The hills are alive with weary pilgrims… the trails they have walked for a thousand years… the hills fill my heart with the sights of Tuscany… my heart wants to smile every step I take…

Gambassi Terme to San Gimignano – Friday September 28th – 9.5 Miles in 5:30 hours and we climbed a total of 1491 feet.Today we walked with Diana from New Mexico. She’s here celebrating her 60th birthday year.

12 years ago we spent 60 days in Italy for Bill’s 60th birthday. It was a remarkable trip and we covered lots of ground via the train and automobile. We’ve been back a few times. Never in a million years would we have thought we’d be walking through Italy now. What a treat.There’s many more pilgrims on the trail since Lucca. Some are going to Sienna and the others are going to Rome. On the Camino de Santiago everyone greeted each other with the phrase Buen Camino – here we just say Boungiorno.Below is a picture of must which is left over skins, seeds, and stems of grapes used to make balsamic vinegar.Vineyards and farmland.The scenery is constantly changing.We climbed to the stunning and heavily tourist filled town of San Gimignano – a medieval hill town and UNESCO World Heritage site. Known as the town of fine towers. Imposing on the inside. Marvelously massive on the outside.Rooms are expensive and almost all of the hotels were full. We happened upon an apartment called Nacci Duccio. They had three super clean rooms with private baths and flowered toilet paper. We had the whole place to ourselves. Perfect!We had a romantic dinner for five overlooking Tuscany. It was magical!

Roxanne’s blog and photos:

walking out of Gambassi TermeWalked to the town known for it’s tower houses, San Gimignano. Tanking upAgain Paige’s sewing skills saves the day!  With pink thread and a needle, she repaired the holes in a pilgrim’s shoe. Teresa at the Vella della Certosa Bed and Breakfast explained that Italians like to sing their words so they pronounce every vowel in a word.