Trip report Self-guided Hiking Italy Hilltop towns
Dec 1st, 2008, 08:12 AM
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Trip report Self-guided Hiking Italy Hilltop towns
Hello everyone,
I am finally getting around to posting part of a trip report from our Oct. 2008 self-guided hiking trip through Tuscany. I will post it in sections. Mainly because I haven't finished it yet.
The first part is our arrival to Italy and our stay in Siena.
What is travel?
Take a minute and think about it.
What does a good vacation or trip mean to you?
Everyone travels for different reasons.
Travel for me is a time of rebirth. It is a time to awaken my mind, body and spirit. It is a time for self-discovery and discovering the many ways that people live whether it is from my own culture or the culture of some place far a way.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the preparations of our travels and the experiencing of new things while we are on our journey that it isn’t until we get home and are in the confines of our own safe environment that we can sit back look at the pictures we made and reflect on all that we did discover while on our trails. A very wise old man (my dad) said to me on our return from Italy that sometimes half of the fun is returning home and reliving the moments (both good and bad). And my fellow travelers as you know there can be some bad moments. Sometimes I think that they might even be the highlights of our trips because once you are home you can look back on them and most of the time laugh or wonder how you made it out of such a bad circumstance. But that is the fun of it. Sometimes testing ones self to the limits. Those tests can come in the form of trying to climb that last mountain before you get to your destination or wondering if you will make it through another minute with your traveling companion. Whatever those moments are, and they can be many, it is all part of the adventure.
So hold on to your imagination and enjoy the story of my adventure to Italy. This will not be one of those trip reports that will document every train we took or every hotel we stayed in or the many restaurants we ate at. There are places on this site that you can find that information. And if it hadn’t been for some of the wonderful advice we got on fodors we would still be looking for the bus stop in Rome. So thanks to all that helped us.
Our trip was not like many others that are posted here. It was a self-guided hiking trip. We booked with a company Girosole based in Italy and the USA. They handle both guided and self-guided trips. We chose the self-guided hiking trip through the Tuscan Hilltop towns of Italy. The company booked our hotel for the eight days of hiking, took our luggage from hotel to hotel, provided us with maps, a detailed travel guide of the trails, information about the areas we would be hiking through and advise on where to eat. This made it very easy for me during my initial trip preparation. Well lets say it cut down some of the stress.
Our trip begins with us landing in Rome and heading right to Siena for two nights so we could get over our jet lag and rest up for the hiking part of our trip. We then headed to the hilltop towns of Tuscany, which is where the self-guided hike began and lasted for 8 days and about 70 plus miles of hiking. The towns included Montalcino, Rocco d’Orcia, San Quirico, Pienza, Montepulciano and a few interesting smaller places along the way.
We then rented a car for two days and headed over to Umbria to visit Assisi, Spello and Spoleto while we stayed in Bevagna. We ended with a train ride back to Rome where we stayed for one night.
So if up to this point this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea now is a good time to jump ship.
I am 57 and my husband is 60. We both still work (at TV stations in Philadelphia). I have had the travel bug since I went on my first trip back in 1957. My parents, my sister and I drove across country in our trusty 1957 blue Oldsmobile. It took 4 weeks. Our main destination was Disneyland. It is hard to remember that trip but we have a few pieces of film that is enough to jar my memory and I can still feel those wonderful feelings that are associated with those images.
Back in the early 1980’s I got into hiking and ever since then every trip I have taken has involved hiking. I can’t imagine seeing a place any other way. In the early 1990’s my husband came into the picture and I started dragging him along. He had never traveled and never hiked but I kept tricking him into these trips I would plan. He finally started to enjoy himself (I think). He wanted to do all of the USA before he went abroad. We might be only a few states short of our completion but I was able to get him to go to Scotland last year and Italy this past fall (2008).
So travel for us usually includes hiking (day hikes, no camping) and photography. We will include a few museums, some touristy things (as we call them) but mostly being out in the wilderness is what we do.
And for those of you who are wondering how do you hike 80 miles and not have aches and pains, WELL cortisone, Advil, tiger balm and hot packs can do wonders and make you feel like 20 again.
To make it easy
D = Husband
M = Me
Following you will find a list that both D and I made of some of the things that stick out in our memories about our trip. I did this because I found that when people would ask me about my trip I would mention certain things over and over again. I then asked D if he could give me his list of some of his memories. Now granted there are many more memories than this but these are quick snapshot that I will expand on later. In the text that follows I will put an* next to items from this list that are included in the trip journal.
D’s List:
Man playing music
The bus and train stations
Key turning off electricity
The narrow streets
Passing the trucks
Girls on motorcycles
Smell of fermenting grapes
Kids singing on bikes
People talking outside window
The church in Siena
The steak
Scissor cutting pizza
The copper man
The Rope Bridge
Boobies on TV
M’s List:
Boy with accordion begging for money on train from airport in Rome to bus station
Train seats
Music from window
Bells ringing
Butterflies leading the way on the trail
Fairies in the forest
Espresso and Americano coffee
Laundry from window
Gelato
Old people walking up hilly cobblestone streets
Fast drivers
The rainbows
Getting lost on the trails
Women stealing our train tickets
People from Denmark helping us
And so our adventure begins:
We flew out of Philadelphia on an evening flight into Rome’s International Airport. This was great it got us into Rome early in the morning. We caught a train at the airport that took us to the bus station. We had decided to take the bus to Siena instead of the train. With the train you need to change at a certain point. The bus was straight through. This allowed us to sleep on the bus as we drove to Siena.
We found the train ride (although short) quite interesting. Our first introduction to the Italian culture was a young Italian boy with an accordion* walking through the train playing his instrument and asking for money. This got us in the habit of saying NO. The train seats were quite different* then we are use to and found them easy to fall asleep in. The seats all have this built in headrest that keeps your head from falling when you get that head bob thing going as you start to doze off.
We were smart with our luggage this time. Thanks to all the Rick Steves info and Fodor posts we were able to get our luggage for 2 weeks of cloths and hiking gear down to one duffle bag (needed this for our hiking poles), 1 small suitcase, 2 back packs and 2 plastic bags from Bed, Bath and Beyond that had our hiking boots. (Boy did that yell “Here we are Americans come get us”. This didn’t dawn on me until someone mentioned it.) I got a brainstorm when we were in Montalchino and bought 2 cloth grocery bags from the coop there and that was the new home for our boot. But more people tended to look at them because there was something written in Italian on the bags. Still not quite sure what they say. But this worked out great. We always carry our boots on the plane because if you lose your boots your hiking trip can be a bust. You need to have a good pair of broken in boots when you do a trip like this.
We found the bus depot in Rome and wondered around looking for a place to eat. This would be our first introduction to Pizza in Italy. We found a small pizza stand and devoured our first real Italian pizza. Not bad for the first shot at trying to find food. This always seems to be a challenge for us when we are away. We both are very plain eaters. I will try a few more things than D but we usually have a difficult time finding places to eat in that we both agree on.
Our bus ride was uneventful but did have a lot of head bobbing and snoring going on. We finally arrived in Siena feeling abit dazed. That first step into a new land is always a bit disorienting for us. We got off the bus and just stood there not knowing which way to turn. We then ran into another American couple with their son who had the same look. Much to our surprise they were staying at the same hotel in the old part of Siena the Almo Dolmus. We started our walk with our new friends into the ancient town of Siena and our world began to change. Small cobble stoned streets, beautiful Siena colored buildings, huge church towers guarding over the city and bells ringing echoing throughout the town. The walk wasn’t long and we made our way down a path to our Hotel. The hotel was some sort of old factory at one time and now was supposed to be run by nuns but we didn’t see any the whole time we were there. It was clean, comfortable and inexpensive, just like we like it.
We checked in and had our first encounter with feeling like a stupid tourist. We tried several times to unlock the outer door to get into the building where our room was but had no luck. We finally had to have the man at the desk come outside and help us. Oh yes you got it, first try and he was in. The whole time we were there I was never able to open that door. Go figure?
We dumped our stuff in the room and began our exploration of our new world. A world unlike we had ever seen before. Beautiful small streets crowded with people and little shops all over the place. My goal for this day was to have my first gelato and to see this thing called IL Campo Plaza. We strolled up and down the tiny streets following the signs to Il Campo and then there is was…we first saw a streak of light down a side street that went straight down (we hadn’t even started hiking yet and my calves were already aching from the hilly streets) and then this wonderful open area with people standing around laughing, talking, children running around playing, people just sitting wherever they wanted to in this big open plaza. It was almost like a stage. Restaurants surrounded the plaza with people sitting outside eating and watching what was going on in the center. It was like a great orchestrated show. And then the bells began to toll echoing all around. This is Siena…
We spent 2 days in Siena wandering up and down the streets. Visiting the Duomo with its magnificent interior of painted ceilings, marble inlaid floors and beautifully carved marble statues*, climbing the clock tower, eating gelato, exploring the other churches and school, sitting in the middle of the plaza and watching the people. We were so fortunate to be there when the moon was full. We lay down on the plaza and ate gelato and watched the full moon rise above the clock tower.
As night began to fall the plaza started to empty out, the crowded streets became desolate and almost eerie. The only activity in the streets was the occasional car or scooter that would come tearing around the corner without and warning and almost but not quite cut you down in your path. D was just amazed by this and noted that the streets were so small it was as if the cars and scooters were driving on the sidewalks.
I won’t mention many of the restaurants that we ate at but the one in Siena was quite unusual. I don’t remember the name but we sat outside and shared a table with some women from Germany that were on an Art tour. What was interesting about the place was the tables. The streets in Siena are so steep and hilly that to have tables outside was a mathematical feet. The feet of both the chairs and the table had to be cut at just the right angle and then they had wedges of wood stuck under the chair. One false move and you might end up rolling down the street. The food was fair but the adventure was great.
Our time in Siena was coming to an end. The last morning we started our quest as we had the past few mornings to find a place to have a somewhat substantial breakfast but we had a feeling that what we had eaten the days before was going to be the common fair for our trip. So breakfast for the next 12 days was to consist of a cup of Americana coffee which I think was really just espresso put in a larger cup and some sort of pastry*.
It was amazing to see everyone jammed into these small cafes in the morning and grab an espresso and a sugar laddened pastry, down it all in about 2 minutes and wiz out the door to work. (I understand why they whizzed out they were so high on caffeine and sugar).
As we took our last stroll through the town of Siena we ventured out of the old town and discovered the real working district. Scooters and motorcycles* were zooming past from every direction, men in suites and women in dresses and high heels topped off with helmets, all of them rushing to find a parking spot. The parking lots and streets were lined with scooters and cycles a colorful sea of chrome and leather. The creativity and grace that these people used in their driving and parking techniques was like watching a well orchestrated ballet.
We had a few short minutes to visit one last church that was right up from our hotel. As we approached the door we encountered 4 teenaged girls sitting outside with schoolbook. They were art students and we stayed and talked to them for a while. They were full of life and quite refreshing. I asked if D could take a picture with them and they agreed. We call it The D and his girls’ picture. This is just one of our fond memories.
We packed our belongings up and were ready for the next part of the adventure. We had no idea what was awaiting us in the next part of our trip. Things sometimes look so good on paper as you plan them but then when they become reality it just is so different….not good, not bad just different…
And so let us begin the hiking part of the trip:
We took the bus out of Siena to a train station. The train would take us to Bounconvento where we were to meet up with our driver Palo for the rest of the hiking trip.
I am finally getting around to posting part of a trip report from our Oct. 2008 self-guided hiking trip through Tuscany. I will post it in sections. Mainly because I haven't finished it yet.
The first part is our arrival to Italy and our stay in Siena.
What is travel?
Take a minute and think about it.
What does a good vacation or trip mean to you?
Everyone travels for different reasons.
Travel for me is a time of rebirth. It is a time to awaken my mind, body and spirit. It is a time for self-discovery and discovering the many ways that people live whether it is from my own culture or the culture of some place far a way.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the preparations of our travels and the experiencing of new things while we are on our journey that it isn’t until we get home and are in the confines of our own safe environment that we can sit back look at the pictures we made and reflect on all that we did discover while on our trails. A very wise old man (my dad) said to me on our return from Italy that sometimes half of the fun is returning home and reliving the moments (both good and bad). And my fellow travelers as you know there can be some bad moments. Sometimes I think that they might even be the highlights of our trips because once you are home you can look back on them and most of the time laugh or wonder how you made it out of such a bad circumstance. But that is the fun of it. Sometimes testing ones self to the limits. Those tests can come in the form of trying to climb that last mountain before you get to your destination or wondering if you will make it through another minute with your traveling companion. Whatever those moments are, and they can be many, it is all part of the adventure.
So hold on to your imagination and enjoy the story of my adventure to Italy. This will not be one of those trip reports that will document every train we took or every hotel we stayed in or the many restaurants we ate at. There are places on this site that you can find that information. And if it hadn’t been for some of the wonderful advice we got on fodors we would still be looking for the bus stop in Rome. So thanks to all that helped us.
Our trip was not like many others that are posted here. It was a self-guided hiking trip. We booked with a company Girosole based in Italy and the USA. They handle both guided and self-guided trips. We chose the self-guided hiking trip through the Tuscan Hilltop towns of Italy. The company booked our hotel for the eight days of hiking, took our luggage from hotel to hotel, provided us with maps, a detailed travel guide of the trails, information about the areas we would be hiking through and advise on where to eat. This made it very easy for me during my initial trip preparation. Well lets say it cut down some of the stress.
Our trip begins with us landing in Rome and heading right to Siena for two nights so we could get over our jet lag and rest up for the hiking part of our trip. We then headed to the hilltop towns of Tuscany, which is where the self-guided hike began and lasted for 8 days and about 70 plus miles of hiking. The towns included Montalcino, Rocco d’Orcia, San Quirico, Pienza, Montepulciano and a few interesting smaller places along the way.
We then rented a car for two days and headed over to Umbria to visit Assisi, Spello and Spoleto while we stayed in Bevagna. We ended with a train ride back to Rome where we stayed for one night.
So if up to this point this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea now is a good time to jump ship.
I am 57 and my husband is 60. We both still work (at TV stations in Philadelphia). I have had the travel bug since I went on my first trip back in 1957. My parents, my sister and I drove across country in our trusty 1957 blue Oldsmobile. It took 4 weeks. Our main destination was Disneyland. It is hard to remember that trip but we have a few pieces of film that is enough to jar my memory and I can still feel those wonderful feelings that are associated with those images.
Back in the early 1980’s I got into hiking and ever since then every trip I have taken has involved hiking. I can’t imagine seeing a place any other way. In the early 1990’s my husband came into the picture and I started dragging him along. He had never traveled and never hiked but I kept tricking him into these trips I would plan. He finally started to enjoy himself (I think). He wanted to do all of the USA before he went abroad. We might be only a few states short of our completion but I was able to get him to go to Scotland last year and Italy this past fall (2008).
So travel for us usually includes hiking (day hikes, no camping) and photography. We will include a few museums, some touristy things (as we call them) but mostly being out in the wilderness is what we do.
And for those of you who are wondering how do you hike 80 miles and not have aches and pains, WELL cortisone, Advil, tiger balm and hot packs can do wonders and make you feel like 20 again.
To make it easy
D = Husband
M = Me
Following you will find a list that both D and I made of some of the things that stick out in our memories about our trip. I did this because I found that when people would ask me about my trip I would mention certain things over and over again. I then asked D if he could give me his list of some of his memories. Now granted there are many more memories than this but these are quick snapshot that I will expand on later. In the text that follows I will put an* next to items from this list that are included in the trip journal.
D’s List:
Man playing music
The bus and train stations
Key turning off electricity
The narrow streets
Passing the trucks
Girls on motorcycles
Smell of fermenting grapes
Kids singing on bikes
People talking outside window
The church in Siena
The steak
Scissor cutting pizza
The copper man
The Rope Bridge
Boobies on TV
M’s List:
Boy with accordion begging for money on train from airport in Rome to bus station
Train seats
Music from window
Bells ringing
Butterflies leading the way on the trail
Fairies in the forest
Espresso and Americano coffee
Laundry from window
Gelato
Old people walking up hilly cobblestone streets
Fast drivers
The rainbows
Getting lost on the trails
Women stealing our train tickets
People from Denmark helping us
And so our adventure begins:
We flew out of Philadelphia on an evening flight into Rome’s International Airport. This was great it got us into Rome early in the morning. We caught a train at the airport that took us to the bus station. We had decided to take the bus to Siena instead of the train. With the train you need to change at a certain point. The bus was straight through. This allowed us to sleep on the bus as we drove to Siena.
We found the train ride (although short) quite interesting. Our first introduction to the Italian culture was a young Italian boy with an accordion* walking through the train playing his instrument and asking for money. This got us in the habit of saying NO. The train seats were quite different* then we are use to and found them easy to fall asleep in. The seats all have this built in headrest that keeps your head from falling when you get that head bob thing going as you start to doze off.
We were smart with our luggage this time. Thanks to all the Rick Steves info and Fodor posts we were able to get our luggage for 2 weeks of cloths and hiking gear down to one duffle bag (needed this for our hiking poles), 1 small suitcase, 2 back packs and 2 plastic bags from Bed, Bath and Beyond that had our hiking boots. (Boy did that yell “Here we are Americans come get us”. This didn’t dawn on me until someone mentioned it.) I got a brainstorm when we were in Montalchino and bought 2 cloth grocery bags from the coop there and that was the new home for our boot. But more people tended to look at them because there was something written in Italian on the bags. Still not quite sure what they say. But this worked out great. We always carry our boots on the plane because if you lose your boots your hiking trip can be a bust. You need to have a good pair of broken in boots when you do a trip like this.
We found the bus depot in Rome and wondered around looking for a place to eat. This would be our first introduction to Pizza in Italy. We found a small pizza stand and devoured our first real Italian pizza. Not bad for the first shot at trying to find food. This always seems to be a challenge for us when we are away. We both are very plain eaters. I will try a few more things than D but we usually have a difficult time finding places to eat in that we both agree on.
Our bus ride was uneventful but did have a lot of head bobbing and snoring going on. We finally arrived in Siena feeling abit dazed. That first step into a new land is always a bit disorienting for us. We got off the bus and just stood there not knowing which way to turn. We then ran into another American couple with their son who had the same look. Much to our surprise they were staying at the same hotel in the old part of Siena the Almo Dolmus. We started our walk with our new friends into the ancient town of Siena and our world began to change. Small cobble stoned streets, beautiful Siena colored buildings, huge church towers guarding over the city and bells ringing echoing throughout the town. The walk wasn’t long and we made our way down a path to our Hotel. The hotel was some sort of old factory at one time and now was supposed to be run by nuns but we didn’t see any the whole time we were there. It was clean, comfortable and inexpensive, just like we like it.
We checked in and had our first encounter with feeling like a stupid tourist. We tried several times to unlock the outer door to get into the building where our room was but had no luck. We finally had to have the man at the desk come outside and help us. Oh yes you got it, first try and he was in. The whole time we were there I was never able to open that door. Go figure?
We dumped our stuff in the room and began our exploration of our new world. A world unlike we had ever seen before. Beautiful small streets crowded with people and little shops all over the place. My goal for this day was to have my first gelato and to see this thing called IL Campo Plaza. We strolled up and down the tiny streets following the signs to Il Campo and then there is was…we first saw a streak of light down a side street that went straight down (we hadn’t even started hiking yet and my calves were already aching from the hilly streets) and then this wonderful open area with people standing around laughing, talking, children running around playing, people just sitting wherever they wanted to in this big open plaza. It was almost like a stage. Restaurants surrounded the plaza with people sitting outside eating and watching what was going on in the center. It was like a great orchestrated show. And then the bells began to toll echoing all around. This is Siena…
We spent 2 days in Siena wandering up and down the streets. Visiting the Duomo with its magnificent interior of painted ceilings, marble inlaid floors and beautifully carved marble statues*, climbing the clock tower, eating gelato, exploring the other churches and school, sitting in the middle of the plaza and watching the people. We were so fortunate to be there when the moon was full. We lay down on the plaza and ate gelato and watched the full moon rise above the clock tower.
As night began to fall the plaza started to empty out, the crowded streets became desolate and almost eerie. The only activity in the streets was the occasional car or scooter that would come tearing around the corner without and warning and almost but not quite cut you down in your path. D was just amazed by this and noted that the streets were so small it was as if the cars and scooters were driving on the sidewalks.
I won’t mention many of the restaurants that we ate at but the one in Siena was quite unusual. I don’t remember the name but we sat outside and shared a table with some women from Germany that were on an Art tour. What was interesting about the place was the tables. The streets in Siena are so steep and hilly that to have tables outside was a mathematical feet. The feet of both the chairs and the table had to be cut at just the right angle and then they had wedges of wood stuck under the chair. One false move and you might end up rolling down the street. The food was fair but the adventure was great.
Our time in Siena was coming to an end. The last morning we started our quest as we had the past few mornings to find a place to have a somewhat substantial breakfast but we had a feeling that what we had eaten the days before was going to be the common fair for our trip. So breakfast for the next 12 days was to consist of a cup of Americana coffee which I think was really just espresso put in a larger cup and some sort of pastry*.
It was amazing to see everyone jammed into these small cafes in the morning and grab an espresso and a sugar laddened pastry, down it all in about 2 minutes and wiz out the door to work. (I understand why they whizzed out they were so high on caffeine and sugar).
As we took our last stroll through the town of Siena we ventured out of the old town and discovered the real working district. Scooters and motorcycles* were zooming past from every direction, men in suites and women in dresses and high heels topped off with helmets, all of them rushing to find a parking spot. The parking lots and streets were lined with scooters and cycles a colorful sea of chrome and leather. The creativity and grace that these people used in their driving and parking techniques was like watching a well orchestrated ballet.
We had a few short minutes to visit one last church that was right up from our hotel. As we approached the door we encountered 4 teenaged girls sitting outside with schoolbook. They were art students and we stayed and talked to them for a while. They were full of life and quite refreshing. I asked if D could take a picture with them and they agreed. We call it The D and his girls’ picture. This is just one of our fond memories.
We packed our belongings up and were ready for the next part of the adventure. We had no idea what was awaiting us in the next part of our trip. Things sometimes look so good on paper as you plan them but then when they become reality it just is so different….not good, not bad just different…
And so let us begin the hiking part of the trip:
We took the bus out of Siena to a train station. The train would take us to Bounconvento where we were to meet up with our driver Palo for the rest of the hiking trip.
Dec 2nd, 2008, 05:28 AM
#10
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Hi everyone.
I am still getting it together. I will post it very soon. I was working on completing our photo album. We don't do the usual album to show our friends. We all know how boring it can be to look through your friends 1,000 photos so we came up with an idea several years ago that works well.
D and I choose about 60 of our favorite pics and I print them out as 8 by 10 photo's and put them in those loose leaf plastic sleeve and use a loose leaf binder to show them off.
I know you are probably thinking with all of the new electronic devices why are we doing it that way. Because they are big and beautiful and really reach out to you instead of viewing them on a tiny screen.
Hopefully within in the next few weeks I will get together enough to post them on the web or do a small youtube video like I did for our Arizona vacation last year when we hiked down into the Grand Canyon.
You are welcome to see that if you would like
www.youtube.com/redrockhiker.
I will also post more about Gersole and we thought about the company and self-guided trips.
Thanks for taking the time to read my review. I will be back soon.
M
I am still getting it together. I will post it very soon. I was working on completing our photo album. We don't do the usual album to show our friends. We all know how boring it can be to look through your friends 1,000 photos so we came up with an idea several years ago that works well.
D and I choose about 60 of our favorite pics and I print them out as 8 by 10 photo's and put them in those loose leaf plastic sleeve and use a loose leaf binder to show them off.
I know you are probably thinking with all of the new electronic devices why are we doing it that way. Because they are big and beautiful and really reach out to you instead of viewing them on a tiny screen.
Hopefully within in the next few weeks I will get together enough to post them on the web or do a small youtube video like I did for our Arizona vacation last year when we hiked down into the Grand Canyon.
You are welcome to see that if you would like
www.youtube.com/redrockhiker.
I will also post more about Gersole and we thought about the company and self-guided trips.
Thanks for taking the time to read my review. I will be back soon.
M
Dec 2nd, 2008, 08:55 AM
#12
Join Date: Jan 2003
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You can upload your best pics to severl online programs and view them in full screnn slide shows---here is one example.
http://bobthenav.zenfolio.com/p75943...show#h24724a0f
There is no reason to print pics unless you plan to frame them. I will look forward to your best shots.
http://bobthenav.zenfolio.com/p75943...show#h24724a0f
There is no reason to print pics unless you plan to frame them. I will look forward to your best shots.
Dec 3rd, 2008, 08:52 AM
#13
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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Hi Bob
Thanks for the suggestions. I had thought of getting a site up through apple since I have a MAC. What company or software are you using for your images and what are your other suggestions of what to use.
I do still like the book. My parents are older and don't have a computer so the book works out great. Even at work sometimes it just easier to show people the images in a book form. And also at family gatherings it is alot easier to pass the book around instead of trying to get people to stand near the computer. But I still want to get them posted to some site. When I send my holiday card out this season I would like to put a link to the site.
Liked your photos!
6abc
Thanks for the suggestions. I had thought of getting a site up through apple since I have a MAC. What company or software are you using for your images and what are your other suggestions of what to use.
I do still like the book. My parents are older and don't have a computer so the book works out great. Even at work sometimes it just easier to show people the images in a book form. And also at family gatherings it is alot easier to pass the book around instead of trying to get people to stand near the computer. But I still want to get them posted to some site. When I send my holiday card out this season I would like to put a link to the site.
Liked your photos!
6abc
Dec 3rd, 2008, 09:29 AM
#14
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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CHAPTER 2
And so let us begin the hiking part of the trip:
We took the bus out of Siena to a train station. The train would take us to Buonconvento where we were to meet up with our driver from the hiking company.
HIKING
We arrived in Buonconvento in the early afternoon and we were greeted by a pleasant Italian speaking man with a mustache. He introduced himself as Palo. He spoke some broken English but barely enough for us to really understand. We got in the van and rode in silence to what seemed like our destination. It was hard to tell what was going on and what the next step would be.
We entered a small town that was surrounded by a huge brick wall. We would later find out that the Sienesi built the wall in 1371 for protection around Buonconvento. The van that we were in barely fit up the tiny streets. We arrived at a brick house and we were lead up a flight of stairs that had rope for railings. All the while I am thinking, “What have I gotten us into now?” We were lead through a sitting room then up another flight of stairs. Each dark flight led to the next until we finally arrived at a door, which opened, into quite comfortable little room that overlooked many of the rooftops of the city.
We were told to settle in for a few minutes and then to get ready for our first hike. We threw the luggage in the room, whipped out our hiking poles, laced up our boots and we were ready to go. We were very hungry and thirsty, since we hadn’t eaten anything since our breakfast in Siena (espresso and pastry). We tried to convey this to Palo but due to the language barrier he didn’t quite understand our needs.
We knew with a 7-mile hike in front of us we needed at least water. Palo seemed to be in a hurry since it was getting close to 2pm and he wanted to get us out on the trail. Once again we loaded into the van and drove in silence to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto miles away from the comfort of our room.
Now I hope I am not making Palo seem like he wasn’t very friendly…He was…but since his English was not very good it was very hard to communicate. He would smile pleasantly and say with a very heavy accent “I do not understand”. Once again I began to question what had I done and at this point was a little frustrated.
We found ourselves being let out of the van with a book of direction and information, a smile and a pleasant wave goodbye. We had been let out at The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore a large Benedictine monastery. Palo had told us that there was a restaurant there and we could get fresh water and food. As we saw the van disappear around the curve we eagerly headed towards the restaurant. As we rounded the corner of the building all we encountered was an Old Italian women sweeping around tables and upside down chairs outside the closed restaurant. We were famished, thirsty and felt lost. Once again I said to myself “OMG what have I done this time…”
But in the back of my mind I knew we would find some kind of solution, even if it meant filling our empty water bottles from the garden hose, not something I was really looking forward to doing. Standing near us was another couple and very loudly I said to D “What are we going to do, we need to get some food and water” I knew the couple would hear us…but would they understand English.
Ah yes they did. They were from Denmark. They were our angels. The two had bought a camper and they were traveling throughout Italy. They told us that they were going up the road for a cup of espresso and asked if we would we like to join them. We did and piled into their tiny car and drove up the road to a wonderful pizza restaurant. They decided that they would sit with us and share food. We did. What a wonderful lunch. What wonderful people. The waiter was also a gem. He gave us a huge bottle of water that we could take on the trail with us. We ate and talked for about an hour. They drove us back to the Abbey, we took pictures and said goodbye. This is what makes traveling so memorable.
We were now fed and watered and ready to begin our seven-mile hike but it was getting very late. We started on our hike around 3:30 in the afternoon. Now if any of you have ever hiked depending on the terrain you might be lucky if you cover 2 miles an hour (especially at our age). Calculating our speed and the miles I started to panic especially since we had left our flashlight in the room. But what can you do…you tighten up your boots, get those poles swinging and hit the trail.
This wasn’t any ordinary trail. It was mostly through farmland and clay hills know as Crete. The ground had HUGE chunks of dirt about the size of basketballs. Our feet were going in every direction, our ankles were turning, we would almost fall every other step…it was wonderful.
We were out in the fresh air, it was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect and we were finally hiking. Farms, beautiful tall stately Cyprus pine trees, hills and small villages surrounded us.
This was our first day of trying to get use to our hiking instruction book. Here is a short example of what we had to follow.
“500m When you reach the corner of the field, there is a clump of brush. Straight ahead, beyond the clump, is a small concrete bridge…”
“2100m Stay with the main road were it turns left at the farmhouse on your right. There is usually a chained barking dog.”
So I am thinking, does usually mean it is usually chained or usually there?????
The directions most of the time were clear but more than we would have liked they were not so clear. The length of one set of instructions to the other was noted in meter (m). Since we are more familiar with feet and yards the meter thing was pretty hard to determine.
The descriptions were pretty accurate…
“500m Watch for where the road bends to the right in front of the vineyard. There are a couple of dozen large stones laid in a row along the side of the road on your right.” (Darn if there weren’t a couple of dozen large stones.)
It was mostly the bends and turns and double roads that we would come upon that confused us. There was one time that we were so confused that we turned around and walked back 1000m only to find out that we were on the right path anyway and had to hike back to where we started. This happened to be the day that we had the longest hike, so instead of hiking 10.5 mile we added an extra 2000m (approx. 1.25miles).*
Our pace on this first day was a little quicker than usual. We were up against it getting dark out. As we made our way through the hills of Crete and the fields we happened upon a VERY tiny town. We came upon 2 old Italian men sitting on a bench. They just stared at us. Now I am thinking what can bring a smile to their face and help us feel welcomed in their small world. Oh the secret password…Buongiorno!
It worked, we were able to pass by and not feel like intruders. I wanted so badly to make some photos as we passed through the small streets where the women were hanging their laundry out to dry. But I just felt that would be to much of an intrusion into their world and this I was not comfortable with. We finally got to the end of town and we were happy to be through it, we felt like such outsiders.
OH NO, we discovered we were on the wrong road and had to retrace our steps out of town, past the women with their laundry, and past the old men on the bench. I figured I would use the magic word again and this time attach a HUGE smile. It worked again. They laughed with us (or maybe at us).
We were still about a mile from Buonconvento and it was beginning to get dark out. But we were now off the trail and on the road so all was well.
We arrived in our room safe, dusty and a little trail weary but we were starving. We headed out to the small town for a bit to eat. It was close to 7:30 so the restaurants were just beginning to open.
We ate at a place suggested by the tour group. Walked around for a little while after. Then headed back to our room to regroup for the next days adventure.
PS I will try to make these a little shorter so as not to bore you all to death.
Stay tuned for Montalcino
And so let us begin the hiking part of the trip:
We took the bus out of Siena to a train station. The train would take us to Buonconvento where we were to meet up with our driver from the hiking company.
HIKING
We arrived in Buonconvento in the early afternoon and we were greeted by a pleasant Italian speaking man with a mustache. He introduced himself as Palo. He spoke some broken English but barely enough for us to really understand. We got in the van and rode in silence to what seemed like our destination. It was hard to tell what was going on and what the next step would be.
We entered a small town that was surrounded by a huge brick wall. We would later find out that the Sienesi built the wall in 1371 for protection around Buonconvento. The van that we were in barely fit up the tiny streets. We arrived at a brick house and we were lead up a flight of stairs that had rope for railings. All the while I am thinking, “What have I gotten us into now?” We were lead through a sitting room then up another flight of stairs. Each dark flight led to the next until we finally arrived at a door, which opened, into quite comfortable little room that overlooked many of the rooftops of the city.
We were told to settle in for a few minutes and then to get ready for our first hike. We threw the luggage in the room, whipped out our hiking poles, laced up our boots and we were ready to go. We were very hungry and thirsty, since we hadn’t eaten anything since our breakfast in Siena (espresso and pastry). We tried to convey this to Palo but due to the language barrier he didn’t quite understand our needs.
We knew with a 7-mile hike in front of us we needed at least water. Palo seemed to be in a hurry since it was getting close to 2pm and he wanted to get us out on the trail. Once again we loaded into the van and drove in silence to the Abbey of Monte Oliveto miles away from the comfort of our room.
Now I hope I am not making Palo seem like he wasn’t very friendly…He was…but since his English was not very good it was very hard to communicate. He would smile pleasantly and say with a very heavy accent “I do not understand”. Once again I began to question what had I done and at this point was a little frustrated.
We found ourselves being let out of the van with a book of direction and information, a smile and a pleasant wave goodbye. We had been let out at The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore a large Benedictine monastery. Palo had told us that there was a restaurant there and we could get fresh water and food. As we saw the van disappear around the curve we eagerly headed towards the restaurant. As we rounded the corner of the building all we encountered was an Old Italian women sweeping around tables and upside down chairs outside the closed restaurant. We were famished, thirsty and felt lost. Once again I said to myself “OMG what have I done this time…”
But in the back of my mind I knew we would find some kind of solution, even if it meant filling our empty water bottles from the garden hose, not something I was really looking forward to doing. Standing near us was another couple and very loudly I said to D “What are we going to do, we need to get some food and water” I knew the couple would hear us…but would they understand English.
Ah yes they did. They were from Denmark. They were our angels. The two had bought a camper and they were traveling throughout Italy. They told us that they were going up the road for a cup of espresso and asked if we would we like to join them. We did and piled into their tiny car and drove up the road to a wonderful pizza restaurant. They decided that they would sit with us and share food. We did. What a wonderful lunch. What wonderful people. The waiter was also a gem. He gave us a huge bottle of water that we could take on the trail with us. We ate and talked for about an hour. They drove us back to the Abbey, we took pictures and said goodbye. This is what makes traveling so memorable.
We were now fed and watered and ready to begin our seven-mile hike but it was getting very late. We started on our hike around 3:30 in the afternoon. Now if any of you have ever hiked depending on the terrain you might be lucky if you cover 2 miles an hour (especially at our age). Calculating our speed and the miles I started to panic especially since we had left our flashlight in the room. But what can you do…you tighten up your boots, get those poles swinging and hit the trail.
This wasn’t any ordinary trail. It was mostly through farmland and clay hills know as Crete. The ground had HUGE chunks of dirt about the size of basketballs. Our feet were going in every direction, our ankles were turning, we would almost fall every other step…it was wonderful.
We were out in the fresh air, it was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect and we were finally hiking. Farms, beautiful tall stately Cyprus pine trees, hills and small villages surrounded us.
This was our first day of trying to get use to our hiking instruction book. Here is a short example of what we had to follow.
“500m When you reach the corner of the field, there is a clump of brush. Straight ahead, beyond the clump, is a small concrete bridge…”
“2100m Stay with the main road were it turns left at the farmhouse on your right. There is usually a chained barking dog.”
So I am thinking, does usually mean it is usually chained or usually there?????
The directions most of the time were clear but more than we would have liked they were not so clear. The length of one set of instructions to the other was noted in meter (m). Since we are more familiar with feet and yards the meter thing was pretty hard to determine.
The descriptions were pretty accurate…
“500m Watch for where the road bends to the right in front of the vineyard. There are a couple of dozen large stones laid in a row along the side of the road on your right.” (Darn if there weren’t a couple of dozen large stones.)
It was mostly the bends and turns and double roads that we would come upon that confused us. There was one time that we were so confused that we turned around and walked back 1000m only to find out that we were on the right path anyway and had to hike back to where we started. This happened to be the day that we had the longest hike, so instead of hiking 10.5 mile we added an extra 2000m (approx. 1.25miles).*
Our pace on this first day was a little quicker than usual. We were up against it getting dark out. As we made our way through the hills of Crete and the fields we happened upon a VERY tiny town. We came upon 2 old Italian men sitting on a bench. They just stared at us. Now I am thinking what can bring a smile to their face and help us feel welcomed in their small world. Oh the secret password…Buongiorno!
It worked, we were able to pass by and not feel like intruders. I wanted so badly to make some photos as we passed through the small streets where the women were hanging their laundry out to dry. But I just felt that would be to much of an intrusion into their world and this I was not comfortable with. We finally got to the end of town and we were happy to be through it, we felt like such outsiders.
OH NO, we discovered we were on the wrong road and had to retrace our steps out of town, past the women with their laundry, and past the old men on the bench. I figured I would use the magic word again and this time attach a HUGE smile. It worked again. They laughed with us (or maybe at us).
We were still about a mile from Buonconvento and it was beginning to get dark out. But we were now off the trail and on the road so all was well.
We arrived in our room safe, dusty and a little trail weary but we were starving. We headed out to the small town for a bit to eat. It was close to 7:30 so the restaurants were just beginning to open.
We ate at a place suggested by the tour group. Walked around for a little while after. Then headed back to our room to regroup for the next days adventure.
PS I will try to make these a little shorter so as not to bore you all to death.
Stay tuned for Montalcino
Dec 3rd, 2008, 10:02 AM
#15
hi abc,
not bored at all. the more detailed the better.
I've often thought about this sort of trip, either walking or cycling.
like you, I get very twitchy if I'm setting off so late that we might be benighted.
but i never have been so far.
regards, ann
not bored at all. the more detailed the better.
I've often thought about this sort of trip, either walking or cycling.
like you, I get very twitchy if I'm setting off so late that we might be benighted.
but i never have been so far.
regards, ann
Dec 3rd, 2008, 01:13 PM
#17
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abc,
This is fascinating! Your directions make it sound more like an on foot road rally/scavenger hunt.
My experience with taking pictures of people (US or other)doing whatever, is to simply say hello or buon giourno, and ask. I have always received a big smile, questions about where I'm from, and usually a request to pose with the person too! I often get addresses if they want a copy mailed/e mailed to them later.
Can't wait for the rest!
This is fascinating! Your directions make it sound more like an on foot road rally/scavenger hunt.
My experience with taking pictures of people (US or other)doing whatever, is to simply say hello or buon giourno, and ask. I have always received a big smile, questions about where I'm from, and usually a request to pose with the person too! I often get addresses if they want a copy mailed/e mailed to them later.
Can't wait for the rest!
Dec 3rd, 2008, 01:18 PM
#18
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I'll chime in too - your report is not boring at all! I am thoroughly enjoying your trip. I'm green with envy - your trip is the kind I would absolutely love to take. I'll be living vicariously through your details!
I've been through the area you are traveling (& Buonconvento too.) I thought the Crete landscapes were glorious. I'm looking forward to reading more!
I've been through the area you are traveling (& Buonconvento too.) I thought the Crete landscapes were glorious. I'm looking forward to reading more!
Dec 4th, 2008, 06:40 AM
#19
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Chapter 3 (day #2 of Hiking)
Buonconvento to Montalcino
Distance 10.5 miles
(from Gersole Hiking pamphlet: “This is the longest walk of the tour, though the terrain is gentle. The views across the Ombrone valley are splendid. The final ascent into Montalcino, however is on the grueling side. There is very little shade, so bring plenty of water. Highest point Montalchino 570m. Lowest point Ombrone River 140m.”
We woke up well rested after a great nights sleep (humm was that due to the bottle of wine we had at dinner or the 7 mile hike we did the day before)?
I had made my mind up on this hiking trip to try to stay in the moment and not worry about what lay ahead. So I was not going to think about the long hike for that day I was going to enjoy each moment of it. (An aside here that you can skip) Several years ago when we were on one of our trips to the Southwest (USA) I remember a very important moment in my life. I was sitting in the car surround by the beautiful red rocks of Capitol Reef National Park and my mind was 2 days ahead planning the next National park we were headed to. I stopped my thoughts in their track and had to bring myself back to the moment. I was missing all the beauty that was around us by planning and worrying about our next stop. If I don’t check myself now and then I can go off into that future mode and end up not having a full appreciation of the present moment of the trip. HUMM, as I get older I am also trying to apply that philosophy to the way I live my life. This new approach has made traveling much more fun for me. Boy if I could only learn to use it daily in my life. Be Present…Live in the Present
Anyway back to the trip at hand…I wasn’t going to worry about the long hike ahead of us, I was set on enjoying each step along the way.
We packed our luggage up, laced up our boots, put our backpacks on and headed down the dark flight of steps. It was great we didn’t have to lug our luggage down. Palo was right there to do it for us (we did help him with some stuff). He packed our bags in the van and then walked with us to a small café where he bought us an Espresso and pastry. The cup of espresso was so small it looked lost in D’s hands. One sip and it was gone. The pastry was so light we inhaled it and it vanished. At this point I am thinking how are we going to survive the long hike today on such a small breakfast. We cleaned our plates, licked our fingers and waved goodbye to Palo. He once again tried to answer a few questions we had but most of the conversation was “I do not understand” and then a pleasant smile. He pointed us in the right direction and we were on our way with our trusty pamphlet.
Before we headed out to find the trail we stopped at Buonconvento’s alimentari (small grocery store) and loaded up on a variety of fruit, a HUGE loaf of bread and several bottles of water. We stuffed our backpacks with these supplies and walked a little further up the street to a bakery where we purchased one large chocolate bar each and we were given some free cookies. Oh, this was like being in heaven. I never eat these things at home. I would become crazy from the sugar and white flower. But when you are hiking all day long you just burn those carbs up. You really need them for the energy. Maybe this is the REAL reason I like hiking?
We were all set for our lovely stroll of the day. Or so we thought it was just a stroll...We should have known that would not be the case. The list of directions for this day was 3 full pages.
All that aside we were on our way.
We headed out to the street and followed directions to get to the trail. It is just amazing all the signs that line the roads…pictures of bumps, exclamation points, trains, arrows pointing here and there…enough to make you dizzy. We finally found a sign that had trail markings on it and knew we were heading in the right direction. We were now ready to begin the day’s hike.
Here is how we started
1000m Turn left on the dirt road which leads straight towards a big farmhouse.
100m Before the 2 sheds to the right of the farmhouse, there is a farm track passing along the fence and between the open fields.
What we found amazing was the farmhouses were not the type of farmhouses we have back in the states. Some of them were mini mansions. One had tennis courts, a soccer field, basket ball court and right next to that was the goat pen and chicken coop with chickens splashing around in a bird bath. It was almost like a strange comedy.
We continued along the farm track and off in the distance we were able to see two “crenellated castle tower.” It was somewhat magical. Here we were tromping through plowed up fields and off in the distance we are looking at castle towers. I felt like we stepped into a fairy tale book.
It was about this time that reality hit and I began to feel pain in the back of my heel. I had to stop and loosen my boot. Much to my surprise I had a huge lump that was totally bruised right above the heel. I am like OMG this can’t be happening we are in the middle of my fairy tale and unless a prince comes by and swoops me up on his horse I am in big trouble. Well the prince never came so I had to figure a way to continue the trip. I untied my boot so that it was tied like a sneaker and was able to continue. Trying to ignore the pain and enjoy the scenery we continued.
(I have used these boots on many hikes, even hiking down into the Grand Canyon and never had a problem but I guess from our first day of hiking in such rough terrain and trying to make some speed I bruised the tendon. But this is all part of hiking. You bring plenty of moleskin, a few ace bandages, some Band-Aids and whatever else will help those nicks and bumps and hope that nothing too traumatic happens.)
I should mention that Gersole gives you a cell phone to take with you in case of an emergency (keep this in mind because this becomes part of the story later on). We never had to use it out on the trails we were not even sure if we would get a signal in the middle of nowhere.
So lets get back to the fairytale.
A vineyard, that is what we need to get us back into the story. We need to start seeing some vineyards to make us feel like we are really in Tuscany. Not quite yet. We came upon a small town called Bibbiano it was noted in our directions that we could grab a cold drink and a small snack. Oh we were so ready for a little break. We quickened our pace; we were thirsty, hungry and ready to pee. We rounded the corner ready to see our oasis but you guessed it CLOSED. We had really planned to stock up on more water here and we were very disappointed when we saw it was closed. We knew we still had many miles ahead of us and not enough water to get us to the end.
We walked back out of the town and sat on a bench, picked our feet up and took out our large loaf of bread and chocolate bars and had a wonderful lunch topped off by a fresh piece of fruit.
Now we were ready to continue our stroll.
We started on our way. This part of the hike was along a very dusty gravel road that had an occasional car wiz by and kick up even more dust. We saw several horseback riders and a hunter out in the fields. There were a lot of farmers out on their tractors working the fields at this time of day.
As we walked along the dusty road we came across what appeared to be some sort of major development. But we thought that couldn’t be happening out here in the countryside with nothing around but fields. We were so curious to find out what was going on. As we looked ahead down the road (now don’t forget we are in the middle of nowhere) we see a film crew, yep a guy operating a camera, several other people directing and producing and a guy in a Ford car with a camera on the top of the car. OK so now we are really interested…
It was a crew from England shooting something for Ford with a famous racecar driver in the car. Apparently the road we were walking on use to be a road that was used for some type of racecar event. The driver who was in the car had won several of these events and this was his favorite road.
We found out from the producer that this was the new home of a large golf course and spa that was currently in the initial building phase. What a shame, they were ruining this wonderful landscape. Is nothing sacred?
After our visit with the famous people we continued down the road. We hiked for some time…
We continue down the road jumping out of the way of the speeding cars. We start walking back on the farm roads and are greeted with the view of rows of stately Cyprus trees appearing to guard the farmhouses that they surrounded.
This is the part of our journey where we thought we were headed in the wrong direction, backtracked 1000m and ended up retracing our steps.
“700m Stay on this road as it winds above the fields. At the clump of cypresses bear right…you pass to the left of another farmhouse with young cedars lining the road.”
After the trauma of trying to decide where the heck we were we stop again for another bread and chocolate break. We sat on a stone next to the stately cedars and rested. We were beginning to get tired and yet we had miles to go and we were running out of water.
Vineyards…finally.
“Along this stretch of road, just past a small bridge, you reach your first Brunello vineyard on your left. From here, the soils identified for the production of Brunello continues for some thirteen kilometers to the south.”
They were beautiful. Most of the vines had been harvested already but some of the fields still had luscious grapes hanging from vines that were beginning to take on fall colors. The rows were so evenly separated as they curved up and over the hills. It was breathtaking. We made several pictures of the vineyards trying to capture their beauty but I don’t think we were able to do them justice.
We were beginning to really wear out and we still had one full page of directions left or 7730m (almost 5 miles) and 1½ miles being straight uphill.
The next few paragraphs will be taken from my journal because I think it really show how I was feeling at the time.
“The sun was bright and the roads were dusty. We were running out of water and we were about to start our ascent. Could see Montalcino in the distance on a hilltop…so far away…so high up…so stately and guarded looking...one can only imagine what it must have been like back in those days when there was so much fighting going on and so much fear that you needed to build your town way up on a hill and guard it with tower. To think that I am standing on ground that maybe some enemy was standing on while watching the town and ready to attack.”
“M is starting to slow down, foot really hurts and getting very thirsty, only a few drops of water left…See a lot of vineyards going through Brunello country…beautiful patched hillsides gray in color splattered with stripes of vineyards…getting closer to the road up to Montalcino…stopped before last ascent took boots off and ate bread and apple, very little water…started very last steep ascent on a one lane road…met 2 cars on the way up had to jump out of the way…met very nice man who was staying at a vineyard and was out for a stroll…he was a retired CIO from New York Life…stopped talked for awhile and heard dogs barking viciously in the hillsides…man said they were probably barking at his wife who was on another trail that had a lot of dogs…he didn’t seem concerned…it was good to stop for a few minutes…love meeting different people on the trail…”
“Now using every ounce of energy we have left…realized so concentrated on hiking forgot to take pictures along the way…hiking with our heads down most of the time…breathing slowly…”
(I know it sounds like we are climbing some huge mountain but we are no spring chickens. D has more stamina than I do. Never complains and no aches and pains…I on the other hand hurt from head to toe every day but you just ignore it and do the best you can.)
We finally reach the portal to the city and head to our hotel Dei Capitani which guess what…is at the top of a very, very hilly street. This was to be our home for 2 nights. We checked in, hand our passports over to the desk clerk and head upstairs to check out our room. The view from our window is wonderful. We were so dusty from the hike. We took showers, washed our cloths and headed out to eat. After dinner we ate dinner we wondered around the small town for a while and then headed back to the hotel.
Another WONDERFUL day. We survived the long hike and felt great.
Buonconvento to Montalcino
Distance 10.5 miles
(from Gersole Hiking pamphlet: “This is the longest walk of the tour, though the terrain is gentle. The views across the Ombrone valley are splendid. The final ascent into Montalcino, however is on the grueling side. There is very little shade, so bring plenty of water. Highest point Montalchino 570m. Lowest point Ombrone River 140m.”
We woke up well rested after a great nights sleep (humm was that due to the bottle of wine we had at dinner or the 7 mile hike we did the day before)?
I had made my mind up on this hiking trip to try to stay in the moment and not worry about what lay ahead. So I was not going to think about the long hike for that day I was going to enjoy each moment of it. (An aside here that you can skip) Several years ago when we were on one of our trips to the Southwest (USA) I remember a very important moment in my life. I was sitting in the car surround by the beautiful red rocks of Capitol Reef National Park and my mind was 2 days ahead planning the next National park we were headed to. I stopped my thoughts in their track and had to bring myself back to the moment. I was missing all the beauty that was around us by planning and worrying about our next stop. If I don’t check myself now and then I can go off into that future mode and end up not having a full appreciation of the present moment of the trip. HUMM, as I get older I am also trying to apply that philosophy to the way I live my life. This new approach has made traveling much more fun for me. Boy if I could only learn to use it daily in my life. Be Present…Live in the Present
Anyway back to the trip at hand…I wasn’t going to worry about the long hike ahead of us, I was set on enjoying each step along the way.
We packed our luggage up, laced up our boots, put our backpacks on and headed down the dark flight of steps. It was great we didn’t have to lug our luggage down. Palo was right there to do it for us (we did help him with some stuff). He packed our bags in the van and then walked with us to a small café where he bought us an Espresso and pastry. The cup of espresso was so small it looked lost in D’s hands. One sip and it was gone. The pastry was so light we inhaled it and it vanished. At this point I am thinking how are we going to survive the long hike today on such a small breakfast. We cleaned our plates, licked our fingers and waved goodbye to Palo. He once again tried to answer a few questions we had but most of the conversation was “I do not understand” and then a pleasant smile. He pointed us in the right direction and we were on our way with our trusty pamphlet.
Before we headed out to find the trail we stopped at Buonconvento’s alimentari (small grocery store) and loaded up on a variety of fruit, a HUGE loaf of bread and several bottles of water. We stuffed our backpacks with these supplies and walked a little further up the street to a bakery where we purchased one large chocolate bar each and we were given some free cookies. Oh, this was like being in heaven. I never eat these things at home. I would become crazy from the sugar and white flower. But when you are hiking all day long you just burn those carbs up. You really need them for the energy. Maybe this is the REAL reason I like hiking?
We were all set for our lovely stroll of the day. Or so we thought it was just a stroll...We should have known that would not be the case. The list of directions for this day was 3 full pages.
All that aside we were on our way.
We headed out to the street and followed directions to get to the trail. It is just amazing all the signs that line the roads…pictures of bumps, exclamation points, trains, arrows pointing here and there…enough to make you dizzy. We finally found a sign that had trail markings on it and knew we were heading in the right direction. We were now ready to begin the day’s hike.
Here is how we started
1000m Turn left on the dirt road which leads straight towards a big farmhouse.
100m Before the 2 sheds to the right of the farmhouse, there is a farm track passing along the fence and between the open fields.
What we found amazing was the farmhouses were not the type of farmhouses we have back in the states. Some of them were mini mansions. One had tennis courts, a soccer field, basket ball court and right next to that was the goat pen and chicken coop with chickens splashing around in a bird bath. It was almost like a strange comedy.
We continued along the farm track and off in the distance we were able to see two “crenellated castle tower.” It was somewhat magical. Here we were tromping through plowed up fields and off in the distance we are looking at castle towers. I felt like we stepped into a fairy tale book.
It was about this time that reality hit and I began to feel pain in the back of my heel. I had to stop and loosen my boot. Much to my surprise I had a huge lump that was totally bruised right above the heel. I am like OMG this can’t be happening we are in the middle of my fairy tale and unless a prince comes by and swoops me up on his horse I am in big trouble. Well the prince never came so I had to figure a way to continue the trip. I untied my boot so that it was tied like a sneaker and was able to continue. Trying to ignore the pain and enjoy the scenery we continued.
(I have used these boots on many hikes, even hiking down into the Grand Canyon and never had a problem but I guess from our first day of hiking in such rough terrain and trying to make some speed I bruised the tendon. But this is all part of hiking. You bring plenty of moleskin, a few ace bandages, some Band-Aids and whatever else will help those nicks and bumps and hope that nothing too traumatic happens.)
I should mention that Gersole gives you a cell phone to take with you in case of an emergency (keep this in mind because this becomes part of the story later on). We never had to use it out on the trails we were not even sure if we would get a signal in the middle of nowhere.
So lets get back to the fairytale.
A vineyard, that is what we need to get us back into the story. We need to start seeing some vineyards to make us feel like we are really in Tuscany. Not quite yet. We came upon a small town called Bibbiano it was noted in our directions that we could grab a cold drink and a small snack. Oh we were so ready for a little break. We quickened our pace; we were thirsty, hungry and ready to pee. We rounded the corner ready to see our oasis but you guessed it CLOSED. We had really planned to stock up on more water here and we were very disappointed when we saw it was closed. We knew we still had many miles ahead of us and not enough water to get us to the end.
We walked back out of the town and sat on a bench, picked our feet up and took out our large loaf of bread and chocolate bars and had a wonderful lunch topped off by a fresh piece of fruit.
Now we were ready to continue our stroll.
We started on our way. This part of the hike was along a very dusty gravel road that had an occasional car wiz by and kick up even more dust. We saw several horseback riders and a hunter out in the fields. There were a lot of farmers out on their tractors working the fields at this time of day.
As we walked along the dusty road we came across what appeared to be some sort of major development. But we thought that couldn’t be happening out here in the countryside with nothing around but fields. We were so curious to find out what was going on. As we looked ahead down the road (now don’t forget we are in the middle of nowhere) we see a film crew, yep a guy operating a camera, several other people directing and producing and a guy in a Ford car with a camera on the top of the car. OK so now we are really interested…
It was a crew from England shooting something for Ford with a famous racecar driver in the car. Apparently the road we were walking on use to be a road that was used for some type of racecar event. The driver who was in the car had won several of these events and this was his favorite road.
We found out from the producer that this was the new home of a large golf course and spa that was currently in the initial building phase. What a shame, they were ruining this wonderful landscape. Is nothing sacred?
After our visit with the famous people we continued down the road. We hiked for some time…
We continue down the road jumping out of the way of the speeding cars. We start walking back on the farm roads and are greeted with the view of rows of stately Cyprus trees appearing to guard the farmhouses that they surrounded.
This is the part of our journey where we thought we were headed in the wrong direction, backtracked 1000m and ended up retracing our steps.
“700m Stay on this road as it winds above the fields. At the clump of cypresses bear right…you pass to the left of another farmhouse with young cedars lining the road.”
After the trauma of trying to decide where the heck we were we stop again for another bread and chocolate break. We sat on a stone next to the stately cedars and rested. We were beginning to get tired and yet we had miles to go and we were running out of water.
Vineyards…finally.
“Along this stretch of road, just past a small bridge, you reach your first Brunello vineyard on your left. From here, the soils identified for the production of Brunello continues for some thirteen kilometers to the south.”
They were beautiful. Most of the vines had been harvested already but some of the fields still had luscious grapes hanging from vines that were beginning to take on fall colors. The rows were so evenly separated as they curved up and over the hills. It was breathtaking. We made several pictures of the vineyards trying to capture their beauty but I don’t think we were able to do them justice.
We were beginning to really wear out and we still had one full page of directions left or 7730m (almost 5 miles) and 1½ miles being straight uphill.
The next few paragraphs will be taken from my journal because I think it really show how I was feeling at the time.
“The sun was bright and the roads were dusty. We were running out of water and we were about to start our ascent. Could see Montalcino in the distance on a hilltop…so far away…so high up…so stately and guarded looking...one can only imagine what it must have been like back in those days when there was so much fighting going on and so much fear that you needed to build your town way up on a hill and guard it with tower. To think that I am standing on ground that maybe some enemy was standing on while watching the town and ready to attack.”
“M is starting to slow down, foot really hurts and getting very thirsty, only a few drops of water left…See a lot of vineyards going through Brunello country…beautiful patched hillsides gray in color splattered with stripes of vineyards…getting closer to the road up to Montalcino…stopped before last ascent took boots off and ate bread and apple, very little water…started very last steep ascent on a one lane road…met 2 cars on the way up had to jump out of the way…met very nice man who was staying at a vineyard and was out for a stroll…he was a retired CIO from New York Life…stopped talked for awhile and heard dogs barking viciously in the hillsides…man said they were probably barking at his wife who was on another trail that had a lot of dogs…he didn’t seem concerned…it was good to stop for a few minutes…love meeting different people on the trail…”
“Now using every ounce of energy we have left…realized so concentrated on hiking forgot to take pictures along the way…hiking with our heads down most of the time…breathing slowly…”
(I know it sounds like we are climbing some huge mountain but we are no spring chickens. D has more stamina than I do. Never complains and no aches and pains…I on the other hand hurt from head to toe every day but you just ignore it and do the best you can.)
We finally reach the portal to the city and head to our hotel Dei Capitani which guess what…is at the top of a very, very hilly street. This was to be our home for 2 nights. We checked in, hand our passports over to the desk clerk and head upstairs to check out our room. The view from our window is wonderful. We were so dusty from the hike. We took showers, washed our cloths and headed out to eat. After dinner we ate dinner we wondered around the small town for a while and then headed back to the hotel.
Another WONDERFUL day. We survived the long hike and felt great.
