Yesterday was an exciting day with lots of plans. It started in the abbadia d'isola. The night had been pretty chilly in the abbaye. I wasn't used to that anymore. Luckily, extra blankets were provided. No alarm clock this morning. The girl from Venezuela woke me up by knocking on the door and saying everything was ready for breakfast. Her correct name was Sarai Perez. She did an extremely good job in taking care of the tired pilgrims. Breakfast in monastries are basic and I like that. You get coffee or tea and bread with jam. Outside, it started raining. I decided to take it easy and waited until it cleared.
Around 10h, I closed the door of the hostel, did a quick tour a the romanesque church and hit the road. It was only 4 km to the medieval village of Monteriggione. As soon as I left the abbaye, I could see it in the distance. Stunning! It is a fortress on a hilltop. The roughly circular walls are interrupted by 14 towers. Halfway to the village, I passed a sign saying I was only 300km from Rome. When I approached Monteriggione, the path disappeared into the forest. After crossing a road, there was a very steep climb to one of the only two entrance gates into the fort. Until then, it had been really quiet. The car parks are on the other side. Stepping inside is stepping into another world. Suddenly, I was surrounded by tourists but I was also inside a medieval fortress. It is like stepping back in time. Monteriggione is small. I honestly think the car parks around are bigger than the village. You can do three things here: visit the shops, enjoy a terrace on the central Piazza Romana or pay to walk on the fortified walls for a panoramic view. I did all three and I loved it. Pilgrims even get a discount on the entrance fee to the walls. Fascinatingly enough, around 50 people still live in Monteriggione. It's a must visit when you are in Tuscany. From the walls, I could see the Senese mountains. That's a serie of low mountains I had to cross to reach my destination of the day: Siena. I started for the 20km around 13h by walking through the Porta Roma of the fortress. A young man was handing out flyers to make publicity for a restaurant. The weather was nice, some clouds, some sun and around 25 degrees. When I walked away from Monteriggione, I took the time to look over my shoulder for stunning views over the fortress. What a place! A French couple had driven up the gravel road for a nice lunch with a view away from the crowds. Pretty quickly, I was all alone again in the Tuscan woods. The wide path had lots of loose rocks which made walking harder. To add to the challenge, horseflies were trying to bite me constantly. But that didn't break my good spirit. I love walking here. One moment, you are in the woods, the other moment there are nice views over the rolling hills. From time to time, you pass a remote farm or even a castle. In a meanwhile, darker clouds came in. But if you see dark clouds and blue sky, always focus on the blue sky. After 7km, I reached the big pilgrims rest area of La Villa. I just wanted to stamp my passport when without a warning a downpour started. It came down with buckets. I tried to stay dry under a little roof. When it calmed down a bit, I moved to a shed and had lunch. But I couldn't wait forever. There were 13km left and it was already 17h. When it calmed down a bit more, I put my rain gear on and continued. Always see positive things. Thanks to the rain, the horseflies stayed away. After a while came the famous sign: end path in safety. That means there was again a while where I had to walk on the road. Always dangerous! I'm looking forward to the moment where I will get off one of these roads saying: waw, nobody was speeding and nobody was phoning. It might never happen. Luckily, there was not too much traffic and it stopped raining. Back on the gravel, I passed a pyramidal obelisk. It stands at the entrance of an underground canal. Before, this land was a swamp. It was drained to turn parts of it into farmland. A bit further, a sign said I arrived in Siena. But where was the city? The path entered a forest where the trails were partly flooded and the horseflies more ferocious than before. Just when I saw the end, I made a wrong step and ended ankle deep in sticky mud. Boehoe! It was already 19h and I took a final break at a cemetary. The sunset coloured the sky. I climbed a hill through vineyards and saw the highway in the valley below. But Siena was nowhere to be seen and it was getting dark. I had to descend to the highway, take a tunnel underneath and tackle another big climb. You have to deserve Siena. The evening brought fresh temperatures and mist started to form above the fields. When I reached the top of the last hill, I finally got my eyes on the city. I made it - or almost. Now I followed the Via Cavour into town, a busy road with shops and apartments. It got to 20h30 when I saw the Porta Camollia. The road now goes around the impressive entrance gate, but you can still walk through. Inside the city walls, everything is impressive and majestic. Five story high buildings line narrow streets with cosy lights in the Via Camollia. And then I walked onto the piazza del campo. Like everybody else walking on that square for the first time, I could just say waw. With its unique shell shape and beautiful buildings around, it is without a doubt one of the most stunning squares in Europe. From here, I headed to my hostel. It was a self check in. I received a code and the key was on the door of my room. The hostel was perfect for my rest day today with a kitchen and a washing machine. But my day wasn't finished. My good friend Rob was in town, so we headed to a pub for beers and food. It was great to catch up. I'm really grateful he came to see me. From the terrace of the pub, we could see the piazza del campo but we went inside after a while because it got chilly. I was only in bed by 2am, what a day to remember. Today is my 7th and second last rest day. I will take the time to relax my legs and enjoy Siena before starting the last 2 weeks of my adventure. Rome, here I come!
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AuthorMy name is Dimitri and I'm turning 40 in 2023. Through the years, I have tried to live my dreams. Everything is possible, the sky is the limit as long as you believe in your dreams and work hard to make them happen. Do what you never did before. Go where you have never been before. It will be scary, but it will also be worth it! Archives
July 2024
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