via francigena: san gimignano to colle di val d’elsa

Sunday, July 9: We left San Gimignano at 5:50 a.m. on our stage to Colle di Val d’Elsa on Sunday morning. Darina wanted to get to the Convento di San Francesco for Sunday mass at 11:00, so she went ahead much of the day as she’s a faster walker than I am. It was very strange  seeing the streets of San Gimignano empty of people, because both times I’ve been here, in 2019 and yesterday, it was packed with tourists.

We climbed up to the top of the town and then descended out of the far gate, Porta San Giovanni, looking back at the town of towers we left behind.

We did a lot of climbing and descending through forests and farmland, through olive groves and vineyards, and past farm buildings on this hot Sunday morning. We passed the Monastero di Monteoliveto (now a villa) while enjoying views back to San Gimignano. We hiked past Casale Gergoriano and then Il Boschetto di Piemma campground, followed by the town’s tennis and swimming pool complex.

Soon we descended quickly on a gravel road and went through a series of ridges and valleys. Most of our walk today was climbing and descending ridges and valleys.

We traipsed alongside vineyards, crossed a seasonal creek and then went downhill into forest. At one point Darina waited for me to make sure I didn’t take the wrong path and it was a good thing she did because I would have done just that. Sometimes it seemed to threaten rain, but sadly it never did. I would have welcomed a cooling off. We trudged through buildings of the Aiano farm then to the lowest point at Torrente Foci, crossable on broad flat white stones.

We met Matt from New York who had just lost his job at Facebook along with 30,000 others. He had worked on the political side, “lying for people.” He, Pauline, Darina and I had all stopped to rest on a couple of benches. Finally we came to a sign with optional routes; we took the recommended one that would go through Colle di Val d’Elsa.

We climbed a steep grade in the forest, where we still found glimpses of San Gimignano behind us. We came out of the forest into olive groves – always very hot and unshaded parts of the trail. To compound the heat, we were on asphalt roads to the hamlet of Camaggiori.

We meandered a long while on a fairly flat asphalt road atop a wide plateau,  passing a grand cemetery, Cimitero Della Misericordia, and then we were on the long flat SR68 highway leading into the old town of Colle di Val d’Elsa.

I was so hot from the relentless sun that I stopped to rest in a parking lot under some trees. As I sat bedraggled and sweaty on a curbside, Pauline bounded by. I said, “I thought you’d already be in town.” She said she’d stopped at a bar for a coffee with Matt.

Finally I arrived at the gates to Colle di Val d’Elsa and veered left over a pedestrian bridge to the Convento di San Francesco. There was a wedding party, with everyone draped in finery, in front of the church. Looking worse for wear, I skirted the party and wandered around in the silent and cavernous monastery looking for someone to check me in. Luckily Darina showed up to take me to our room and then she took off for the combination mass/wedding, which apparently was becoming increasingly common. It was funny because she had to wear her scarf as a skirt and there she was attending mass as an interloper at this wedding.

I was so hot I immediately showered and washed my clothes. Then I lay down on my bed and was trying to arrange some things on my phone for the next day but every time I tried to type something, I fell asleep. I felt like I was baking in an oven.

Finally Sister Celeste came to check me in and collect my 15€ and when I found out she spoke Portuguese, I asked where she was from. She said Angola. I told her my son Alex had just married a woman from Angola who lives in the US and they were expecting a baby in October. I showed her some pictures. She asked if I was happy with her, and I said, yes, really happy!

Darina came back from mass to find me half asleep but we finally got motivated to go into the sweltering town. We found a square shaded by big trees and sat down at Pizzeria Santa Catarina. I ordered a delicious tagliolini with mushrooms and truffles and Darina had Risotto with saffron and Pecorino. Of course we had to toast another successful day, so we clinked glasses of Aperol Spritzes.

We tried a delicious dessert too, Tartufo Negro that was a kind of rounded cake/ice cream that was refreshing (& melting fast) in the baking heat.

We went inside the Cathedral of Saints Alberto and Marziale, a squarish 17th century neoclassical church. The town has many 15th & 16th century palaces of nobles.

In the Tourist Information we learned about Carlo Lorenzini, best known as Collodi, the author of The Adventures of Pinocchio. He studied in Colle di Val d’Elsa to become a priest, from 1837-1842. The “Pinocchio” name wasn’t invented by the author but came from a medieval fountain, the Pinocchio Fountain, which we would see on our way out of town the following day. We took a bunch of silly photos with the wooden Pinocchio figures.

Modern Colle di Val d’Elsa is recognized internationally for its fine lead crystal glassware (producing 15% of the world’s supply). We dropped into the Crystal Museum, hoping for air conditioning. When there was none, we hurriedly left.

Darina went off to look for the “castle,” while I went looking for a bakery to get food for tomorrow’s breakfast. After cooling off for a long while in the bakery, which luckily was air-conditioned to the hilt, Darina joined me and polished off the croissant I’d bought her for Monday’s breakfast. She said there was no castle to be found.

Back to the Convento di San Francesco we went. The convent was built during the 13th century and was one of the first Franciscan settlements in Tuscany. The principles of poverty and humility were the guiding principles of construction; in fact, the place chosen for a prayerful life was set apart from the village. In 1338, the nine-arched San Francesco Bridge was completed to connect the convent with the village. We walked through the convent’s church as no masses were being held and it was empty.

After a rest, we went out to dinner in town at another nice restaurant, L’Angolo Sapia. We sat on a terrace shaded with fabric awnings as the sun went down. We each had cool glasses of white wine and gragnano (linguine with creamed cod, spicy breadcrumbs, crunchy olives and a dust of onions). It was such a pleasant evening that we sat there for quite some time enjoying two glasses of Tuscan white wines each. A lovely end to a long hot day.

Steps: 30,322; Miles: 12.86. Day 3 Stage walk: 7.71 miles (12.4 km).

Weather: Colle Di Val D’Elsa: Hi 99°, Low 69°. Sunny.

The Via Francigena is an ancient road and pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. In around 990, Archbishop Sigeric journeyed from Canterbury to Rome and back, but only documented his itinerary on the return journey, taken in 80 stages averaging about 12 miles (20 km) a day, for a total of some 1,100 miles (1,700 km).

This is the story of our attempt to walk the stages from Lucca to Rome, which are, in total, about 255.07 miles (410.5 km). Since we had to cut out stages due to time constraints, our actual goal was to walk 211.77 miles ( 340.8 km).

Running tally (Day 3): 26.04/211.77 miles (41.9/340.8 km).

This post is inspired by Jo’s Monday Walk: Jo’s Monday Walk: The Alternative Algarve