Day Twenty - Walking Day sixteen - Monday, November 9, 2026

Torrenieri to Bagno Vignoni - Weather- overcast all day, threatening rain - High 61, Low 48, On Route 7.94 miles, Total Distance 7.22 miles, 17,999 steps

To Date; OR - 119.12, TD - 142.32

    The people you meet on these adventures are amazing. It was a day of meeting new people, freighting food to our swanky health spa hotel and reconnecting with our visit of 9 years ago. What an amazing day!

    We were not too concerned about an early start today. We only had about 8 miles to travel with a town midway along, San Quirico d’Arcio, a UNESCO town. Our end point was Bagno Vignoni, a village built around natural hot springs. Our plan was this: walk to San Quirico, stop at the grocery store there and load up with three days of lunches and two days of dinner that don’t need to be cooked. There are no cooking facilitiesin Bagno Vignoni. There are no grocery stores. Only exclusive, high priced, fancy restaurants out of our price range. Our room has an electric tea kettle so we can create boiling water and cook simple things in it, like Top Ramen, instant mashed potatoes, noodles and the like. So we can splurge on the room price if we stay conservative on the food. 

    We were up about 7:15.  I cooked oatmeal for breakfast in the hostel’s kitchen and we applied a sliced banana on top to seem fancy. As we ate our roomy poked his head in. We talked for a minute, then we all three parted to prepare for today’s journeys. A little while later I met him again in the kitchen and got to talking. He goes by Joesph and is a member of the Swiss army. Turns out, he just finished his two years of volunteer work as a Swiss Guard at the Vatican!! Sally, a huge fan of both Pope Francis and Pope Leo asked if he ever got to meet them. Many, many times came the answer. Joesph timed his duty perfectly. He was there for the Jubilee year and for the conclave and got to know both popes. But, the coolest part?  He was walking home to Switzerland now that his duty was done, a tradition among the Swiss Guards. What an amazing guy. He was big and muscular and as kind and thoughtful as could be. We would have loved to walk a few hours with him and get to know him better, but we were heading south and he north. 

    A little after eight we stepped out the door of the apartment complex that houses the hostel and walked down the stairs. As we approached the street we looked up and there was Marzen in the street waiting for us!  We greeted her with delight. In Italian she said what I interpreted was she wanted to walk with us to the next town San Quirico. We both said great and started down the road with her. As we approached her car, she opened the back hatch and motioned for me to put my pack in. Oh! I guess we are driving to San Quirico. Sally and I got in, myself in the front and off we went, the history, geography, biology and geology lessons of yesterday continuing into today. I whipped out my translator on my phone to interpret what she was saying. The small enclosed space inside her car worked wonderfully for the app as it could clearly hear her and interpret better. I won’t go into all the details of what we learned, but will say she is a very enthusiastic and good teacher. We visited churches, an outdoor sculpture garden, a friend of her dad’s and many small businesses along our route through this ancient yet bustling little town. By about 10:30 we decided we needed to be on our way. We told Marzen and she worked us back to the car with a few side stops along the way. We embraced her and swore we would stop back by to see her if in the region again. I got her email address and phone number so we can get in contact. What a fun, energetic woman (and maybe a little lonely?). 

    We walked back up through town on the main road and stopped into the San Francisco church to see a Della Robbio sculpture of the Virgin Mary. Very cool. At the other end of town was a church constructed about 1000ad. Around the corner we sought out the Coop grocery store and carefully selected food, being careful to not overload my pack, both in weight and volume. Remember, Sally is not carrying a pack, so everything we have for 42 days in Italy are in my pack, now including three days of food. It was a tight squeeze, but I managed to stuff every pocket full as well as the main compartment. Luckily, we only had about 4.5 miles to go. 

    Once out of town the route climbed a couple hundred feet to a high point overlooking the entire Orcia valley. The whole landscape is a UNESCO site, and walking into it makes the reason for that designation apparent. It is stunning. Try as I might to get a picture that captures the grandeur, I could not. It is so big that the photos lack a central focus point making them just large landscape photos. 

    Once we crested the top of the ridge and enjoyed the view, we started our descent down the ridge to the hamlet of Bagno Vignoni (ba-yo Vin-yo-neh) at the bottom. The way was paved most of the way and a bit steep. Our feet were tired by the time we reached the bottom and the health resort we had booked for two nights. 

     We had to search for 20 minutes to find the reception room. We found the address of the hotel, but it had a sign that said go to the reception, but not where it was. We finally found a shop with a lady who pointed us in the right direction. Once there, we registered with the desk clerk (haven’t done that once this trip so far) and he lead us up to our room. I believe he lingered in the door hoping we would tip him, but I felt our budget was strained enough by just being here. 

     We flopped on the bed and lazed for an hour, both feeling unreasonably tired for such a short day. Was it the weight of the pack? The effort to understand Marzen? Never could deduce why. 

    After our hour of repose we went out to explore the resort. It has the distinction of being the only village in Italy with a liquid piazza. Cool looking (hot water) but no one is allowed to use it, making it the most impracticable piazza in Italy. The village is just a collection of hotel and gift shops for tourists clustered around the hot springs that flow out of the ground. There is a lot of history here as well. It was one of the few places where flowing water occurred all year round so grist mills were built to grind the grain from the surrounding fields. However, the water was full of minerals and hot so it evaporated and left limestone deposits on all the sluices and equipment that had to be continually chipped off. Of course thermal baths and showers were here as well and notables of Italy stopped here on their way to and from Rome for hundreds of years. 

    We wandered into the resort’s bar for a

Coke. We sat next to a woman at a table and soon were in conversation with her.  She was from Maine, about 42. Her sister, four years younger soon arrived and we spent the next two hour absolutely enthralled talking with them. Kennesaw is nurse practitioner specializing in cardiology. Of course, my recent heart attack came up and occupied a fair amount of time. She dropped right into practitioner mode and we analyzed my history, attack and aftermath. Maisie, her younger sister worked in water management, stream restoration and such, mostly doing the artwork to illustrate existing and future conditions. She discovered she enjoyed it so much that she started her own company doing such artwork and is very happy with her work. They described the death of their father just a year ago and how he handled his illness and impending death with grace and dignity. We shared our Bob story. I think we would have sat with them another few hours, but they needed to drive to Multipuciano in the dark and find dinner and Sally and I had dinner to prepare. We exchanged contact information and invited them to our area. Kennesaw’s husband is in love with the PNW and is skiing all the volcanoes in the state (he still has a few to do) so chances are good we will see them again. 

     We cooked Top Ramen in our tea pot and had some scissor salad for dinner. We stripped down the pack for our day hike tomorrow from Gallina back to here. Rain is still forecast all day, but the rainfall total has shrunk from 0.6 inches to 0.05 so we will see what tomorrow brings. What a fun day full of amazing people. 

Marzen and us in San Quirico

Sally at breakfast in the hostel in Torrenieri

Joesph the Swiss Guard

Our bedroom at the hostel in Torrenieri

Marzen points out the Cypress trees and how they were used for shade for sheep before they became linings for driveways

Church in San Quirico

One of many sculptures in this theme in the park in San Quirico

Joesph in his Swiss Guard uniform at the Vatican

Sally overlooking the Orcia Vally

Castelione hovering about the valley

Orcia Valley

Bagno Vignoni main piazza

Us with Kennesaw and Maisie in Bagno Vignoni

Day Nineteen - Walking Day Fifteen - Sunday, November 8, 2026

Buonconvento to Torrenieri - Weather- Foggy morning Sunny with puff clouds - High 60, Low 42, On Route 8.05 miles, Total Distance 10.23 miles, 24,132 steps

To Date; OR - 111.18, TD - 135.10

The day started foggy and cold. The sun burned off about 10:00 to reveal gorgeous blue skies. 

    Our room was as described in yesterday’s post, but I left off a feature of the room, the smell. We were lucky to have a bathroom in our room, but the smell of sewer gas in the bathroom was severe. We closed the bathroom door and left the ceiling fan on. I put a towel over the shower drain. No avail. The smell was strong enough that Sally opened the window to the 42° weather outside to get some fresh air during the night. The one plus of this situation was that it got us up and out this morning a little quicker than usual. 

    It is Sunday, meaning everything in rural Italy is closed. In previous trips we have gotten caught by this fact with no food.  We now know and buy ahead Saturday afternoon or evening. My pack was brimming with food. Pasta, marinara sauce, rolls, meat, cheese, chips, cookies, sodas, rice, muslix, chocolate bars, etc. as we left the apartment I carried yogurt cups in my hands, hoping for a bench to enjoy them on. We found three chairs on the street outside an apartment building and stopped there to enjoy our breakfast. The air was chilly, but we were dressed appropriately. Trash in a trash bin, we were on our way. 

     The route skirted the back streets of the newer part of town then headed out paralleling the highway. As it was Sunday morning and traffic was light we chose to walk on the highway, the dry pavement preferable to the dew soaked grass where the trail was adjacent to the road. Eventually the route broke with the highway at right angles and began the inevitable climb into the surrounding hills. A group of ten male cyclists passed us as we walked up this dirt road, gaining altitude and approaching three swanky wineries perched on the hill tops. They were impressive with their cypress tree lined drives, exquisite landscaping and impressive buildings. Of course, off season, Sunday morning, they were all shuttered. We did find a picnic table outside one and employed it to enjoy an early lunch, about 10:30. 

     A little further up the road we were sitting at a conveniently placed bench with a stunning territorial view when we heard female voices coming up the road below us. As we stood to greet them two Italian women walking the Via Francigena for three days approached. We chatted for 10 minutes, then realized we were going to walk together and started off up the road, Sally paired with one, I with the other. 

     For the next hour we each chatted with our companion in broken English and Italian as we walked nearly two miles up this beautiful stretch of hilltop road. My partner, Lorena was 54.  She had been a nurse for 34 years and had decided to leave the rat race of a professional career and slow down a bit. She now does odd jobs when she needs money, house cleaning, fruit picking and the like. She says she makes less and therefore spends less but is a much happier person. She can take holidays such as this one. I enjoyed my walk and talk with her. 

    Sally was having a similar experience with her new friend. I could hear them laughing and chatting a 100 yards behind us. 

    The sun had now burned off the fog and was quite warm. I was till wearing a fleece and was getting hot, but had been loath to stop and interrupt our conversation. When I did stop to strip off the fleece Sally and Monica caught up with us. We took a photo and said goodbye. They were walking to the next town past ours and needed to get moving a little faster. 

    It is amazing how much information can be exchanged through the language barrier. We as humans have so much in common that through a few words and gestures ideas can be shared. But, any depth of ideas, thoughts and feeling are difficult to express so the conversation stays on a superficial level for the most part. 

    As soon as Lorena and Monica moved on we met a woman out for a walk from the town we were heading to. She joined us and we were once again emerged in “conversation” Italian-English style. Marzen was 73, although her bright eyes, enthusiastic smile and animated gestures spoke of a much younger person. She was retired from a career in Siena as a manager of student housing at the university. She commuted by bus each day from her home here in Torrenieri. 

    She turned out one a wonderful tour guide. Every bush and tree was explained to us. We ate blue berries off of roadside bushes, saw Italian rose hips, walnuts trees, apple trees, fig trees and much more. She was explaining the mountain we saw in the distance, a volcano that was the cause of all the hot spring we would encounter in the coming days. At one point, as she tried to explain something about the volcano she grabbed one os Sally’s trekking poles and scratched CaCO3 in the dirt road. Oh!! Limestone!  She was very clever. We really enjoyed her company and lessons, although we rarely made it more than 20 steps before stopping to observe something. It made for slow going. The weight of the food in my pack was beginning to bear down on tired shoulders. I used my phone’s translator app to ask why all the fields were plowed and left bare for the winter. She told me they were all planted with winter wheat and that if I looked I could see some fields where it was beginning to emerge. 

    As it turned out, she lives right next door to the hostel we are staying in tonight so she was able to guide us to our destination. She stayed with us while we waited for our host to come open the door. Of course, in this small town she is great friends with him. When he arrived they chatted a few minutes before we said goodbye to her and followed him inside to learn the workings of our newest accommodations. 

    He spoke very little English, but was quick with a friendly, warm, smile, and made us feel very welcome. We have a large bedroom to ourselves, access to a large kitchen and a pink bathroom down the hall. We are the only ones here for tonight, although he said their might be one more. To Sally’s dismay, no heat. 

    Once settled in, we walked through town, hoping to find a place open for a Coke. Everything was closed, partly due to Sunday, partly due to 4:00 in the afternoon. We did find a bar on the far side of town and had a Coke. Sally also had a glass of the local wine. She saw spinach on the menu. We asked if we could have an order to go, figuring it would be good in our marinara sauce for dinner tonight. Plus, it would be our only vegetables for the day. 

    We returned “home”, cooked dinner, talked with Jeff and the kids and Andy via FaceTime and then retired for the night. Another amazing day. 

Our funky old room in Buonconvento

Our very smelly bathroom

On the ridge top in the fog with a swanky hilltop winery in the background

Miles and miles of grapes beautifully tended

Cypress tree lined road

Our route is on that road and the town in the distance, Torrenieri in the background

Sally and Monica walking and talking in beautiful Tuscan scenery

Lorena and Monica with us at our parting

Torrenieri, our destination for tonight

Marzen Lombardi with us the last two miles into town

Day Eighteen - Walking Day Fourteen - Saturday, November 7, 2026

Ponte A Tressa to Buonconvento - Weather- Sunny with puff clouds - High 60, Low 47, On Route 8.03 miles, Total Distance 10.25 miles, 24,831 steps

To Date; OR - 103.13, TD - 124.87

A Delightful Day 

From Ponte A Tressa to Buonconvento was a little farther than we thought we should walk in a day. A short bus hop this morning to Quinciano would trim the miles down to about 7, a little shorter than necessary but that was our only option. As it turned out, the best the bus could do was drop us about a mile off our route at Lucignano d’ Arbia, lengthening the day to about 8.  Still a bit short, but when the route and towns were placed they didn’t consult us about our needs. We will just have to adapt. 

    Our bus (#411) was scheduled for 7:47. We rose at a little after six, went through our morning routine and exited our gated domicile about 7:20. It was a short walk under the railroad tracks to the main highway where the bus stop sat. We were 20 minutes early. The next bus after this one wasn’t until 11:47. We didn’t want to miss this one. The bus was right on time. After a ten minute ride we exited exactly on the spot we wanted and began our one mile trek to connect with the Via Francigena route. Over half that connection required walking a highway with moderate traffic and no shoulders. The motorists were kind and crossed the center line to give us a little breathing room as they sped past. We turned off the highway to a much less frequented side road and were soon back on our route to Rome. 

     The route was different today. Instead of rolling up and down ridge lines all day, we were

on the valley bottom walking muddy farm roads that access huge plowed farm fields. The way was flat and straight, squeezed between newly plowed fields and the railroad tracks. This was true from Quinciano to Ponte d’Arbia, about 4 miles. Yesterday’s heavy rain made the road quite muddy in places and our shoes and lower pant legs were soon a muddy mess. However, we did have a choice. We could walk on the grassy margins inbetween the tire tracks where there was less mud, but then our shoes would soon be saturated with water. We chose a caking of mud on the soles over wet feet. 

    When we arrived at Ponte d’Arbia about 10:30 we found a cafe for a Coke and pastry and settled into an outside table to review our options for the days ahead. Heavy rain is forecast for Tuesday. We are trying to plan around it. After much plotting routes and distances and checking bus schedules and room prices and amenities we changed our previous plans and came up with what seems a good option. It includes two nights at Bagno Vignani in a swanky (by our standards) place that has a pool and hot tub (and heat in the rooms). Rather than bore you with the details of our plans, read these posts in the days ahead to see how they unfold. 

     The second half of the day returned to normal. While the highway stayed to the valley bottom, we climbed the surrounding hills to avoid it. This afforded beautiful views of the surrounding area including back to Siena, 13 miles as the crow flies behind us. 

    I was amazed to see how much of the land was plowed and left without a cover crop for the winter, especially considering how steep much of the ground was. I remember when walking in driving rains on the Camino de Santiago next to sloping farm fields the top soil pouring down the hillside in rivulets and torrents and into the roadside ditches. This bare ground doesn’t seem like a good idea. When we crossed the Arbia River on a bridge back in Ponte d’Arbia just a few minutes ago it was completely cloudy and the color of these fields, evidence to me that erosion is in full force here. 

    Once we reached our high point we descended back down off the ridge and into the town we could see from the top, Buonconvento. It was past one and we realized we hadn’t eaten lunch. Although we were only a few hundred meters from our apartment for the night we stopped in the park for lunch. It was sunny and warm and the bench’s were inviting. We needed something to wash down our dry bread, cheese and meat sandwiches. In the adjoining parking lot a street fair of sorts was packing up. I walked the length of it to find a vendor that sells Cokes and returned to our park bench with two cokes, a plum and a pear. 

    Lunch over we walked into this beautiful, small ancient town and searched for Via Del Sol 80, our place for the night. Took a bit, but we found it on the backside of the street we were on. 

    The building is at least 7 centuries old. The inside has been modernized with paint and plumbing and electricity and windows but the funky room sizes and configurations speak to the origin of the building. It is quaint, yet comfortable. Open, rough hewn, wood beam ceilings, tile floors, white walls. And importantly, heat. 

    We chose not to pay the extra €20 for use of the kitchen, preferring to use that sum plus the money we would spend to buy the food to cook to eat out in town. However, we did need groceries for lunch tomorrow on our route and for breakfast tomorrow morning. We grabbed our nylon bag and headed for the Coop grocery store on the edge of town outside the wall enclosed old city. 

    Yes, the Coop is convenient. It is equivalent to a Safeway in size and layout. Yes, it was the only thing open on this Saturday afternoon. We had passed many mom and pop family groceries on our walk to the Coop, but they were all closed. Yes, the prices are cheaper and the choices exceed the little shops. But, what are these new, big stores going to do to the livelihood of the small shop owners and thereby the culture of these quaint small towns? The small shops are open from 10:00-1:00, then close and reopen about 5:00 until 8 or 9:00. The Coop store is open 8:00-8:00. Things will change in these towns, good or bad-who’s to say? Will more young people settle in if things are more convenient? What employment will there be? Who will occupy these ancient stone and brick buildings? 

    The rest of our day was spent wandering the old town. This is not a tourist town, although it could be. It is a lived in, functioning city full of locals and Italian life goes on without the crush of tourists buses. No trinket shops. Just services by and for the people that live here and the “pilgrims” that pass through. 

    Sally had asked one of the workers at the grocery for a cheap place to eat. A customer suggested the Sala pizzeria. We walked over after exploring the town. Pizza €2.50 a big slice. Dinner came to €12.50 with beer and soda. 

   As we enjoyed our pizza in the small shop a steady stream of people came for food, most to take it home. Sally struck up a “conversation“ with one older gentleman, reminiscent of Bob. He spoke no English. Us no Italian. But, with the few words we each could recognize in the other’s language we bantered back and forth. We learned he was an architect and engineer and had lived here 50 years. He was patient and kind as we struggled to understand each other, his eyes smiling and glinting with an inner joy, as were Sally’s. If not for the language barrier, that encounter could have lasted for hours. As it was, it was a memorable 30 minutes. 

    As we walked back to our place in the dark, about 6:00pm the streets werefilling up with the towns folk. People everywhere, wandering around on the lighted streets, talking, hanging out at outdoor tables or purposefully pursuing groceries or haircuts or hardware. From our bedroom above the street level the chatter and laughter was a pleasant background noise. A comfort, like the sound of a nearby creek burbling down the mountain when camping. 

    Tired, we crawled into bed, finished the DaVinci Code and were soon asleep. 

Walking the highway to get from the bus stop to the Francigena Route

Plowed field on the left, railroad on the right, muddy track in between for walking

Yesterday’s rain left a muddy mess of the Francigena

All this bare dirt on steep hills as winter approaches.

Caked mud on our shoes

Sienna in the distance

A narrow street on Buenconvento

Our architect at the pizza place

Buenconvento street

Buenconvento at night

Day sixteen - Walking Day Twelve - Thursday, November 5, 2026

Another Zero Day in Siena?- Weather-bright sunshine in the morning, clouds rolling in in the afternoon - High 60, Low 44, On Route 9.15 miles, Total Distance 10.32 miles, 24,208 steps

To Date; OR - 95.10, TD - 110.51

Approaching Weather

We woke this morning with plans of another zero in Siena. We lazed in bed, enjoying the election news and reviewing our route and timing decisions.on the midst of our bus routes, walking distances and search for inexpensive places to stay we realized we had left out one important factor, the weather. Our plans had us sitting here another day . . . during perfect weather and then tomorrow walking to Ponte a Tressa while half an inch of rain fell. Something is not right with that picture. About 9:30 we realized walking in the rain didn’t sound inviting (are you as surprised as much as we are that it took us that long to come to that conclusion?) and quickly packed up to do the walk today. We knew there was a bus we could ride back from our destination, Ponte A Tressa, once we got there. The buses run all day, about every half hour. We had to come back to Siena because we had already booked and paid for a room. Then tomorrow we will ride the bus back to Point A Tressa, spend the night there and continue our walk on Saturday. 

    Decision made, we had to gather some food for lunch from the stores in town. We walked back to one we knew, bought sweet bread (almost like fruit cake) and a few other items, then got on route following our gps track. 

    The route was nearly all downhill today as we descended out of Siena. The road ran atop one of the ridges that extends from the city slowly lowering us to the surrounding countryside. While still up in the ridge we passed swanky homes, olive orchards and plowed fields. Once down off the ridge we walked through an industrial area, car junk yard, car lots and light manufacturing. We stopped for lunch in the grass next to a fairly busy road just past a traffic circle. It was not a quiet serene lunch spot, but the Brie cheese on the fruit bread was delicious. 

    We got to Point A Tressa at 3:47, just 10 minutes before the 3:57 bus was scheduled to arrive. It was a few minutes late. We boarded and were off. 

    Once again we were reminded of the wonder of the wheel and modern travel. We had just spent five hours walking 9 miles. We climbed in this metal box and 15 minutes later were dropped off where we had started. Amazing!! I think back to 200 years earlier and realize that other than a horse, walking was the only mode of transport. Also, the people that made this trek in the centuries past got to Rome and then had to walk back home again!  We get to hop on a plane and be home in the equivalent of one days walk, all while sitting in a chair in the sky. Amazing, crazy world we live in. 

    We had a little trouble getting into our new place. The instructions sent were incorrect. We watched the video and it got us in, but then instructed us to open one of the rooms with a code on the keypad. We did. Someone was already in the room. Luckily they were not in the room. We closed it quickly, switched to the written instructions rather than the video and found our room. All good. 

    We had pitched vegetables on our walk through town. I cooked a big pan of stir fry for dinner along with brown rice. More politics, then to sleep. Good decisions today. Rain tomorrow. 

Il Campo in Siena

Gates of Siena on the road to Rome

On route today

Passing a junkyard

Looking back at Siena

Back side of Siena