Tuscan Hiking

All you fans of the blog will be wondering WHST has happened to G Charles Rose and his travel blog? Well I’ll tell you: I have been very lazy when it comes to writing. That’s what’s happened. The reason it’s that, at the end of the day, after a huge walk through the Tuscan countryside, one feel well and truly STUFFED. Buggered. Very TIRED!

They are big days. Lots of ups, heaps of alongs and one or two downs (though you don’t remember them so much). Beautiful weather, though, and also wonderful countryside. Truly wonderful countryside. Where we are for the night today, for example, is a town on top of a hill completely surrounded by a high wall. Here is a photo:

 

 

The route flows through country tracks mostly, but there are sections of roads with traffic bustling along and pushing you off to the roadside. We strolled alongside a river today, which was pretty special, with a couple of crossings where you had to hold onto ropes so you didn’t fall in. Most helpful.

 

 

There are a few people walking in our direction and we have run into a few as we catch up with them or fall behind. One French woman – Diane (pronounced “Dee-arn-e”) was very interesting. She is an engineer and it wasn’t long before she and Andy were rolling along together rapping about engineering sorts of things

Karen is an Australian whom we met along the way at the start of her journey. It wasn’t long before poor Karen developed foot problems and couldn’t really keep up a good pace. She eventually went ahead by bus and said she’d walk back along the track from her digs to get a feel for the track. Poor Karen!

We passed a Dutch lady a few times. She is a true Pilgrim. The badges on her pack indicate that she has walked many hundreds of miles on a wide variety of Pilgrim’s Ways. She stays in Refugios and seems to be the Full Pilgrim Deal.

Not too many people travelling in the opposite direction (towards Canterbury) compare e we other us (travelling toward Rome). One man greeted us with a very forceful discourse about the merits of good weather and how it lifts the spirits. Whereas when it rains, it makes one feel quite glum. I think he may have a point there …

That’s it for now. With photos included the Blog seems to slow down and sometimes fails to load. I won’t push it with this posting.

 

Toodles!