26 km
The morning's trek
Leaving Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta in Chianni bright and early
Harvest time
San Gimignano in the distance
Just before San Gimignano, the lovely Pieve di Santa Maria in Cellole (1238)
Pilgrims at the Pieve
If you need anything, just ring the bell!
The towers of San Gimignano
Most of the pilgrims stopped in San Gimignano for the day, but Domenico and I had seen the town before and couldn't stand being amongst crowds of tourists, so we headed out the city gate towards Colle Val d'Elsa.
In this section there are 3 different possible routes. We took the one that would take us to Colle Val d'Elsa, where my daughter Sara was to join us the next morning to walk the next two stages.
The second part of the day's long hike
Leaving the crowds of San Gimignano behind
It was hot walking through the vineyards in the afternoon sun. At Agriturismo Croce di Bibbiano they were kind enough to offer us a bottle of chilled water and a place to sit down in the shade for a few minutes.
Finally we came into Colle Val d'Elsa, a very oddly shaped town with a lower part and a long, narrow upper part built along the crest of a ridge. Fortunately for us, the upper and lower parts of the city are now connected by an elevator!
After walking all the way along the ridge of Castello, the upper part of the city, we finally came to our accommodations for the night: the monastery of San Francesco.
Domenico and I and a couple of other pilgrims were the only ones staying there. We had walked a very long way in hot weather, but after the usual routine of showering, washing out our sweaty clothes and figuring out a way to hang them up to dry, and putting on clean clothes (i.e. all the other clothes we had), that didn't stop us from going all the way back to the lower town later on for dinner at the award-winning Pizzeria Il Chicco, where I had one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten!
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