All is good in our world. We were up and out before 7:30am which is amazing for us. Granite we had no breakfast waiting for us. We just packed up, went down our seven flights of stairs, and headed out to the streets of Siena. All we needed to do is find the South Gate to Roma and we’d be on our way.

I am so impressed with the street cleaners in Europe. Whether you are in Portugal, Spain or Italy, they are up at the crack of dawn picking up trash, spraying down the streets and making everything look pristine every single day! No back up alarms like my trash trucks at home. Just nice quiet fairy’s taking care of business before the rest of world wakes up.

I saw something interesting this morning- Dog walkers. All the owners had their four-legged friends out doing their business. They are super conscientious about picking up poop, but what I’ve never seen before was after the dog went wee, they had a squirt bottle of water that they would dilute the urine with. Not just one dog owner, but every single one! I never gave it thought but I could only imagine what the city would smell like if they didn’t do that. I applaud all the dog owners of Italy. Bravo!

We found a Bar, aka Cafe and had our morning fix, Cappuccino with Cornetto’ also known as a croissant. We sat like civilized Pilgrims and watched each person come in. Not a single tourist among the patrons but us. Well then, I believe I was in the right place.

The day was fairly easy. Today we left the winery region of Tuscany and entered the farmlands of wheat, rye and alfalfa. This is such a great time of the year to visit being everything, and I mean all of it, is so green! We headed up and over many of the private farms and before long we were in larger than life farmlands. Waves of grain being blown in the wind, almost like a symphony of wheat stalks. It was quite beautiful to see. Much like the waves crashing on the beach, the waves of grain flutter in the wind, back and forth in a chaotic but rather organized manner.

The guidebook told us we wouldn’t have any services or towns nearby and they were right. We saw a handful of Pilgrims but no one we recognized. Many have already left as they only intended to walk to Siena and others we’ve lost with our slower pace. As we always say on the trail, HYOH “Hike Your Own Hike” and we are certainly doing that now.

After debating how I planned to accommodate my hubby, the stages are now much more doable. We saw many more bikers, pack bikers, roadies and just guys out for a morning ride. Italians are quite fit. Age doesn’t seem to deter them and the EBike craze is starting to show up here too. But what I don’t see are kids riding bikes or scooters or anything of the sorts. They walk or some of the young adults ride Vespas. But most walk. It’s quite refreshing, not having to jump out of the way of some lunatic blowing past you at 40mph on some two-wheeler. Now I sound like an old lady yelling at the kids to get off my lawn! Sorry.

We did some minimal hill climbing today, small ups and downs, and we did manage to make it to a cell tower. Once on top of the last hill, we could see our town below. It was early still and I kept my promise to get us into town at a much more reasonable time.

We walked through the residential area. No one was out. Must be working or at school. I finally navigated us to a SuperMercado, their version of a Walmart. Picked up some provisions for the next day or so and by 2pm, we had arrived!

Now that’s more like it. We offloaded our worldly possessions and in the shower I went. Washed my hair, and within a few minutes, George was fast asleep. First nap he’s taken since we got here. I have certainly done my job. He slept and I planned out the next couple of days. Life is good and I’m redeemed.

So just in case you were wondering, what’s for dinner tonight? I can tell you it’s not going to be pizza or pasta! As we went down to the Bar, the Maitre D’ was placing the 30 kilos of Long-Horned Cattle who gave up his life for us, in the display case. Sorry, to my one vegetarian friend who may read my blog. Beef is what’s for dinner tonight!

I had to add to the posting today because this is too good to pass up. We have had some great dinners on this trip. But hands down, our dinner tonight goes into the history books! Best Beef Ever!

Started with some cheesy soufflé that George nor I knew we had ordered, but the cute waitress assured us that we had. And so we ate it. Then we drank 1/2 bottle of Sangiovese while we waited for the side of beef to be cooked, to perfection I must add. When they wheeled it out, I about fell off my chair. That is the biggest piece of meat I have ever laid by eyes on. It was already d-boned it, sliced and was presented on a platter fit for a King.

George, King RoadWalker Walksalot made sure to get a piece from the good side! We learned this from our friend Curt when us girls took the small side of the T-bone steak, leaving the big portion for the men. Oops, I guess there are better sides of beef. Curt, both sides melted in our mouth! To finish it off, we had a shot of Amaro Del Vecchio Tuscano, a local liqueur that was made for a night like tonight.

So now I must ask, how does one go to sleep and attempt to walk tomorrow? Great question. We will write about that another day. Buona Notte…