Saturday 17 May 2025 – We were up not with the lark but with the blackbird, which started singing shortly before our alarm was due to go off at 05:30. We took a prompt breakfast in order to get out quickly, since the official distance of 20km made this one of the longer days since we started out from Altopascio. (I’ve noted before that I feel this route has been tougher than the Camino Francés that we did 18 months ago. Actually, on the Camino, we typically covered longer distances then; but the Via (so far) has been much more hilly, which has made the days tougher.)

The hotel is definitely posh. You can tell because it actually offered hot food at breakfast, so I was able to construct a passable imitation of a bacon butty to go with my cup of Twining’s finest Earl Grey.

Then it was time to head off across the fields to rejoin the Via. The lowering mass of Monteriggioni squats atop a hill; once we got to the foot of the hill we started up really quite a steep path.

At its steepest, just before the gate into the fortress,

I measured the slope as 14.5°

which a short conversation with ChatGPT established is actually slightly steeper than 1 in 4. Bloody steep, in short. Although we had only covered around 4km by the time we passed through the gate, we felt we’d earned a coffee stop. While Jane and Caroline relaxed, I popped over the road and whizzed the drone up for a quick photo of the whole place.

You can see how tiny it is.

After our coffee, we bade farewell to Monteriggioni

and moved on

working our way steadily towards our goal – Siena, the end of this section of the Via. The S-cape app described today’s walk as short, easy and unencumbered by any “road houses”, i.e. coffee stops. It was wrong on two of the three counts: our total distance for the day was 24.5km (only Day 1 was longer) and there were actually a couple of rest stops along the way, one of which was delightful (see later).

As before, the going was varied – some tarmac, some dirt road and some tracks.

There were stretches where balletic leaps across muddy patches were required, or where the going underfoot was pretty rocky.

Muddiness and rocks were, however, no barrier for some of the lunatic fringe who came past us.

The Powers That Be clearly wanted to make sure that we stayed on track;

there are no fewer than five waymarks in this picture.

We passed a reference to the Camino de Santiago

a helpful household’s support for passing pilgrims

and some nice roadside shrines.

For much of the route, the countryside, while pleasant and rural, was otherwise unremarkable

though there were patches where poppies had taken over; at one point they almost seemed to form a river.

We took a rest in order to eat our hotel-provided sandwiches on a convenient bench overlooking a monument

which, its info board told us, was erected after the area, which had originally been a swamp, had been drained; the monument was a tribute to man’s ability to shape nature. The swamp might have been cleared, but the mosquitoes hadn’t noticed.

One falls to meditating on the long stretches of road when not much else is happening. I saw this sign

which had flashing lights and warned that there were pedestrians in the road, and wondered how the hell did they know we were there?

We passed another sign, this one telling us that there was a “punta ristoro” in a couple of kilometres, which, given the S-cape info, was unexpected. Between us and it were a couple of castles:

Castello della Chiocciola, the origins of which are possibly from the 14th century, but which certainly was mentioned in despatches in 1555 when it played a part in the battle which ended in the fall of Siena; and Castello di Villa, a medieval building which was apparently historically important for pilgrims on the Via Francigena. This takes its name from (or possibly gives it to) the local area, which has a few houses which look to have been recently spiffed up, a sort of village green to give you an idea of its personality

and – eventually – the “punto ristoro”, which describes itself as a punto sosta – a place of sustenance.

It’s a delightful place, offering all kinds of goodies – various foods including cakes, pastries, eggs and fruit – coffee or tea, and a place to sit and rest. No money is demanded; the place runs off donations, and has a very genial atmosphere.  There are many nice touches

and a lovely vegetable garden round the back.

Informal as it seemed, it did appear that the place also operated as a B&B; all slightly eccentric and utterly charming. Of course we took a break there.

Slightly further along, there was an Agriturismo place, Casalino 18, offering lunch-time wine-tasting, sandwiches and juices – another rest stop that had escaped the notice of S-cape.

Shortly after that, we apparently reached SIena!

Ah. No. Bugger. Still a few kilometres to go. We ploughed on. At least we only had a few kilometres to go; other destinations were much further away.

The pleasantly unvarying rural scenery gave way to a vista worth a photo

and… had we really reached Siena?

Sadly, not quite – still a couple of kilometres to go. That lovely view was basically the hill we then had to climb to get to the city proper.  But we did get there, walking through increasingly urban surroundings until we reached a very obvious entry point to the historic city.

This is the gate through which pilgrims traditionally enter the city. We were a bit tired and frazzled by this stage, so couldn’t quite be arsed to do this; but we did go through another walled archway

which, eagle-eyed readers will notice, sports the Medici coat of arms, and into the old city proper.

and eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, to our hotel,

the very elegant and slightly eccentric Hotel Chiusarelli. It’s a nice place, and we were courteously welcomed, but the way they’ve set the rooms out is odd, to say the least. Our room was no. 24, which was on the top floor (up 50 steps!). Caroline’s, no.35, was along a corridor and down some stairs. Our bags had arrived and (praise be!) been put in our rooms, and Lorenzo and Barbara on reception made sure that we could find our way through their mini labyrinth to our rooms.

Although the walk hadn’t been as arduous as those on some of the other days, we were still in need of a rest, and so it was a couple of hours later that we ventured out for a look at Siena – my first, as I’ve never been here before. We had hoped to get into the cathedral, the Duomo, but, sadly, had left it too late. By telling us that its closing time was 7pm, Google had traduced us – it closed at 5.30, so we had to make do with seeing it in its magnificant, city-dominating, setting

before taking a look at the baptistry

and the facade.

Opposite the Duomo is the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which has a breathtaking interior, with a stunning fresco behind the altar.

We also visited the main square of the city, the Campo di Siena

before heading back to the hotel for an evening meal in their restaurant. The food was excellent, but we discovered another eccentricity, in that they don’t serve spirits, so a G&T with the meal was not an option. However, it was a lovely meal and a chance for final conversation with Caroline before we bade her farewell; she has to travel home tomorrow, and even a friendship as deep as ours doesn’t extend to getting up at sparrow fart simply to say goodbye at 6.30am. (Stop Press: we have learned that she made it home in good order.)

We now have two whole days at leisure in Siena before we head off on the next segment of the Via. Our time includes a guided tour and we hope to get inside the Duomo, so, with good luck and a following tide I should be able to bring you more information about and photos of this splendid city. Stay tuned!