Thursday, July 13: We started this morning at 5:35 am and walked through Siena to the Piazza del Campo. Facing the Mangia Tower, we headed left on Via Rinaldi and in one block turned right on one of Siena’s main pedestrian streets, Via Banchi di Sotto. If not for our guidebook we would certainly have had trouble finding our way out of the city as there were no sign markers at all. The road turned into Via Roma and we exited through the Porta Romana. Soon we crossed the SR2, one of many encounters we’d have with the historic Via Cassia, originally built by the Romans to connect Rome and Florence. We descended on asphalt between stone and brick walls and soon two young Italian women from Verona sped past us. Another woman from Netherlands marched past us and said, in an unfriendly way to me, “Are you an American?” I said yes. She said nothing and continued on her way.
We walked through olive orchards and could see the Tuscan countryside and Siena behind us. We descended steeply down a gravel road. We passed a wrecking yard and a landscape industrial yard, then walked for a long while on a path between a highway to our right and the railroad track to our left.
We continued past car dealerships and warehouses with loud heavy trucks roaring past. It was funny because Darina had said how it was strange we hadn’t passed through any industrial areas and then suddenly we were in the midst of the Industrial Zone of Isola d’Arbia.
In the industrial area we found our first bar of the day after 9km and stopped for cappuccino and a croissant 🥐 with jam. I changed the bandage on my blister; luckily it hadn’t been causing me much pain.
After that we had to walk on the road with no shoulder and busy fast cars on the Via Cassia into the actual town of Isola d’Arbia. It is a town that has maybe NEVER seen better days.
The industrial part of this stage was unpleasant but the saving grace was that it was cloudy ⛅️ for once so the sun wasn’t beating down on us.
An ugly eyesore on the landscape was an unfinished metal and concrete tower that was originally meant to freeze-dry tomatoes. It was never finished but was visible on the landscape during most of our walk.
Then we walked along alfalfa fields and then into fields, rolling hills and cypress trees. Just before Ponte a Tressa, we found a shaded bench where we had apples and bananas. We walked briefly through the quiet town and then through more fields of alfalfa and grain.
We saw signs for the large brick ruins of Grancia di Cuna (Grancia means “fortified farm”), but we didn’t find any entrance. La Grancia di Cuna is one of Tuscany’s best preserved fortified farms; it was set up as an arm of the Abbey di Torri in the 12th century. When Siena ruled the area in the 13th century, it was connected with the pilgrim hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. The walls, buildings and fortifications of the complex range from the 12th to the 17th centuries. Cuna was sacked in 1554 by Austrian-Spanish troops, but in its heyday gave refuge to kings, popes, and Via Francigena pilgrims.
I found a bench to take a rest and Darina went up into the town to get them to open the 12th-13th century Church of San Jacopo e Cristoforo for her so she could see the fresco of a scene of the hanged man of Santo Domingo on the Camino de Santiago. While I sat on the bench drinking my electrolytes and eating a chocolate donut from breakfast, a number of bikers went past asking for directions, as if I knew the lay of the land. I waited a half hour for Darina, but I was happy for the rest.
We then had beautiful views of Tuscany and a high view of a line of cypress trees. We met a pilgrim couple, Levona and William, walking from San Miniato to Buonconvento. They were a gregarious couple from South Africa & London. Hers is a Hebrew name meaning “the sun rising.” She said the shoes she was wearing, Hoka Trail Runners, were “like walking on air.”
Right after meeting them we walked 1.2km downhill off-track to Monteroni d’Arbia to find Casa Groppino.
We checked in to the apartment, which we entered through a garage with the youngest daughter in the household. She was surrounded by four large barking and growling dogs. We asked her to please lock them up. My bag wasn’t yet delivered by Bags-Free so I showered and put on one of Darina’s shirts. The older daughter at the house brought in a kettle for the next morning, just walking in through the garage and our open door, talking away to us as I stood there in my bra and underwear as I had just come out of the shower. My bag finally arrived at 1:00, so I did laundry, then we walked to a pathetic bar about to close where we shared a dried up ham and cheese panino. We walked to the Coop supermarket to get yogurt and milk for breakfast.
When the apartment host Serena got home from work, she and her husband walked right in through the garage and into our room, the door of which we’d left open, thinking the whole place was ours. We were lounging around in our “pajamas” on the beds. The husband was talking away in Italian and gesturing wildly and Serena was painstakingly translating. It was quite a funny scene as they stood over us talking away enthusiastically about anything and everything. No one in this family seemed perturbed or at all bothered by our half naked states! So funny!
Later we walked about 6 minutes away to La Mosca Bianca and each ordered Hugos. Though delicious I don’t think they had much alcohol content. I had Il Panino della Nonna, “Grandmother’s Hamburger”: 200 grams of hamburger, cheddar, mayonnaise, mozzarella and eggplant Parmesan. It was delicious but I couldn’t finish it.
Darina had a Vittoria pizza: tomatoes, mozzarella, grilled eggplant, buratta and cherry tomatoes. I ordered a glass of wine and Darina a beer then we walked back and relaxed in our very warm room.
Steps: 33,064; Miles: 14.03. Day 6 Stage Walk: 12.2 miles, or 19.63km.
Weather: Monteroni d’Arbia: Hi 92°, Lo 68°. Sunny.
Friday, July 14: We left Monteroni d’Arbia at 6 am and of course we had to walk 1.2 km back up the hill we came down the afternoon before to return to the Via Francigena. Up at the top of the hill, the views were amazing. The sun’s rays were bursting forth from behind a cloud over the town of Monteroni d’Arbia. Also the views over the Tuscan landscape were fabulous.
The humidity was 87%, so we were sweating almost immediately. We walked on farm roads in rolling hills with wide views of the terrain. We walked past sunflower fields and then through the hamlet of Quinciano where our fellow pilgrims Levona & William slept last night. All of this was the most beautiful part of today’s stage. We saw the town’s monumental stairway leading to the octagonal chapel of Pieri Nerli, but it was all fenced off in ruins.
Soon we were on a path with railroad racks on one side and sunflower fields on the other. We walked on this straight interminable path for 3.6km, first on the right side of the tracks (shaded) and then on the left (in the sun). We stopped for the only shade in a vinyl farm building that had palettes stacked against the walls. We pulled down one of them and sat on it, hoping to cool down.
Finally we reached Ponte d’Arbia where we stopped at a cute bar, A Modo Mío Caffè. It was the first stop of the day and we were happy to enjoy chocolate croissants and me a cappuccino (Darina didn’t drink coffee and usually had a glass of milk). This tiny and ancient village, originally called “Borgo d’Arbia,” was Sigeric’s Stage XIV, famous for the 14th/17th century bridge of five wide arches. Its medieval structures were almost entirely leveled in an Allied bombing in 1944, which aimed at the bridge but damaged most everything nearby except its target.
We then left town over the “new” pilgrim/pedestrian bridge over the Arbia River. It seemed rather old for being so new.
The most difficult part of the stage was from here to Buonconvento. We went uphill almost constantly on gravel roads among fields, avoiding the SR2, which would have been a lot faster and easier. It was a very steep climb with a few shady spots but mostly in the sun. I stopped at one point to lie down on a picnic table in the shade. It was so breezy and relaxing I thought I’d never leave, especially as I could see the path ahead was uphill with no shade.
Finally I peeled myself off the picnic table and continued up the long grueling hill and around a corner where I could see Buonconvento below. I began a winding descent on a gravel road into the town. Because of the steep and gravelly surface, I took it very slowly, often slipping and on the verge of falling. Darina had gone on ahead of me.
We checked into Hotel Ghibellino where I was thrilled to have one of the first air-conditioned rooms on our trip. Sadly Darina hates air conditioning so it was a bit of a conflict for us because I wanted it full blast and she didn’t want it at all.
We showered and washed our clothes and then went to lunch at Ristorante Roma da Riccardo, the first air-conditioned place we could find. I had white wine and a “carpaccio of red prawns and scallops with stracciatella cheese and red fruits” (one strawberry). It wasn’t my favorite meal in Italy. Darina had a beer and a warm seafood “salad” with a jumble of “fruits of the sea.”
We found out soon enough that they closed at 2:30, soon after they admitted us, when a waitress kept coming over and clearing items piecemeal off the table. Staff and family were gathering for their own meal and it became clear they were trying to nudge us out the door.
We finally got the hint and left to relax for the afternoon in our nice cool room.
Later we walked around the town whose claim to fame was that Emperor Henry VII died here from malaria as the armies of the Holy Roman Empire were beseiging Siena in 1313. His body was taken for burial to the Pisa Cathedral. Bouonconvento was first mentioned in records from the year 1100. It has many grand homes from the Renaissance period and its walls date from the 14th century. The town is mainly one old street, Via Soccini, with cafes, restaurants and shops.
We had dinner at Da Mario. I enjoyed a glass of white wine and meatballs (Polpette al Pomodoro), while Darina had a beer and Ravioli with eggplant.
We went back to the room early to get ready for a 7-hour stage to San Quirico D’Orcia the next day.
Steps: 29,019; Miles 12.31. Day 7 Stage Walk: 10.98 miles, or 17.67km.
Weather: Buonconvento: Hi 94°, Lo 67°. *Orange Warning for Extreme High Temperature.
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 continuing saga 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 6 & 7): 67.61 /211.77 miles (108.8/340.8 km).
This post is inspired by Jo’s Monday Walk: an unconventional hike around Faro.
~ wander.essence ~ 
You must be logged in to post a comment.