Today was 8 miles (7.55, but that rounds up to 8!), bringing our total to 106 miles hiked, to date.

Our stay last night was off the beaten Francigena path, but it gave us a chance to break up a 20 mile stage into something more comfortable.

(The hotel Borgo Antico as seen on our departure)

The walk was pleasant, following a rail line in one side and a field of sunflowers on the other, for several miles.

The last few miles, the trail began the more serious up and down we’d seen on earlier days, and anticipating the climb up to about 3,000′ in a couple more days.

Ultimately, the village was in view and our days hike, finished.

Flexibility: August is vacation time in Italy, as it is in much of Europe. For Italy, that means that many businesses are closed for much of the month, or at least have reduced hours. You need to be flexible when shopping for needed items during this time. Add to that, the week of the 10th – 16th was a festival week. More businesses close during that time. Now, the 16th was the primo holiday day, and you had to be lucky to find a shop or restaurant open! It all works out. Just be flexible.

Flexible, the trail: Okay, yesterday we knew we would have to jump off the trail at some point, to get to our hotel. We planned that. However, about 1.5 miles before that plan, the trail zigged, and Bill zagged!

(The blue line is the actual trail. The red line is the “lost walk”. The green line is making a new course to the hotel. 🤔)

Shortly after our errant zag, we were staring at the back gate of home/small farm that appeared abandoned. Well, Bill figured that since we were sort of heading in the right direction for the hotel, why not use this as our off-trail launching point? What could go wrong?

Diane was a bit more skeptical and waited while Bill traipsed through the seemingly abandoned farm/ home. It seemed clear so he called Diane and soon they were both happily trespassing across this home! Ignoring the “video surveillance” signs, they found the other side without encountering polizia! Flexibility!  A 2.5 mile walk through town streets led them to their goal and all was well.

The side lesson here is: don’t believe Bill if he ever says “I never get lost!”

We’re now in our hotel room in Bounconvento, listening to thunder. Gotta be flexible!

Very poor (no) internet. We walked 14 miles today, bringing our total to 120 miles.

Tomorrow will also be bad. Lots of thunderstorms in the afternoon. We beat today’s by about 10 minutes

10 miles walked, bringing the total to 130 miles,  overall.  There is no wifi here, and the cell signal is very poor. Net, no pictures and very limited text.

Yesterday we arrived to thunderstorms which lasted to about 8 PM. This morning the skies lit up with lightning and thunder at 7 am. We delayed our start until almost 9 am to minimize risk. For thr first 2 hours, we had a bunch of rain. For the remaining time,  we dealt with the resultant mud. It’s all an adventure!

We arrived to a very quaint B&B, with sparse accommodations (no A/C), but very gracious hosts. With temps in the mid-70’s instead of the mid-90’s, we’re going to be just fine.

Tomorrow is a long steady climb so we should get a good workout. The rain tomorrow is projected to startt at 2 pm, so we’ll try to be done by then.

That’s all we’ve got for today. God bless you. We are enjoying our blessings each day.

Ciao

11 miles walked, bringing the total to 141 miles. Once again, no wifi and a weak wireless signal  –> short post.

Today was a steady climb, with a few downhill sections to help ensure that we had enough climbing. Here’s the profile:

We had no rain during the walk. As we arrived, the thunder started rumbling and the rain is due in an hour or so. All good.

Tomorrow is an easier day; downhill and short. That’s okay.

Hopefully, the internet will allow me to post. Ciao.

Today was 6 miles,  mostly all downhill. Our total is now 147 miles walked.

Radicofani was really beautiful, with stunning 360 degree views. Even our flat had an amazing view:

And the fortress at the top was visible for a very long distance away:

So what made Radicofani special wasn’t just the view, it was the people! Everyone we met was very friendly. In the restaurant, everyone seemed to know everyone else, but still all took time to say “hi” to us (in Italian). The proprietress of the small store we visited this morning figured that we were purchasing lunch supplies, then offered to make our lunches AND seal them for our walk. Locals on the street all greeted us … just very enjoyable.

We had a very short day today, which is good.  Bill has been dealing with flu- like symptoms for the last few days, so a short segment is a good  thing for recovery.

Since we’ve been without internet for the last several days, we’ll post a few of the photos from along the way today, as we have a fair wifi signal:

(The “classic” Tuscany photo).

(We had some rain! )

(Our very quaint place in Gallina )

All for now. Ciao!

Today was 11 miles, bringing the total to 158 miles. For the most part, a very green and beautiful stage … if you don’t factor in the traffic.

No traffic in this shot, but more on that, later.

As we left the restaurant last night, we snapped a photo of Radicofani, roughly 7 miles away.

As a reminder of how far you could go on this walk, here are done choices:

Note that Santiago de Compostela is only about 1000 miles away … 4x the distance we will travel on this trip!

Italy is a cycle loving nation. Everywhere you see cyclists. And the little cafe’s offer incentives for cyclists to stop; like this bike repair station. Very complete!

And, if you’ve ever traveled through California’s foothills, you’ve seen many “Mark Twain slept here” signs. These are a way of self-promoting the town. Well, that works here too! This small town advertises the stay of Galileo, who came here to avoid the plague … for a few months.

OK, caution and council.  The guide book suggests that at  7 km remaining, take a bus. Don’t bother to walk because the road is narrow and there is no shoulder.  We have walked hundreds of kilometers on narrow country lanes over the course of the last decade, so we know how to take caution while walking these sections. We would certainly take caution on this stretch.

We were 3 km into our walk when a car stopped on the highway and asked ‘why are you walking this way’? That didn’t refer to an Aerosmith song (we’re now fully into the 70s/80s music scene). He was quite familiar with the via Francigena, and the alternative route. He stated that the alternative route is safer and would have been a better route if we read our guide book.  We did, but we were concerned about the added 8 km and 1600′ of climbing on that route.

Our approach was to walk on the furthest side of the pavement, facing traffic, and when cars approached we would step off into the weeds on the side.  As soon as the cars passed, we would get back on to the roadway.  Rinse and repeat.

That is,  until one  car from behind us decided it was time for him to pass another car in front of him.  With us walking facing traffic on the other side of the road, we did not expect to see, and feel,  a car going 50 miles an  hour pass from behind us about 1 to 2′ off our shoulder.  That was not a thrill we were looking for!

From that point forward we would step off into the weeds if we saw a car in front of us or heard a car behind us. We still enjoyed the hike, but we’re a bit more aware then ever before on a highway.

If we have a do over, we would take the alternative route even considering the added 5 miles and 1600′ of climbing.

Looking forward in the guide book, there are no more sections like this.  God is good.

Ciao

Today was 15 miles,  bringing the total to 173. We will walk 11 or 12 tomorrow, then take the next day off. We’re ready for that break!

After the break we only have 6 days of walking and we’re in Rome, the end of the hiking road for this trip. We’re not ready for that 😥!

The hike was long. The road signs in Acquapendente indicated 14 kilometers (about 8.5 miles), but that would be by SR 2 … the infamous route of yesterday. Apparently as a reaction to yesterday’s walk, the route designers worked hard to completely miss SR 2! The result? Our actual route was 25 kilometers (15 miles), or almost double the SR 2 route. It seemed we spent almost as much time walking away from our destination as towards it. You know, two steps forward, one step back? Here’s a map of our walk. The blue line is our actual walk, while the green line is the direct route.

Importantly, all roads lead to Rome!

Down to the water:  Nonetheless, when we finally caught a view of Lake Bolsena, it was worth the walk!

Even better was the arrival! In no time, both Bill and Diane were in the Lake enjoying a swim! Life is good!

Ciao!

Today was 13 miles and 2,000′ of climbing. That brings us to 183 miles, overall, and 18,000′ cumulative of climbing.  Six days of hiking remain, along with tomorrow’s rest day.

Lake Bolsena is the focal point of both yesterday and today’s journey. It is roughly 1/4th the size of Lake Tahoe and was formed atop of a dormant volcano. Oh, and it is beautiful!

The terrace dinner we had at Lake Bolsena showed off a phenomenal sunset:

As the hike today was dominated by Lake views:

But the”brass ring” view is from our balcony at our accomodations for the next two nights:

(The balcony view)

We are now spread out and enjoying the beginning of the rest. We hope each of you enjoy this day, also.

Ciao, Bill and Diane

No formal miles walked.

A very good thing. A chance to put bandages and braces on the parts that are complaining. A chance to get up when you want to versus waking very early to avoid the heat of the mid-day sun.

We have simply become tourists for the day in Italy. Speaking of tourists, we’ve encountered no Americans since starting the Francigena… until today. We met a pair of American pilgrims this morning as they were leaving town (not us, we’re on holiday! ). Today, our B&B will have 3 rooms dedicated to Yanks. That’s a whole lotta English being spoken!

We quickly encountered the Italian version of an iconic Spanish pilgrim monument:

We also stopped to visit the domed church in this village.

This is said to be the third tallest domed cathedral in the world, after Rome and Florence.

Why the big cathedral in this small town? Well, for 350 years,  from 1200 to the mid-1500’s, this town was the summer home for the Popes. (Gotta beat the heat in Rome during the summers, somewhere! ).

The home for the Popes was “Rocca di Papi”. Like a deserted cabin, the Rocca di Papi has fallen into a bit of disrepair;

I’m sure if our “Chamber of Commerce ” guidebook writers wrote about it, it might be offered as a B&B, as: “Charming and rustic, storied castle with excellent views of the stars (no roof).  Available for your stay, for that discerning guest”.

You already want to stay there, right?

God bless, Bill and Diane

First the details. 11 miles walked, bringing the total to 194 miles.

We enjoyed the last evening of our break at a local restaurant with a killer view!

And killer seafood risotto:

The view and dinner for two only set us back about 38€, or about $42. Not a bad deal!

This morning we were back on the road again. For those keeping score, that’s Willie Nelson, 1998, and proof that we are moving musically through the decades and only have two more before we are back to the future (oops, we slipped back to the 80’s!).

The Roman Road: About a mile of this day’s journey was on a Basoli paved road, a type of paving that the Romans used. In fact, this stretch of road dates back to before Christ. Several Roman emperors traveled on this road. Cool! (Of note: the telephone poles are a recent add and not present when the Ceasars were traveling through … in case you were wondering. )

The rest of the journey was less interesting, but mercifully less hilly.

And in short order, we were marching into Viterbo. Another day’s journey complete.

Enjoy your day’s journey. Ciao and God bless you.