Sunday, September 14th
Today was Rich's 81st birthday! He hasn't been walking much this trip. The terrain has been tricky to navigate and many days the distances are too far. He took a taxi from Altopascio to San Miniato and had a relaxing day reading and wandering through San Miniato. We celebrated his birthday tonight at a superb steakhouse. Rich and Jerry were quite happy with the choice of venue.
Today’s walk from Altopascio to San Miniato was supposed to be 18.1 miles, but we decided to shorten it a bit and took a taxi from Altopascio to Galleno, which made the walk a more manageable 13 miles. Elevation gain was 840 feet with most of that at the end as we climbed the hill to San Miniato. It was a pleasant walk through woods and on canal dykes. The highlight of the walk today was the small town of Ponte a Cappiano (literally, Bridge in Cappiano). As we came around a bend and caught our first glimpse of Cappiano, it was like stepping back in time. The entire town was dressed in medieval garb and there were stalls set up for people to sell their handmade wares. A boar had been roasted and was sitting on a table ready to be carved and there were falcons, owls and an eagle sitting on perches for people to admire. From talking to one of the vendors we were told the town holds this annual festival to celebrate its history and culture, which dates back to medieval times.
Sadly, we couldn’t linger to watch the falcon show or taste the wild boar as San Miniato (and a clean shower) beckoned.
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| Roasted wild boar ready to be carved |
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| Another sight in medieval Cappiano |
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| Falcons |
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| Walking along the dike |
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Interior of one of many village churches we've
visited along the Via Francigena |
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Tuscany's most important river, the Arno, flows
from the Apennines through Florence before
emptying into the Tyrrhenian Sea near Pisa |
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| Pilgrim welcome sign |
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View of San Miniato
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Monday, September 15th
We are definitely in the Tuscan hills! Our entire route today was a series of ups and downs: up one hill and then down, only to climb the next hill. This continued for 16 miles as we climbed a total of 1500 feet. Our last climb to the town of Gambassi Terme was the longest (2.5 miles) and toughest (1000 feet of elevation gain) of the day. Our reward for all this climbing was the spectacular view of the Tuscan countryside!
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| Enjoying today's walk and scenery |
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| View of the Tuscan countryside |
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| Another view of the Tuscan countryside |
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| More vineyards |
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It's grape harvesting time in Tuscany. Many farmers
harvest their fields by machine, others by hand. This
batch of grapes was harvested by hand.
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| Another beautiful view of the Tuscan countryside |
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