Tuscany gets attention for its beauty, but its neighbor Lazio has adorned the Via Francigena with scenes like this one. The highway signs say “Roma” now and we are just four days away from arriving at St. Peter’s Square once again.
It is sobering to think we have walked 209 miles. Long, challenging days remain. But tonight we have a dinner date with a Dutch couple who have become our friends. Buon Camino, indeed!
We left behind San Gimignano—the tower city—and followed the Via Francigena to Monteriggioni—the walled city.
It was a day of ups and downs, showing off gorgeous Tuscan views from a sometimes rugged trail along with many miles of arduous and even dangerous road walking.
At one water crossing, longer and trickier than the one in the photo above, a young guy yelled out as I started, “Need some help?” Thanks to practice on the John Muir Trail, I handled the crossing on my own with no problem. I am fighting taking offense, though, when a whippersnapper assumes that my age makes me feeble.
By the end of nearly nine hours, we covered nearly 19 miles and 2,400 feet of ascent, including a final push up an achilles-testing climb to the imposing walled city.
In one day, our feet covered two of the most beautiful places in all of Italy.
Books and my backpack 