The end of the road

 Stage 48: Formello to Rome (36.47 km)

The home stretch. In the outskirts of Rome I have to take one last detour because someone build a fence where my path was supposed to go. 

Which - fun fact - brings the total distance to exactly 1609 km. 1000 miles even.

Other than that it is easy walking along bike paths until the very last kilometers before the Vatican.

And then, just like that, it is done.

And yes, the 10 Euros they charge for a Heineken on the roof terrace of my hotel are worth it.

Where is everyone?

Stage 45: Viterbo to Sutri (32.65 km)

A totally uneventful day. Sutri is a super small village where apparently everyone is either out-of-town or stays home. The room is decent. 

Because of Corona

Stage 44: Ponte a Rigo to Bolsena (33.01 km)

Nice resting place right next to by place for the night. A shop would have been even nicer...

So it is mostly flatt hiking on empty roads. It is Sunday after all.

Passing from Tuscany over to the Lazio reagion; on to the final stretch.

A modern take on a resting place for pilgrims (no joke) ...

I can see lake Bolsena from a distance...

 

shortly before I meet the first pilgrims on this trip. First a women from Switzerland, then we pick up an older Gentlemen from Strasbourg. Later I pass an other couple but talking to two persons is enough for one day.  

I spent most of the evening at a totally crowded gas-station become disco/bar/place-to-be where about half of the town are hanging out, getting rapidly drunk while singing along to everything from 80s Italo-pop to Metallica and (I kid you not!) Nina Hagen. The funniest night on the whole trip! The lady selling the drinks has a very solid explanation for the whole thing: "Please excuse us. Everyone here has become crazy. Because of Corona." 

Do I feel lucky?

 Stage 43: Gallina to Ponte a Rigo (24.10 km)

So there is basically 2 paths today. Steep hills to the left, 35 km total. Steep hills to the right, 35km total.

And a tunnel in the middle. 25 km. Do I feel lucky?

I do. I am. The tunnel is short, no traffic...

.. and I avoided hining up there :-)

However, the stage ends in the middle of nowhere, the shop and bar that is supposed to be near my room is closed (and by the looks of it has been for some time) and after a strangely long discussion my landlord agrees to bring me a pot of hot water for some porridge (but not the water heater!).

Anyhow, overall a beautiful day and I have a restful evening.

Scenery only

 Stage 42: Buinconvento to Gallina (32.43 km)

A cloudy, nothing interesting but the scenery day. So enjoy the views.

The Borg

 Stage 41: Sienna to Buonconvento (32.06 km)

Sienna is dead early in the morning.

So is most of Tuscany, making it is a beautiful, quiet, hilly hike.

Fall is quite visible here.

Looking back at Sienna.

Today has another highlight for me. Il Borgo. Quite famous sausage and meat (and rightfully so). I buy some cured sausages and bread for a late breakfast and some meat for dinner.

So with a full stomach I hike through rolling hills..

and some scenery right from the Witcher.

Buonconvento even has a public drinking water fountain, awesome.

It takes me about 30 minutes and the help of the waitress of a bearby bar to locate the landlord of my aprtment, which is in the back of a totally unmarked residential building. The apartment itself is super cute though and features a kitchen with a large pan to fry my pork chops. Happy Stefan :-)

Sienna the beautiful

 Stage 40: Poggiobonsi to Sienna (36.24 km)

rails2trails, katzenzucht, abkürzung my ass, sitzplatz, sienna, touristenshopping, zimmer mit blick

Rails to trails, my favorite concept :-)

The trail is flat, quiet and beautiful

But someone apparently decided to have an outdoor black-cat farm. Weird.

Somehow I don't feel to strong today, but as usual, places for resting are just where I need them.

After a short interlude through impaasable woods (unreliable map) I pass by Borgo Stomennano, unfortunately too late for lunch.

But today that matters not, because I reach Sienna in the early afternoon and Sienna itself is worth any journey.

 

Any my balcony is priceless, all 5 square feet of it

Tuskan Fall

Stage 39: San Miniato to Poggiobonsi (39.00 km)

The sun is back.

Sonne zurück, Indian Summer

It is beautiful. 

Indian summer in Tuscanny

It is getting touristy

 Stage 38: Capannori to San Miniato (34.79 km)

From the beginning of today's hike I am thinking "it's going to start raining any minute now". 

But somehow I manage to stay one step ahead of the rain until early afternoon.

I sit out an hour of rain at a large supermarket, have a surprisingly good pizza and then a short steep hike up to San Miniato for an early ending. 

This also marks my first day in Tuscany and it starts getting touristy. 

In a different world

Stage 37: Lido di Camaiore to Capannori (36.23 km)

I leave the beach and head towards the mountain range that I need to cross westwards towards Lucca.

A proper mountain pass (although not very high) in Italy of cause features some madonna to pray to...

the rest of the day is easy hiking until I reach Lucca. There I realize that the reason the area is completely booked is not the long weekend but the Lucca Comic & Games, the largest European Comic festival. So the town is overrun with drunk adults playing dress-up. Funny enough, that might actually be my cup of tea on a different day, but not today. Today it just p***es me off that I have spend the night in a mediocre bed&no breakfast for 150+$. 

Screw capitalism

Stage 35: Fiumaretta di Ameglia to Lido di Camaiore (28.91 km)

In my mind, I would be walking along the beach promenade see the ocean the whole day and be happy.

In reality I walked along a busy road (the beach promenade) and looked at closed building, gates, fences and hedges. But no ocean. 95% of the beachfront property here is concessioned for private beaches, which - since it is off season - are all closed and boarded up. A disgrace. At least the mountains to the other side offer nice views.

The stage is not too long, nevertheless I can't seem to find a rhythm. It is time for a break.

So I find a decent hotel (actually it is a shabby hotel, but it is mostly empty and) with a balcony overlooking the beach and sea.

Due to a public holiday on Monday, this apparently is long-weekend-travel season here. Hotels around Lucca are obscenely expensive, so I decide to stay here for 2 full days before continuing on Sunday.