“To be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter … to be thrilled by the stars at night … to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in the Spring … these are some of the rewards of a simple life.” John Burroughs
Gallina to Radicofani
Guidebook mileage: unknown because I made a fun detour to Bagni San Filippo to see the White Whale and hitchhiking was involved. More on that later.
Garmin watch mileage: 24.62km (15.3 miles)
Yesterday was a bit of a rough day, physically, mentally, and emotionally. So last night and this morning while I walked, I took some time to evaluate what I could learn from it and alter things going forward.
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I started too late which is a big part of my misery from the heat. I want to start earlier in the morning to avoid the hottest part of the day as much as I can so I set my alarm for an earlier wake up call and I was out the door by 5:29 am. Issue solved.
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I got a tiny little blister on the side of my foot, and the start of another blister, where my previous blister was from the Portuguese Camino. I do not like blisters. I realized that while I enjoy walking with other people, yesterday I was pushing myself to walk faster than what is my normal speed. I believe this is the cause for the blisters. I think walking at such a fast pace also wore me out quicker. I felt sluggish and tired the whole time. So today I walked at my own speed and let everyone else do their thing too. Although it was a game of leap frog with Cindy and Joel. We walked together at times and when I noticed it was too fast for me, I told them to go on. Undoubtedly, I saw them at the next rest spot and the game would begin again…and I felt great.
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I noticed I didn’t enjoy the walk as much yesterday. At first I thought it was just because of the heat and the blazing sun on my skin but I realized it was because I wasn’t in the moment. I was busy walking and talking with other people which is fun at times, but I actually missed the walk. I normally stop to look at the view and take a photo or I will slow down to smell the flowers and watch the butterflies. I didn’t do that on yesterday’s walk. I hardly had any photos and I really don’t remember what the scenery looked like. Disappointing. Viewing the panorama is a big reason why I’m walking…to enjoy the Italian countryside! So today I walked slowly and enjoyed the sunrise. I noticed two bumblebees sleeping on the stock of a plant. I could actually see them breathing in an out. There stomachs were going up and down, it was beautiful. At another point I noticed an ant carrying a leaf across the road. The leaf was at least two to three times the size of the ant. It’s pretty incredible what these little creatures can do. I took a video of both these things but the experience itself is etched in my memory forever.
I want to be more intentional with my day and how I experience it. Most of my life I just ran through checking boxes and ticking off my to do list. I think I missed out on so much and I don’t want to do that anymore. Today was a much more enjoyable walk and started off with a beautiful sunrise and ended with a lovely meal with some volunteers from Milan and Bergamo at a Donativo.
Made a huge detour, 2.5km, off track to see The White Whale. The thermal baths. They were obviously warm and not best for swimming when you are hiking but it was a fun thing to see and I’m definitely glad I went.
But I wasn’t enthused about retracing my steps back 2.5km to the trail…so I hitchhiked! I stood at an intersection at 8:55 am. I told myself, if a car doesn’t pick me up by 9 am, I’ll walk back. Four cars drove by without stopping but Fabio in lucky car number five stopped and picked me up. I was definitely a happy hiker! We honked and waved at Cindy and Joel as we drove by them. Beep beep.
🚗💨💨
Once back in the trail, we ran into Ermes, my roomy from last night’s hostel. He left much later but since he is on a bike, he caught up in no time.
We couldn’t find anyplace open for breakfast until after 9 am. So we stopped at a beautiful Agriturismo (farm stay) to each and rest before we started the big climb up the hill to our final destination.
We walked through beautiful fields and over waterways, and finally climbed the dreaded hill but we made it to Radicofani. It’s an absolutely gorgeous town. The people, the food and the views are amazing. Cindy and Joel arrived first but I met them for lunch. Salad, pasta with ragu, and beer. Heaven.
I’m staying at a donativo tonight. It’s a place for pilgrims that is run by volunteers and is paid by donation. Dinner and breakfast is included. I am the only pilgrim here but the volunteers are so fun. They are from Milan and Bergamo (mentioned above) they made a delicious dinner of pasta fagioli (bean and pasta soup), an omelet, salad, and veggies.
I went into a cafe this afternoon to work on writing this post and a lovely woman walked into the room, looked at me, gave me a huge smile and told me I was beautiful. She asked about where I was from and why I was visiting …then she paid for my drink. This put my day over the top. I was beyond flattered by the compliment and gesture. ❤️🙏 Never forget what a few kind words can do for another. “A rising tide lifts all boats.” JFK
The stars must be aligning. I wanted to visit the castle and it is a 17 minute uphill walk. Ugh. I saw a guy getting into his car, asked where he was going (had no idea what he said) asked if the castle was on the way (which it wasn’t) and he said he’d take me. Score! Then when I arrived at the ticket booth, nobody was working. So I looked around and found the attendant, Giovani (drinking a beer) and asked him about buying a ticket. He said I looked so happy (simpatico) that I could go in and see “the world for free.” Or maybe he just didn’t want to stop relaxing and drinking his beer. Either way, things are working out in my favor today.
Kari made a beautiful video of today’s walk for me. Definitely check it out. https://youtube.com/shorts/kzmdoqqdrVc?feature=share
Goodnight and much love & gratitude from Italy! 🇮🇹
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Here are some resources if anyone is interested in hiking the Via Francigena.
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https://www.viefrancigene.org
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http://www.viafrancigena.com
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https://www.gronze.com
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www.booking.com
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App: Via Francigena
