What a looong day! Just look at how the day ended…

Look at those hills!

We spent too many hours on the road and by the time we could see the town of Gambassi Terme which sat beautifully upon a hill, I knew it would be after sundown before arrival. Suzanne had low blood sugar and we stopped to get that in a better spot, it was hot (mid-80’s) and our packs felt heavy.

We found a chair in an abandoned house and Suzanne waited for her blood sugar to rise

Hay and fields…

Love all the chickens

Later, we flagged down two different brave drivers who would roll their window down and speak to us, they in Italian and me in English… We ended up convincing 2 drivers who passed us on the rocky road/trail to give us a lift to the next intersection. That was super helpful! The last place we stopped I was willing to get a taxi because we still had 2km left and the sun was disappearing. We walked into a pilgrim-friendly pizza place and a younger man who happened to be done with his meeting said ,”come with me”. The taxi company did not answer so he was the perfect choice!

He was a google and Facebook sales guy who was meeting with the pizza owner to get her establishment on the web. Funny thing was his brand new Mercedes Nav system wasn’t cooperating, but his phone and google maps took us to our hotel. At last we are here! 40,000 steps later we can shower and have dinner.

Our cute hotel and our dinner spot

The small town square and church

The doors were amazing!

That was all we had time for in Gambassi Terme. It is a very cute town and it was easy to photograph. Next stop San Gimignano!

Our torture route today. And yes the hills were alive perhaps minus the music!

My mistake the following day was allowing us to sleep in because we were “only” going 9 miles. We left at 10 am and arrived at 5:30 pm. We did take a nice break in Pancole, just prior to the water fountain at the church, but we again walked through the heat of the day.

A perfect spot to stop and take a break.

A water fountain we were searching for. We each finished 1.5 liters by this point in the day!

The day was beautiful, filled with vineyards and horses and olive trees. We even stopped briefly at a Chianti house and tasted some vino at 11 am! I ended up buying a bottle and stuck it in my backpack for later. That was a fun stop!

My hubby would be proud!

We dutifully followed the sign

Grapes plus sun and care = Vino

Chianti in the making

New rule- we begin as close to 6 am as possible and I’ll be checking out a way to eliminate most of the backpack weight for at least Suzanne and possibly myself, depending on the cost.

As we were approaching the end of the wooded trail we could see San Gimignano and its many towers. It seemed so far in the distance…

San Gimignano here we come!

At last we arrive, found our apartment and settled in before dinner. I’ve only visited once many years ago, but one look and I’m in love all over!

#enjoythejourney

#viafrancigena