to-do looking houses on largish plots. Being Sunday, there were a fair number of people out walking, jogging and cycling and clearly this was an attractive place to be doing so. As we left the suburbs behind us a hare shot across our path.

Once past the SS223 motorway, here in a tunnel, we found ourselves once again in proper countryside: rolling hills mostly given over to growing wheat.

Behind us Siena stood prominent on the skyline, most of its sprawling suburbs out of sight on the northern side of the city.

Through a large recycling centre with piles of compost and heaps of old cars, and across a roundabout, and then a trudge through an out of town light industrial area, car showrooms etc. More road walking brought us into Isola d’Arbia, a rather sad looking place which lost its early 14th century church to a planned motorway and gained concrete piers to carry the motorway, but then the motorway was never built. A small shrine is all that remains of the community’s historic church, and decaying concrete piers marooned in fields are all that is left of the planned motorway.

However, the cafe/bar was open and we were ready for a mid-morning cake and coffee. Here we caught up with the Canadian-Korean pilgrim again, and sat outside with her and several well-oiled locals who were smoking like chimneys, putting back the wine and chewing the cud. As we walked on, we passed a lot of newly built apartment blocks, but trains no longer stop here and there seemed little in the way of employment.

For most of the rest of the day our route followed tracks through rolling farmland, busy with Sunday walkers and cyclists out enjoying the spring sunshine, touching on the edges of somnolent villages. There was little in the way of wildlife in this prairie farming landscape, except for larks singing joyfully overhead or plunging down to their nests hidden in the emerging crops.

As we’ve seen elsewhere in Italy, there are often extensive allotment gardens on the edges of villages and towns, providing an escape for flat dwellers as well as a source of fresh vegetables for the family. Many plots seemed to have quite substantial structures on them, and some of those looked like they are lived in at least some of the time.

For the last 5kms of the day we followed a track alongside an unfenced single track railway line, making for easy, if not very interesting, walking. Even on a Sunday there was a 2-carriage train in each direction during the couple of hours it took us to walk this stretch.

We arrived in Ponte d’Arbia just before 5pm and were hailed by our hostess as we started heading off in the wrong direction to find our digs for the night. It was very kind of her to seek us out and save the addition unnecessary walking at that stage of a long day. Chantal had very good English, putting us to shame for our lack of anything more than the most basic of Italian.

Strictly we were not due a rest today, having only walked for three days rather than our usual five, but we would not have wanted to miss out on extra time in Siena. It’s simply wonderful! We need to return and spend longer here another time.

Our billet is very convenient, though it was rather noisy last night, with a bar and restaurant immediately below our window. As it was Friday night there were lots of people out enjoying themselves. However, we were only a few minutes walk from the two main sights here, the Piazza del Campo (main square) and the duomo (cathedral).

Although the cathedral is very ornate, we were bowled over by the skilled craftsmanship of the stonework, both outside and inside. We were surprised to learn that the cathedral was built between 1215 and 1263, a period when English cathedrals were much plainer. The cathedral and its campanile are made from white marble, with parts interspersed with black (actually very dark green) sepentinite. Tom says it looks like a zebra! The cathedral was intended to be much bigger and extension works were begun, but the Black Death in 1348 brought everything to a halt, and work was never resumed. The tower has six bells, the oldest one cast in 1149.

The west facade is just stunning! Even on a grey soggy day the pink/white marble glows warmly. The design combines French gothic, Tuscan romanesque, and classical architectural styles. The skilled carving is almost miraculous in its detail and mostly follows Giovanni Pisano’s original design although he left Siena before the work was completed.

The whole floor of the cathedral is covered with inlaid marble mosaics, mostly made between the 14th and 16th centuries by a large number of sculptors. It is reputed to be the most ornate floor of its kind in Italy, and is certainly very impressive. The images portray various biblical stories including a particularly gruesome image of King Herod’s killing of male children following the birth of Jesus.

Our ticket also allowed us to visit the crypt which has many brightly coloured frescos, apparently only relatively recently discovered. The crypt had been filled with rubble when the baptistry was built, and was only rediscovered and excavated in 1999- 2003. The frescos are thought to date from the 13th century. The colours are remarkably intense.

Unfortunately the font in the baptistry was wrapped up in plastic sheeting whilst it is being worked on, but the painted vaulted ceiling was amazing.

Having spent several hours looking around the cathedral, taking a roof tour (wonderful views over the city as well as down into the body of the cathedral), and visiting the crypt and baptistry, we went off to find somewhere for lunch. A nearby cafe provided a very acceptable lasagne followed by panforte di Siena, with cafe latte. All delicious!

We decided to skip looking around the Palazzo dei Populi on the main square as this is supposed to be a rest day, and will look forward to doing that another time. Our final task for the day was to buy sandwiches for the next two days, to make sure we don’t get caught out again without food, or have to rely on our emergency muesli supply.

Back in our room there was some kind of group gathering going on in the Piazza del Mercato below, with several people banging drums in unison (in one short repetitive pattern) whilst others were waving banners. We couldn’t work out what it was all about, but after about half an hour of drumming we were very relieved when they all moved away!

We returned to the cathedral to attend the 6pm Eucharist, which was a real privilege. Despite our very poor understanding of Italian we were able to follow most of the service and even understand parts of the sermon. It is all so similar to the liturgy we follow in the Anglican Church. What a pity we seem to be so defined by our differences rather than that which we have in common.

This morning were woken by the chortling of house-martins building their nests under the eaves outside our room. This is a sound of spring that particularly delights us. We used to have house martins nest outside our bedroom window in Chew Magna, but sadly all attempts to encourage them at our present house have failed. Almost every roof sprocket above our window was occupied by a nest. It was a wonderful sight to see them wheeling and swooping around us!

Despite an excellent meal in the restaurant opposite we were hungry for breakfast with a long day’s walk ahead of us. The downer was that not one of several cafes in the village was open for breakfast…….until April apparently! Rather irritatingly the owners of our room had been evasive in response to a direct question about the availability of breakfast. So, we sat down outside a closed cafe and ate dry muesli that we’ve been carrying for emergencies, washed down with cold water.

Below the castle is a huge carpark, mostly empty today, but it gave a measure of the hordes of visitors expected here during the season. From there we trudged up a steep hill, with good views back towards Montereggioni, it’s impressive defensive position even more clear from a distance.

Although our path took us from hamlet to hamlet, and according to our guides some were supposed to offer accommodation and/or food, we found nowhere open to get a coffee or anything to eat. One place looked promising with lots of makeshift tables and water fountain outside, but even it was closed.

Each hamlet had its own castello, though all now seem to be in private ownership with the usual signs warning off trespassers. This whole area was fought over, back and forth, between the historic city states of Siena and Florence for hundreds of years. Rather like the border reivers of Northumberland and Scotland, the locals had to build substantial defensible houses to survive the repeated raids.

Today’s walk was dominated by huge dramatic skies and intermittent short squalls of rain driven by the strongest winds we’ve had so far. Despite a forecast of rain, we actually saw very little and by the early afternoon glimpses of bright sunshine felt very welcome. More signs of advancing spring included clusters of wild purple crocuses and the first snowdrops we’ve seen Italy – a bit late we thought, according to our English timeframes. We spotted a pair of large raptors with eagle-like wing tips, but weren’t able to identify what they were. We passed a broken porcupine quill, the second one we’ve seen since we’ve been in Italy. Apparently the crested porcupine is endemic here, though more common in north and sub-Saharan Africa. For the first time there were signs of extensive rooting around by wild boar in the oak woods, so perhaps this is where the ubiquitous restaurant offerings of wild boar stews originated.

At our lunch stop – for more muesli and half a kiwi fruit each, the only food we had left – anything not pinned down flew off in the wind. An orange we’d picked up in the hotel in Colle turned out to be bad, which was disappointing as by this stage we were feeling pretty hungry.

A little later we came to a stele (obelisque) in a field commemorating those who built an underground canal in a vain attempt to drain a nearby lake in the 1770s. The canal now serves to drain or irrigate the surrounding area.

Not long after this there was a sign stating that Siena was 2kms away – not true! It was still about 6kms ahead, but the walking was quite pleasant through small fields bounded by trees and hedges sheltering us from the ferocious wind. We knew we were getting close as we passed the premises of the Siena Riding Club, which had a sign outside warning walking pilgrims to look out for traffic.

We had thought this amusing, only to be almost run down a few yards later. Tom was crossing at a three-way junction when a speeding car came out of nowhere, screeched to a halt and began gesticulating at him – as if he should either not be crossing the road or should have leapt out of her way, heavy rucksack and all. Meanwhile another car came whizzing around the corner from the other direction, forcing the first driver to pull across from her original plan to cut the corner. Had she indicated which way she was turning or not cut the corner all would have been well. Despite all the gesticulating the driver didn’t want a conversation about this and declined to wind down her window! We continue to be unimpressed by some of the very aggressive driving here, while other drivers seem to be extremely respectful of walkers.

As Siena drew closer we had the usual experience of lengthy suburban walking, past vast areas of four-storey modern flats and GSK’s Siena offices in a huge villa. This time we had some very steep hills included. At the first cafe we came to we sat down for much-needed sustenance, as our tummies had been rumbling for several hours. Only then did the group of Germans who had left Monteriggioni at the same time as us catch us up.

We entered the walled city of Siena by the very grand Porta Camollia. Even then it was a further 20 minutes walk to the Piazza del Campo in the centre, close to our accommodation, along narrow stone-paved streets with tall palazzos either side.

We found our overnight accommodation quite easily, tucked away behind the Palazzo Publico and the Torre del Mangia, overlooking the Piazza del Mercato.

Highlights of the day? Well, first the house martins at Monteriggioni, and a close second, the late breakfast on arriving in Siena!

We slept well after an excellent meal at a restaurant just along the road from the hotel, and woke to birds singing in the trees outside. The sun was shining despite yesterday’s forecast indicating rain for today. At breakfast we were served by a very friendly American woman who has lived here for 30 years and is friends with a former mayor of Test Valley. It’s a small world!

We started by walking down into the newer part of town to visit Manuela’s church and find her flat so we can send her photos. Sant’Agostino is a 14th century church, so it is older than the current iteration of the cathedral/duomo we visited yesterday. Unlike the duomo, this church is light and all the historic artworks are labelled in Italian and English to help the interested visitor understand what they’re looking at. We were very impressed by this and got so much more out of our visit.

We had a bit of difficulty finding our way onto the right path out of town, but eventually found the riverbank and then walked upstream. What a beautiful river! There are lots of small rapids and pools which the hotel manager had told us are well used for bathing during the summer. Today there were just a few other walkers, a couple of cyclists, and several hopeful fishermen. We saw no sign of fish, nor aquatic invertebrates.

Further upstream our path crossed and re-crossed the river several times via stepping stones with rope handrails intended to stop people falling in. Fortunately the river was fairly low so the rocks weren’t very slippery, but getting across safely was still quite difficult with heavy packs on our backs messing with our balance. Signs warning us that crossing might be dangerous were of no help at all!

By late morning we had passed several industrial areas high up on the banks, and came to San Marziale where we climbed up from the river to walk through the town. On the way through we picked up filled rolls from a cafe/bar and an orange and tomato for lunch at a road-side stall.

Once back into countryside, we were onto farm tracks again, winding our way across fields and through areas of woodland. The scenery here is quite different from further north in Tuscany. The landscape is more rolling and open rather than a jumble of closely packed hills. There seems to be more arable farming going on too, with wheat and beans being grown in fields between the ubiquitous olive groves and vineyards.

Just after lunch, eaten whilst sat on a bank in the sunshine, we walked up into the village of Strove which has an attractive little central piazza and a 14th century church which was firmly locked but sounded interesting from the board outside.

After Strove and its nearby castello, we plunged back into woodland for a while, before emerging once again into olive groves. Tom was delighted to see a fritillary and blackthorn just coming into leaf – both signs of advancing spring. We also saw a dead snake beside the path, but don’t know what sort it was.

At the bottom of the hill, as we were taking a short rest, a group of walkers we had seen in Manuela’s church in Colle and again in San Marziale caught up with us. They turned out to be Germans living in Siena who were spending a few days walking from San Miniato back to Siena. We wondered whether they had found a good restaurant for lunch as they had been walking ahead of us and, with their light day packs, were much faster than us.

In Abbadia a Isola we passed an 11th century ostello which still offers accommodation to pilgrims walking the Via Francigena, provided they can show their ‘credential’ proving that they’ve been making pilgrimage. Further on Tom got talking to a young man with a backpack walking in the opposite direction who turned out to be another Swiss Guard walking home to Lausanne. Boris was heading to the Ostello for the night. He recognised the photograph of his colleague whom we’d met in the Apennines back in November. He told us that 6-7 Swiss Guards a year walk home from Rome after completing their two-year tour of duty at the Vatican. That explains the memorial plaques to the Swiss Guard we had seen on the trail over recent days.

The final climb up to Montereggioni was very steep, emphasising what an effective defensive position it is in. Once inside the castle walls there are magnificent views in all directions. The castle itself appears to be mainly a tourist attraction, with shops and restaurants much in evidence, and a very small local community. We will leave further exploration until tomorrow.

Highlights of the day: the beautiful Sant’Agostino church, the lovely river valley of the Flume d’Elsa, the variety of scenery, and all topped off by one of the best meals we’ve had in Italy at one of the restaurants on the main square.

The official designation for today’s walk would have been more than 30kms, which was challenging for us before Julie’s achilles began playing up, so we have split the day in two with a stay over in Colle di Val d’Elsa. Colle is also the home town of Manu, the wife of one of Julie’s cousins, so that gave us another good reason for stopping there. The forecast was for cloud all day and a moderate wind. In the event, we set out in full sunshine and the wind was rather lighter than we’ve had for several days. So, after breakfast at the cafe below our room – open again after Tuesday closing yesterday – we set off via the San Giovanni Gate.

Fortuitously our route took us past a bakery selling filled focaccia sandwiches and the Coop for a large navel orange for our lunch. We had a rather bizarre experience in the Coop as a party of about 20 Chinese visitors were being given a tour up and down the supermarket aisles by a tour guide! Was this a special cultural experience for them, or were they here to see Chinese made products on sale?

Initially we followed a tar road southwards, which fortunately wasn’t too busy and it had a good pavement footpath alongside it. There were good views back towards San Gimignano and its medieval towers, and far-reaching views out across the typically Tuscan countryside.

After a couple of kilometres the route to Rome – now regularly signposted as such – took us off onto a path winding through oak woods, olive groves and vineyards. The sun shone and the birds sang on this lovely morning, which put a joyful spring in our steps.

Our route detoured around several vineyards and holiday homes all locked up, gated and declaring video-surveillance. We chose to ignore one set of ‘proprieta privata’ signs displayed over a convenient table with benches for a brief stop to rub Voltarol on a sore achilles. It reminded us of Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods, but instead of the owner’s house being “in the village though” it was more likely hundreds of kilometres away. There is an awful lot of this ‘proprieta privata’ thing here in Tuscany but we suspect that most of it is connected with the second homes of absent city dwellers.

Later we had to negotiate two stream crossings. Julie was pleased to find that her new boots do seem to be waterproof, as claimed!

After the second wider and deeper stream crossing we passed by what looked like abandoned chicken houses. We’ve been wondering where all the meat we’ve been eating has come from, as we’ve seen almost no mammals in the fields, whether domesticated or wild, except for horses and of course dogs. Even the wild boar on every restaurant menu are not in evidence in the woodlands we’ve walked through so far – there has been no sign of the dug-over ground you would expect to see.

Soon after passing the abandoned sheds the path split, the right-hand track going directly on to Monteriggioni, where we will be staying tomorrow night, and our track going left uphill towards Colle di Val d’Elsa. As there were a couple of benches beside the path at this point we decided to stop for an early lunch.

There were more signs of advancing spring today: the fine yellow flowers of a witchhazel, violets, hellebores hanging their heads and a weeping willow freshly in leaf. We found cherry trees about to burst into flower, and several more butterflies including a tortoiseshell and a blue, over and above the regular brimstones and large(?) whites. It won’t be many more weeks before things really start to green up.

Near Montecchio, just before we rounded the side of a hill, we had a last glimpse back towards San Gimignano on the horizon. It appeared surprisingly close given how long we’d been walking, but our path had been rather wiggly and up-down. Again, from this distance the medieval towers look remarkably like tower blocks, which of course they were in their day.

Around the other side of the hill we walked past extensive olive groves where people were busy pruning. The trees already pruned had been weeded and mulched. It looks like a huge amount of work, although for the next several months, until the olives are ready to be harvested, all you have to do is watch them growing. Julie says that’s a much easier way of farming than milking cows twice a day 7/365!

By now the promised cloud cover had also blotted out the earlier sunshine, leaving a sky threatening rain to come. At least, that is what the locals are hoping for as the winter has been unseasonably dry so far. We won’t mind if the rain holds off a bit longer, or preferably arrives and finishes overnight!

Colle di Val d’Elsa is another medieval walled town, with rows of impressive 15-16th century palazzos, and cobbled streets. It seems to be less of a tourist trap than San Gimgnano, which is a bit of a relief. There is evidently a downside to attaining UNESCO status, with busloads of tourists disgorging into San Gimignano every day.

We found our overnight accommodation in the medieval part of the city, high above the Val d’Elsa, after a brief stop for a coffee at a pasticceria where the staff were untypically inattentive to the point of rudeness.

After a quick shower and change of clothes we headed out to explore the duomo along the road. The cathedral was built in the early 1600s on the foundations of a 13th century church. Unfortunately there was so little light – we couldn’t find a switch! – that it was difficult to appreciate the artistic treasures inside, including the Holy Nail for which this duomo is famous.

Back near our hotel we had a good view of the medieval town ramparts and surrounding countryside before retiring to our room to rest our weary limbs before supper.