Total Distance Walked: 20.9 km
The morning showed remnants of the storm on the horizon, and a beautiful sunrise. I enjoyed a great breakfast at the guest house then walked down the street to meet the WCW.
Our plan was to walk along the Elsa River – we had read that it is a beautiful walk with turquoise waters and small waterfalls. We exited the walled hamlet and three of us walked down the stairs to the new town area. Dagmar’s ankle was giving her some grief (from a recent injury) so she and Pat took the elevator down and we were to meet them in the town below. It took a little while, but we eventually found each other!
We got a little turned around trying to find the river path and a local tried to explain it to us (in Italian). Eventually, we found it and started walking along the river. From the torrential rains from last night, the river was flowing fast, and high. When we got to the first river crossing, we watched the young women that we met the day before going across. Normally there are big flat rocks that you walk across, but they were submerged in the flowing, muddy river. The “youngsters” had taken their shoes off and were gingerly stepping across. Considering they were probably 35 or 40 years younger that our group and there were 1 or 2 more river crossings after this one, we made a team decision to backtrack to the alternate route that would take us through the city of Colle. I am convinced that was the right choice. We had another view of the river from a bridge as we exited the city. There were no turquoise waters on this day!
After leaving the town of Colle, we passed by a site of ancient thermal baths from Etruscan-Roman times. Although someone had taken a dip, we passed on that experience. It was a serene area. Not sure what the critter was, but he was enjoying the warm water!
The hike today took us through hills, woods and meadows and through the small town of Strove (pop. 84) where we stopped for a rest. Soon we could see the hilltop town of Monteriggionni (and yes another hill to get to the town!).
Of course, climbing the steep hill to Monteriggioni meant having a gelato before my walking partners were driven to Siena where they would take a rest day. After checking in to the lovely B&B (called Rooms and Wine), I had some lunch, explored the town and then had the complimentary glass of wine at the organic wine store owned by the B&B.
Later I bought a ticket to walk the walls and enjoy a lovely sunset. Like other towns, by 6 pm most of the visitors had left which made it very pleasant to enjoy the views. Another wander around the streets, then I settled in for a restful sleep.
