This morning we woke up to mist! As we had stayed in an apartment we had no breakfast included which meant we could start earlier today.
We had to leave our luggage in the same small shop as yesterday which we did at 8 am on our way out for our trek towards Acquapendente.
Just past the town gate as we were leaving Radicofani we had a wonderful spirit lifting start to the day with 2 x delicious Americanos and 2 x massive fresh chocolate croissants for just 5 euros in total. This was in cosy Bar Enoteca La Stella.
We had a long steep decline for the first 10 km today which, as mentioned in our guide book* took us through one of the wildest, most solitary sections of the Via.
*The Via Francigena by Roberta Ferraris
The 10 km followed the ancient Via Cassia and was like the above picture for much of the way. It was a shallow decline and was a wide and easy track to follow with just the occasional vehicle passing.
After about 20 minutes we had some light rain but after that the fog gradually began to lift revealing dramatic harsher landscape which was quite different to the neat olive groves and cultivated fields of previous days.
Then the sun started to appear… on and off… however we didn’t mind and enjoyed the cooler and more refreshing temperatures this morning.
Monte Amiata is a cone shaped volcanic mountain which was still covered in mist. Part of the Tuscan Apennines, Monte Amiata is 1738 m high.
The long road continues…
We walked past a farm as the sun began to shine.
The 10 km descent and ancient Via Cassia ended at Ponte a Rigo.
Upon reaching Ponte a Rigo, next to this church and opposite the below sign was a covered pilgrim bench. We stopped for a rest and a snack and shared this with a couple of young German lads. Then fellow pilgrim Richard from Sheffield turned up (who we met previously a couple of days ago in Torrenieri).
Unfortunately there was no coffee shop at 10 km as Russell’s guidebook had suggested 😕
We next walked for a bit adjacent to a main road, walking along the edge of a muddy field before we crossed the road to some woods.
Just before Centeno village we left Tuscany and entered the Lazio region of Italy.
Our guidebook mentioned the next section for about 8 km to be dangerous as you have to walk along the busy main road with no pavement and suggests you take a bus or taxi to the end of this stage at Acquapendente.
But first we were delighted to come across a fabulous restaurant where we had a lovely and unexpected proper meal!
We highly recommend La Dogana with its open fire oven as we had a delicious lunch in there.
Chris and I pretty much had the same dinner as last night but as the menu was mostly meat we both had more pasta! And a half litre jug of house red for just 5 euros.
Feeling happy and full and not keen on chancing our luck with lorries along a busy road for the final stretch Chris and I took a taxi while Roza and Russell decided to walk. We had already walked for 10+ miles in total so not a bad effort for the day!
We called and booked the taxi from a number on the door of La Dalgana and for 30 euros (a rip off really for such a short distance) we were delivered to our accommodation in Acquapendente.
We shared the taxi with a friendly fellow pilgrim from New Zealand who was hiking from San Miniato to Rome.
We were staying in twin rooms above a pizzeria tonight. We arrived at around 2 pm and met the friendly reception lady who checked us in. Il Borgo was set up by 5 women who had been friends for many years and now manage both the accommodation and the pizzeria.
The town hall was literally round the corner from our accommodation and we popped in where I was able to obtain an Acquapendente stamp for my pilgrim passport.
We followed that by sharing a beer in the Piazza Girolamo Fabrizio, sitting in the sun opposite the town hall.
We met up with Russell & Roza later in the evening and we all had pizza in our Il Borgo accommodation pizzeria restaurant. Our bill was 26 euros per couple for a massive pizza each and 2 glasses of delicious house wine each. Bargain!
We ended the evening with lemoncello shots followed by amaro shots in nearby Mr Monkey Bar with its upside down Christmas tree!
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