Day Ten - Friday, October 30, 2026 Gambassi to San Gimignano

Weather-sunny & a little cooler with clouds blocking the sun all afternoon, High 63, Low 49, On Route 8.75 miles, Total Distance 10.64 miles, 26,059 steps

The first in a Series of Unfortunate Decisions

Gambassi really sits high on a hill. If yesterday was a 2.38 mile continuous climb to get to town, this morning was 2.38 miles of continuous descent to leave it behind. And so, that is how the day began. Cup of tea in the piazza with a pastry, then down the hill for an hour until we bottomed out. Then up and down all day, more than yesterday. Yesterday, all the climbing was saved until the final assault on the town. Today’s is spread out over the whole distance. 

    Leaving town we could see our destination in the distance, San Gimignano. (we pronounce it “San Jimmy yawn-No”) It has a very distinct skyline, still sporting 14 stone towers emerging high above the town’s surrounding walls. It is reminiscent of pins sticking out of a pin cushion from our 8 mile distance. 

    If I describe the scenery as more of the same from yesterday it might sound like we were tiring of it or taking it for granted. No such thing is possible in the midst of this grandeur. We passed each vineyard, olive grove, winery and green field with appreciation and amazement. What a honor and joy to be able to walk through this beautiful land. 

    For most of the morning San Gimignano remained hidden by hills. But, every once in a while we would come upon a tract of high ground and find it looming in the distance. 

   At one low point we came upon an ancient church that happened to be right where they wanted to build the highway. They tunneled under the church rather than try to build around it on this steep hillside. The church boasts two features, a sculpture and painting of the Virgin Mary breast feeding baby Jesus and a life size nativity scene under the church in a grotto. We used its outside short walls to eat lunch upon, then visited its sights. While eating, Helen with her cart caught up with us, as did Ken with a group of men pilgrims. 

    With chatted with them a few minutes, then went down to see the nativity while they departed. 

    The route climbed up a fair amount after the church and then traversed a hillside for more than a mile, San Gimignano visible in the distance. With its position on the horizon and its towers rising above the walls it reminded Sally and I of the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. If only the road we were walking on was yellow . . .  Still we sang the song as we strolled along . . . Even tried skipping for a while. 

    The final approach to the city was up a busy road with sidewalks. We took note of a laundromat and a grocery store on our way up the hill. We had met Ken at the bottom at the roundabout and had been walking with him as we approached town. We crossed through the wall at the north portal and strolled up the trinket shop lined main street to the duomo’s piazza. We took a seat at an outdoor cafe with Ken, had a Coke and waited for our room to become available at Monastero di San Girolamo, the monastery in town. At a little after three we began navigating to it and found it was a bit of a walk out of the way, still inside the walls of the city, but out on the very edge. We rang the video buzzer and a voice answered about a minute later “stop light”.  We looked down the street and saw a stop light and walked to it. There were a couple of doors down there. We tried them all but they were locked. About two minutes later a severe looking woman in religious clothing in her 70’s opened the door and admitted us. Ken registered first, paid his €25 and left with his room key to find his room. We had requested two nights over the phone yesterday. Today she told us the first night would be at pilgrim rate, the second night at tourist rate. The total came to €146. Sally and I were staggered. Why so much. Should have been about €100. It appears the tourist rate is €45 a night per person plus €6 city tax. We looked at each other. That seemed like a lot for a room in a monastery. But, we didn’t have any options up our sleeve so we agreed and handed over €146 in cash. She quite sternly told us that if we visit Italy we should learn Italian before coming. If she went to America, she would have learned English before she came. This in mostly Italian with a few English words mixed in and with a scowling countenance.

    She led us up the elevator to our room. It was pretty big with a bathroom. There were plenty of blankets and towels, but as she told us “no heat”. She then asked our religion. When we said nada the scowl deepened on her round severe face and she exited the room. 

    We surveyed our new territory. No soap. No hair dryer. No heat. No Wifi. Beds looked okay. Both of had a bad feeling about two nights here. But, first we needed to do something about dinner and we had a meeting with Heidi of Lift Up Toledo to electronically check into. We wandered back up to town and found a casual restaurant that served pizza and had good WiFi.  We got our food and found a table out of the way and then called Heidi. We spent maybe 15 minutes on the phone ironing out the particulars of a donation while poor Heidi watched us down pizza. Meeting and dinner done we headed back up to the Duomo piazza to check it out after dark. We didn’t find it remarkable. Back at our room we checked AirB&B, Expedia and booking.com for available rooms in town for tomorrow night. While doing so we heard a knock on our door. One of the sisters was delivering an electric plug in heater. We thanked her, plugged it in and enjoyed the heat from it as we crawled into bed. The room was never cold, but it wasn’t warm either. The heater made a small difference. We each snuggled under blankets in our separate twin beds and called it a night. 

    With no Wifi we were left with slow or nonexistent cellular communication and little ability to plot the course of our days ahead.  No cooking facilities left us at the mercy of expensive tourist restaurants. No heat left us in jackets and fleece. Taking a shower to clean up meant a chilly drying off period with wet hair. Staying here two nights, especially the second at €90 was a bad decision brought on by inadequate research on both our parts. Learn from the experience and move forward. 

Gambassi piazza for breakfast

Descending from town toward San Gimignano

Tuscan countryside

Winery along the way

Climbing a hill with Gambassi on the hill behind

Gambassi in the distance behind us

Tree lined road

Church across the road

Breast feeding Madonna

Gimignano looking like the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz

The main street of San Gimignano

Us with Ken in front of the duomo in San Gimignano

Day Nine - Thursday, October 29, 2026

Midpoint of Day 3 stage to Gambassi - Weather-sunny & warm, High 69, Low 49, Clear blue skies all day. On Route 7.38 miles, Total Distance 9.78 miles, 22,927 steps

Our taxi was 40 minutes earlier today than yesterday. He arrived promptly at 7:50. This time it was the boss, Ernesto. He drove us to the same point as yesterday, but went around the east side to get there rather than the west side. New territory to see. He was very good with his English and we conversed the whole way. 

This section is supposed to be the quintessential Tuscany landscape. Vineyards, olive trees, wineries, sweeping view. It did not disappoint. After a long descent from our drop off point we started to contour around rolling green hills on the ridge tops with orchards and vineyards stretching into the distance under clear blue skies. It was magnificent. This went on for a few hours as the miles clicked by, yet we never tired of the view. 

    I couldn’t help myself. Periodically I would hoot and holler, leap into the air and sprint up the nearest hill, pack bouncing on my back. It may be just stents they put in, but I feel like I am in a new body. At Camp Sheppard we always had fun “stress testing” everything. If a Saxon cross belay can stop a sliding person easily, how will it do with 8 people and 20 feet of slack in the rope (I got a sprained ankle from that one).  If the tents can hold up in a sixty mile per hour wind, what if we move them to where the funneled wind is blowing 80. How do they do now? I feel that way with this “new” body I have. How much can it take?  How fast can I hike up hill? Run uphill with pack on? How hard can I push until I feel familiar pains? (The answer so far is, I haven’t found that limit yet. Needs more stress testing.). If you were a Star Trek the Next Generation fan you might remember an episode where the Doctor falls in love with a being that is really two beings, a body and a symbiant that lives inside the body. I feel like I just got a new body. Looks the same, but man, does it feel different. 

    Eventually we started dropping to our low point for the day. Along the way we found a grassy spot in the sun with a nice view to sit and eat our lunch of focaccia bread, meat and cheese, banana, almonds and a Coke to share. Sally pointed to a town up on the hill and guessed it was our destination, Gambassi Terme. I disabused her of the idea as it was at a right angle to our last direction of travel. She insisted. Out came the map (on my phone). Oops. She was right. We make a hard right just a half a mile ahead and then climb for the next 2.8 miles to reach the town. 

    The day has become warm. Not hot like our friends Susan, Tom, Jonathan and Franny had experienced, for us a mere 69°. But with the sun beating down on us and a long climb underway, it began to wear on Sally. We kept to the shade where possible. With the sun low in the sky as winter approaches long shadows off the trees provided shade that would not have been available a month ago. Still, she grew uncomfortably warm. Combine four elements, lack of sleep the night before, uphill climb, hot sun and end of the day mileage and the result is fatigue. About a third of the way up, after a short but steep section we came upon a young woman sitting at a picnic table. Any place to sit is a welcome sight so we joined her. As the conversation progressed we learned she was originally from Russia, moved to London, married, divorced, moved to Florence, married the Italian National race car driver and now lives out here on a high end tourist facility with villas and rooms to rent. She was a beautiful woman, but the vibe we got was she new it and used it to get what she wanted in life. How judgmental of us. She offered to let us use the pool while we washed our clothes. Surprisingly, we turned her down. It just didn’t feel right. We started up the hill again and soon she passed us in her car, heading to town to pick up her four year old. If she had stopped to offer Sally a ride that is one offer we would not have turned down. 

    Our route hit the main road to town. Soon we were passing bus stops. The conversation turned to riding the bus to the town, a little less than two miles further up the hill. We passed two more stops, then hit a particularly steep section that sealed the deal. We had passed a bus stop at the bottom of it and she toyed with the idea of walking back down to it to catch the bus. I was sure there was a bus stop just ahead. The scheduled bus would be here in less than 20 minutes so time was of the essence.  Rather than backtrack, I dropped my pack and ran ahead. Sure enough, 200 yards ahead, on gently ascending ground was another bus stop. We made it to it with a few minutes to spare. I scanned the QR code on the bus stop sign to download their app, but didn’t finish reading how to ride the bus before the bus arrived. 

     We were only about 0.2 miles from the hostel we were supposed to be staying at (we had made reservations last night and could see it from the bus stop) but it was 3/4 of a mile below the town. We thought we would ride the bus to town, enjoy our afternoon there and then walk down. Good plan, don’t you think?

    Unlike our experiences last year, this bus driver actually wanted us to pay the bus fare. I had €4.80 in change in my hand. I was sure that would be enough. Not quite. It was €2.50 each. He let us on with the €4.80, somewhat exasperated with our ineptitude at riding his bus. A mile later and 300 vertical feet we were in town. It was about 2:00, meaning everything was closed. We walked around the corner to a gorgeous green park with its bordering piazza, found an open cafe, got Cokes and rested at a table. 

. .  . hmmmm

    This town is lively and cute. Why do we want to walk 3/4 of a mile down to a hostel and miss the evening in town. A quick search of the guidebook and booking.com revealed the Gambassi Hotel offered a room for €60, the same price as the hostel, actually cheaper because we would have had to eat the dinner they served at the hostel for €15 each. I called the hotel. She said she would meet us in 10 minutes. It was 100ft from the table we were sitting at, just around the corner. I called and cancelled at the hostel. Good decisions!!

   We moved into our room about 2:15, relaxed for a few, then went in search of the thermal bath here in town, just two blocks away. We found it, but at only 93°F it was too cold for my liking, plus the €35 price was too steep. We returned to our room, plotted tomorrow’s adventures and then headed to the grocery about 3/4 mile away for makings of a cold dinner. We settled on scissor salad with added tuna and corn. We ate it in the same park outside, now dark and filled with town folk. Must have been 60 people there. Maybe 15 kids. We struck up a conversation with a woman. Turns out the town is here every night until 7:00, then everyone goes home to cook dinner, to be served about 8:00. Little kids in bed by 8:30, adults in bed about 10:00. She was very sweet and generous with her time. 

    With salad complete, we headed up to our room for the night. We left the town square knowing we were “in” Italy, not viewing it from outside. As far as we could tell, we were the only “non-locals” in the piazza that night. We are so blessed to have the health to be able to do this. 

Inside our hostel of two nights

Green is the taxi route this second time, light blue is today’s route

Heading down hill from drop off point

Rolling hills

Sunny, no wind, gorgeous Tuscan scenery

Beautiful

Sally rounds another rolling hill

Can’t remember feeling this good!!

Amazing

Scissor salad in the piazza with the locals

Day Eight - Wednesday, October 29, 2026 Midpoint of Day 3 stage back to San Miniato

Weather-sunny & warm, High 69, Low 49, Clear blue skies all day with a few high clouds. On Route 7.45 miles, Total Distance 9.76 miles, 22,877 steps

Swimming Upstream

Stage 3 of this journey from Lucca to Rome is about 15 miles long. Too great a distance for us to hike in a day. The question is, how do we shorten it?  There are no services along the 15 miles long stretch. No towns. No shops. In researching I found a road the crosses the route at exactly the halfway point. Now, how to utilize this fact. Upon arriving in Miniato yesterday we asked the woman at the hostel if she knew of a taxi. She did, and quickly secured two rides to this midpoint for us, one for today and one for tomorrow. Today, we will hike north instead of south, back the 7.45 miles to Miniato. Tomorrow we will hike south from the midpoint, on to the next town, Gambassi 7.38 miles. 

    We awoke about 7:15 along with our roommates Sebastian and Sabine. They were up and out the door quickly. Our taxi didn’t arrive until 8:30 so we leisurely had our eggs and yogurt for breakfast and shrunk down my pack for a day hike. 

   The taxi arrived promptly at 8:30 with Roberto at the wheel. It took about twenty minutes to drive to our starting point in the tiny collection of about five buildings called Coiomo. We paid Robert the 35€, and off we went. 

     The route was all on dirt roads on the ridge top, winding along with views off both sides. It was sunny and cool, a beautiful day in every aspect. We knew we would meet everyone today as they headed south so we made a bet as to what time we would run into Sebastian and Sabine. Sally guessed 10:00, I took 9:45. About 9:55 we stopped for a break in a spot with a commanding view south and had settled into a patch of grass and a snack when around the corner appeared our two new friends. We started to laugh. It was 10:04. We shared our delight at Sally’s good guess as they sat down to rest and have a bite to eat with us. 15 minutes later we took a photo and said our goodbyes. Just then two women from London came by. A quick chat and we were on our way. 

    The route continued as before, running the ridge top. In the near distance we saw a picnic table with a man seated at it. We stopped to take advantage of the bench and found he was from Idaho, but used to live in Centralia and worked for Northwest Hardwoods. What a small world!!  After we left him we ran into Vanessa, another roomy from last night who teaches in the international school in Rome, but is from Toronto. About half a mile further we found a sunny spot with a good view, a grassy seat and a fence to lean against to enjoy our lunch. 

     The route dumped us out on a paved road with light traffic that we followed all the way back to our hostel in Miniato about two miles. We arrived right at 3:00. We immediately set out to climb to the highest point in town where Fredrick II built his massive brick tower to lord over the countryside. The tower was closed when we got on top, but the views were amazing from the grassy field at its base. 

    Back down, we wandered town waiting for the grocery to open at 5:00. We stopped at the same coffee shop as yesterday for a Coke and some planning for the days ahead. At 5:10 we found our grocery open and bought spinach to supplement our planned stir fry for dinner and  more focaccia bread, some bananas and more lunch meat and cheese for lunch tomorrow. 

    Back at the hostel we cooked dinner and talked with Ken from Michigan and the woman that has been walking since July who we neglected to find her name. She is pulling a cart with her pack on it. She is 61 and quite reserved and quiet. I had hoped to write after dinner but was too tired to do so and quickly fell asleep about 9:00. Another amazing day. 

Blue line is our taxi ride, red line our walk back

Our destination San Miniato in the distance

Sebastián and Sabine en route

The “trail” we are following

First chairs of the day for a Coke and a view

Back in San Miniato working our way to the hostel

Church in town with cool clouds

Fredrick’s tower atop the highest hill in town

View from top of town out over Tuscan countryside

Sunset fall colors in San Miniato

Day Seven - Tuesday, October 28, 2026 Ponte de Cappiano to San Miniato

Weather-sunny & warm, High 69, Low 49, Clear blue skies all day. 

On Route 9.55 miles, Total Distance 11.35 miles, 27,276 steps

What A Difference!!

The inhabitants of Traeh were struggling. They worked as a collective. Each in their own place of residence they toiled to meet the needs of their world. Every moment new supplies came to them and each moment they transformed the supplies to the desired product. When the collective first began the supply lines were wide open, the needed new supplies flowed easily to each resident, the waste products swiftly removed and the desired products were made to equal the demand. But recently, the supplies had difficulty making it in. The main channels of distribution had become impeded by the impurities in the supplies. These impurities littered the avenues of distribution, slowing the flow and hampered production. As time went on the inhabitants created new routes for distribution, but they were small, inefficient and awkward, nothing like the main channels that used to act as magnificent carriers of supplies. The inhabitants suffered, they complained, they wailed, but no one seemed to hear their cries. Over time they began to lose their ability to meet production demands yet they soldiered on as best they could. 

    Finally the inevitable happened. Try as they might, they could not meet the needs. Too many impurities filled the main arteries bringing to a near halt the flow of supplies. They would need outside help if they were to survive. They were at death’s door. 

    This time they raised such a cry that they were heard and outside help did come. The benefactors pushed the impurities to the side, opening the original pathways. Supplies flowed freely once more. Now life was even better than at the beginning. Not only were the original ways open, but all the pathways the residents had devised were still working. The supply chain made the residents awash with supplies. Their work was easier than ever before. Production was up.  Happiness filled their days.  They lived happily ever after. 

     We woke in our Cosimo De Medici bridge apartment about 7:00 and quietly packed up and snuck out of our room so as not to disturb Mary Lou and Jan. Once my pack was assembled we dropped down to the kitchen to cook eggs for breakfast. Breakfast done, we headed out the door into the bright early morning sunshine about 8:05. Our route for the next 4 miles was up on dikea alongside canals cut through this Arno River floodplain.  There was not a breeze, not a cloud in the sky. The grass underfoot was wet with dew and ground soft to tread on. Absolutely beautiful. About 3 miles along we had to cross a canal. There was a cement foot bridge for this purpose, but it had fences blocking both ends we had to climb around. 

    Eventually we entered the town of Fucecchio. We climbed the hill into the old town and stopped at the first cafe for a coke and fizzy water. It was in the shade and a bit chilly this time of the morning. We wove down the other side of the hill snaking between the ancient tall buildings and emerged on a modern piazza with the bustle of a bigger city. For the next half mile we walked city streets past businesses and apartment houses until we exited the city abruptly by crossing the Arno River. While in the downtown area we stopped at a Verdue and Fruita shop for a pear, 3 plums and a cluster of grapes to munch on during our walk. 

    The next two miles brought us to the town of San Miniato Basse at the foot of the hill that San Miniato sits atop. Here wee found trail magic in a neighborhood of houses. A table with snacks, water and a book to sign. 

    We started up the hill to San Miniato, mostly on paved roads, some with sparse traffic, one quite busy with zero shoulder. We had heard about an elevator to take you up to the town center but we walked all the way into town along a picturesque lane and park. 

    What a difference in my physical ability!!! Climbing this hill carrying 30 pounds felt fantastic!! It is the best I have felt in at least 10 years. No shoulder pain. Ease of movement. Don’t know if I can describe it other than it felt fantastic. Like so much energy a vitality. This is not to say I wasn’t tired at the end of the day. Tired yes. Accompanying pain-nonexistent! I highly recommend stents in coronary arteries. Maybe skip the heart attack and go right to the stents. Instead of blood squeezing through blocked arteries and down alternate pathways devised by my body to allow me to keep my heart beating, the blood now flows in both cleared arteries and the bypasses my body made. My heart has not seen this much blood, and thereby oxygen and fuel since my childhood. Fantastic feeling and results. 

    We found the Osteria we were staying at tonight, but it didn’t open until 3:00, so we had half an hour to wait. Not a problem. The view for the square outside was beautiful and the benches were a welcome comfort. 

    They opened precisely at three and we got our introduction to the place and its rules. We were assigned a room with four beds. With our stuff sitting by the beds or in a locker assigned to us we headed out to explore the town, find a cafe and buy some groceries. This Osteria would be our home for two nights and we needed a few supplies. 

    as is typical, everything was closed in town until 4 or 5. We walked the narrow streets of this town perched on the ridge. We found an open coffee shop and sat for a pastry and a coke until 5:00 when the grocery opened. The shop was reminiscent of the one we enjoyed in Spoleto last year. Tiny but full service with two attendants behind the glass refrigerated display case and packed with a variety of goods. We found what we needed and were soon cooking potatoes, sausage and onions back at the Osteria. Certainly the opposite of heart healthy, but delicious. Won’t do that dinner again. 

    By this time our new roommates had arrived, 52 yr old Sebastian at about 7’2” and his partner 49 yr old Sabine, both from Belgium. We talked with them for well over an hour at the kitchen table in the main community room. They were delightful. 

    We knew tomorrow’s stage of 16 miles was too long for us to hike in a day. We had arranged for a taxi to take us to a point where the route crossed a highway which by chance happens to be exactly at the midpoint. We will hike back from that point to here and spend another night here, then take another taxi again to the same spot and continue on. This means we will meet all the southbound walkers as we travel north tomorrow. Should be fun. 

Climbing up to San Miniato

The park leading into San Miniato

Cosimo Di Medici’s bridge

Our room inside the bridge

Kitchen inside the bridge

The bridge across the canal

Chuck on the dikes next to the canals

Sally negotiates the footbridge gate that doesn’t open

Frederick II’s tower looms above the valley and the hilltop town

Working our way up to town

Part of the route up is trail through the woods