Farmland and a full dorm

Nights are much cooler now, but the heat is still stuck inside. My hostel room got again very warm last night, so I slept again with the window open. I didn't even notice it getting light and woke up from my alarm at 7h. Today, I had to leave the beautiful city of Siena. After a good breakfast in my room, I took off. There was already a new name on the reservation board. Tonight, Konrad Roepke would sleep in room 2A.
Often, it is hard to find the right way out off a city. In Siena, it is really easy. You follow the Via Roma to the impressive Porta Romana. And there was my friend Rob with his motorcycle to wave me goodbye. What an amazing guy! He was heading back north, I continued south.
Straight after the gate, the path took a left turn and continued on an undulating concrete road through the Tuscan hills. The road got wider, the cars more numerous, the medieval charm of Siena faded. But in return, I got the beautiful views. No more forest today, I was surrounded by farmland. Looking back over my shoulder, I could still see the towers of Siena. A German couple had parked their van along the road to enjoy this view with breakfast.
After 5km, I reached the historic Via Cassia which I had to cross. In the days to come, I will cross this road more often. It connects Florence with Rome. Later, the path turned to gravel and after a steep descent, I continued on a bike trail. I stopped when I passed a car demolition site. All these cars piled up, each with its on own story, if only they could speak. I also passed some workmen who were having a nap in the shade of their truck. Never skip siesta.
Before I knew, I walked through the industrial zone of Isola d'Arbia. The village is just behind. I found it a weird place. It is dominated by a massive tower intended for freeze-drying tomatoes, but the project was never completed. There are also pillars of a viaduct without a viaduct and there is a memorial for a church which is no longer there. I took my lunch break in a little parc under a tree. There was a bar open just around the corner. If only I had known.
The route climbed up a hill through farmland. From the top, I could see all the way back to Siena. Pretty amazing! Later, I crossed Ponte a Tressa. It's a hamlet with new houses of brick and concrete. The last 13km of the day had no more services at all. With a little detour, it was possible to walk through Monteroni d'Arbia. This is the largest town of the area. Not really a must visit, but there was a supermarket where I could score a cold drink.
The temperature was around 30 degrees and with mostly no shade, that is pretty warm. In the sky, there were white clouds in all kind of shapes. I saw a whale and a crocodile. A real cat came up to me for a cuddle when I left town. Pretty quick, I was back on the farm roads. No flat walking here, it continued going up and down. Traktors are even equipped with tracks here because of the steep hills. As far as my eyes could see, I saw farmland. The only shade came from the cypress trees along the path.
The little hamlet of Quinciano lays on top of a hill and especially farmers live here. The last 5km of the day were different. Then the path ran flat next to the railroad tracks. The sun was already pretty low. Nightfall comes surprisingly soon in september. Suddenly, there were lots of sunflower fields. A deer jumped out of nowhere on the path and disappeared as fast as it came. Birds were singing their last song of the day.
And then finally around 19h, I reached Ponte d'Arbia after 26km. Since 2016, there is a new pedestrian bridge which takes pilgrims over the Arbia river. On the other side was Centro Cresti, one of the five donativo hostels on the Via Francigena. It exists since 1983, is run by volunteers and you pay whatever you want to pay. I was surprised to be welcomed in Dutch by Herman. Yes, one of the volunteers is Belgian.
Tonight, I would not be alone. There were 10 pilgrims staying, especially Italians. Around 20h, we had dinner together. Herman does this job with his heart. He does his best to treat every pilgrim good and honest. He has a fascinating system to stop the discussion around people snoring. On his phone, he has a decibel meter. If someone goes louder than 60 decibel, he takes the person out of the dorm and puts him/her seperate. It's a fair system. The dorm is full tonight. I'm no longer used to that. But I'm tired, so I will sleep well.
​Tomorrow, another 26km to San Quirico d'Orcia. Curious to discover if there is more farmland coming