I had planned today to be a short stage, 15km, so I could spend the morning in Siena exploring. However, the best laid plans don’t always pan out. One thing was that it rained non stop until ca. 3pm. But much worse I had been up twice during the night, bringing up whatever it was my stomach didn’t like and everything else that happened to be in my stomach. This morning I was totally drained. Knowing there was a day ahead, I managed a yoghurt and some dry bread for breakfast.
As I plan ahead, illness can have a serious impact, and I think that if today’s walk was any more than 15km, this could have been the end of this trip or missed kilometers – not part of the plan when wanting to walk each and every kilometer between Sagres and Rome.
I set off at 10 o’clock, an umbrella enough to keep the fairly light rain at bay. The few people out and about were all carrying umbrellas as I walked through the narrow streets of Siena. I passed the psychiatric hospital and the town gate, before a steep decline into the suburbs.
I was soon in the countryside, the rain was not getting any worse. I passed a stylish hotel, just as I was overtaken by a slick Italian, covered from head to toe in rainproof jacket, trousers, gaiters and shoes. His pack was also waterproof, no need for a cover. It didn’t look as if the rain was even hitting him.
It was slow progress and the rain started picking up, so I stopped in the semi shelter of a building and put my cape on. I continued and within less than 200m the rain turned torrential. There was no shelter and I needed to get my rain trousers on. I stood next to a garage under a tree, a bit of shelter, but not a lot. If anything the rain got worse as I battled with all my stuff. I stood and watched the rain for at least 15 minutes. I was feeling sorry for myself, wet, sore feet, stomach churning and no end to the rain in sight. I was really questioning why I was doing this – Rome was still ca. 300km away, and it felt far away.
When the rain lightened, I set off again. There was the occasional nice view, partially covered in low lying cloud. Not least there was a great view back to Siena – in great weather, very photogenic, today, covered in cloud.
There were also many kilometers along a path next to the SP2 road, with absolutely nothing at all to see. I passed through Isola d’Arbia in two minds whether to stop or not, as it happened there wasn’t anywhere to stop for a drink. So instead I took another break in a bus shelter waving to the bus driver that he didn’t need to stop for me. The rain, had turned into a drizzle.
With some renewed strength, I continued. There was still about 5km to go. At 2pm I made it to Ponte a Tressa, where according to Google Maps, there was supposed to be a laundromat. I almost missed it, but it was open and I was alone. It was a nice rest for an hour. Usually one puts coins in the machines, but here 1€ coins weren’t accepted and I had to exchange them for tokens. Not thinking I pulled out 10€, and got 10 tokens in return. I used 6 on the wash and 2 on the dry, and of course couldn’t exchange the unused tokens back. So now I have two tokens, which I should have left there – but didn’t think about until later.
Still a couple of kilometers from where I was staying, at least the rain had now stopped. Still tired, I walked to my hotel in Cuna. Reaching my room at around 4.15, I noticed the poster in my room – “We grow when things are hard”. Fitting after getting through today. I lay on the bed and fell asleep until my wife called at 6.15. After chatting with her I showered and decided to go to the restaurant next door. I had a squash tart followed by ravioli – accompanied by two cola’s! What a waste. The food was excellent – the best I have had on this trip.
I was beginning to feel better, probably helped by food in my stomach. I was back in my room by 8 o’clock, in bed by 8.30 and I slept to just shy of 7.30 the next morning. I can only be thankful that I only had to walk 15km!