First things first, George is a rockstar! Today was a tough day and I too, was getting my butt kicked. Woke up to blue skies, song birds singing and the temperature was perfect. Slight breeze and all started out fabulous. Before I get to the final ascent, let’s just say the last couple of hours were mighty tough.

I think we both have adjusted to the time change. Last night George fell asleep while we were sitting in the lobby. He was wiped. When he started snoring, I made him go to the room. Yes there were people socializing and he was cutting some ZZZ’s. No protest and off he went.

This morning we started with a great breakfast and I even packed my leftovers for the trail. We had to find our way back to the Camino and by 9am, we were back with our bubble. There’s a group of 15-20 who are within our space all day.

Funny we have not met a single American, but People from England, Ireland, Australia, Denmark, lots of Germans and a handful of Italians. They are all about the same age as George and I, mid 20’s and 30’s! Yeah right. Honestly, they appear to be retired for the most part close to 60’s and 70’s. There are a handful of kids around 20 something possibly hiking with their parents.

The trail was ideal today. After the catchup miles to get back on track, we mostly were traveling on dirt, rocky cobblestone or old roads with some grassy areas, which George was not too keen to. Some grumbling about his knee hurting. I was tickled pink since this is my cup of tea. More dirt splattered with a little, not a lot, of mud, makes me happy and glee.

The scenery was spectacular with rural villages and small towns along the way. Each town we stopped in had a typical bar with one woman working behind the counter. She was the barista, the sandwich maker, the orange juice squeezer and pilgrim stamper! When a local stopped by for a caffe, they always went first and the pilgrims waited. Seems only fair in small town Tuscany.

The first 10-12 miles went smoothly. We stopped a few times, refilled our water bottles and stopped at the pharmacy for salt tablets. We are depleted from sweating so much, that George thought some powdery substance had jumped on his shirt. Nope, it was just excess salt that stained his smartwool tee. We grabbed some more electrolytes and off we went. The gang caught up in no time flat, and it appeared we were all headed to the same spot, San Miniato. it’s a fortified city on top of the hill and was used to keep the hoodlums out! Like me and George!

We all stopped in Poine a Cappiano for lunch. And when I say all of us, it was every pilgrim that we’ve met on trail. After inundated the one woman barista, we sat outside and talked of the upcoming section. Still another 8 plus miles and a climb up the big mountain.

The gang left together and followed the canal for what seemed like eternity. It was a grassy knoll in the midst of farmlands and hunting grounds. We heard what sounded like duck shot next to the trail but no one was concerned. Finally we arrived to one of the final stops Fucchio, a town that sits up on a hill with nice shops and lots of churches.

George and I grabbed some water, refilled our bottles and carried on. For close to an hour or more, we saw no one. I began to believe that they all bailed and took a bus to our final destination. With 3 miles to go, and a hill to climb, I suggested getting our music out and tuning out the rest of the world. This was our saving grace and gave us mindless pain.

As we came to our final mile or so, the gang showed up. Nope, they didn’t take the bus and were ready for the final push. I took the most direct path which sent us straight up the mountain. George shared with me that this is where people have heart attacks, and never make it. Really? Well there were many markers along the way which I thought were just that, markers. But now that he said that, they could be tombstones! Hopefully not.

We climbed and climbed and climbed and when we thought we were at the top, we had to climb some more. It wasn’t until 6pm before we finally made it to our apartment. Thank goodness, because if George didn’t have a heart attack, I sure was close. We opened the door and as usually, I was in the shower first. How am I going to make it on the CDT without a shower for a week? This is all making me rethink my next hiatus!

Once showered and cleaned, we made our way to the one horse town. I’m not sure how many people live here but for a Friday night, it was 80% pilgrims with a few locals sprinkled in. After gelato, we had dinner. Meatballs and spaghetti and Caprese Salad. That was it. We both were tired so back to the room we went, and hitting the bed early tonight. Well maybe 10pm is about as early as it gets. Tomorrow is gonna be a long waterless stretch so we need to regroup for that.