After Buonconvento, I reconnected with my fellow pilgrims at the ostello of the Collegiata dei Santi Quirico e Giulitta in the town of San Quirico. Sitting all along a wall waiting for the ostello to open were: Anna from Belgium, who I first met in the road coming from Altopascio, the three friends Sergio, Caterina, and Paolo, who I first met in Altopascio, Stefano, with whom I walked into San Miniato. Another young man (early twenties), Filippo, who I met at Suor Genetta's in Siena was also resting and waiting. I joined them in relaxing in the shade as four Scouts, two older (maybe) early college age scouts, Alessandro and Elena, were leading two high school age scouts, Greta and Marta, along the Via Francigena from Siena to Rome; I had met them before and knew that they were bound for the same place today.
The ospitaliera came around 4:00 and opened the door to let us in, to show us where everything is, to put a stamp on our credentials and to tell us the rules for the ostello. After seeing the kitchen there, it was unanimous - we decided to cook and eat together that night. Good food, good wine, too quickly spoken Italian for either Anna or myself to keep up - although the Flemish in Belgium have an great ability with language with her being fluent in five languages and quickly picking up Italian now, I think she might have understood a bit more.
There was one dark thing looming over the evening: Radicofani. This was the last stage listed as "molto impegnativa" or "highly strenuous" - 32.3 kilometers of which the last half were all uphill ending in a steep climb to the historical tower of Radicofani. It did seem daunting. Some wanted to split the stage in half, but could not find any reasonable places to stay at the halfway point, some wanted to do the whole stage, some wanted to come off of the route and visit the Bagni San Filippo - a hot springs bath that was somewhat of a tourist sight. Either way the people that made up this group that traveled through most of Tuscana together were now going separate ways. The day before, I was had images that this group could stay together and enter Rome together on the last day. Some things were not meant to be. Anna needed a day of rest, Stefano was still deciding, but I think went with Sergio, Caterina, and Paolo to camp out and split the stage. The Scouts were up for Radicofani, but one of the girls had to take the bus the next day.
I decided to take an alternate route to the halfway point of Gallina, which everyone else also wisely took, and wait to decide at Gallina according to how I felt - continue walking or take a bus to Radicofani.
I walked out of San Quirico alone.
By the time I reached Gallina it didn't seem bad at all - onward to Radicofani! At Gallina I met up with Filippo who also decided to forge onward. He moved on ahead while I stayed for another five minutes of rest at the caffe in Gallina.
From the caffe there was the official marked path of the Via Francigena that went up a steep climb at first. There was also the option of taking the highway with fast Italian drivers whizzing by you. I decided for the climb and as I was climbing I asked myself why I took this path when the highway looked so easy. The path made a sudden turn as it leveled off at a set of two house - it might have been a B&B of some sort. I asked the woman who was near the first building if you could see the tower from this place. She showed me; it looked ominously far away. But then she said that it was about 15 km and to take it slowly: "piano, piano." The man coming out of the door tried to explain to me in Italian that there are white stones marked VF that are place about every 500m. A young woman with an espresso in hand explained in English the nuances I could pick up to understand fully. The first woman showed me where a water fountain was located and I gladly drank and refilled. So this was the good reason why I took this path when the highway seemed so easy.
I met up again with Filippo later and we walked together for the rest of the way to Radicofani.
At some point in our conversation as we passed by some houses along side the road in a small town, he had asked my my age. Just as we did I pointed to the building to our left which had the address "53" on it. I stopped short - maybe a bit over dramatically - and pointed with my walking stick to the address number at eye level and said, "that is my age." Filippo thought it to be quite the event, but I just thought it to be a coincidence. Perhaps not a coincidence in the sense that while on pilgrimage we tend to see things we don't see otherwise, observe things that otherwise would have escaped our attentions. Maybe Filippo was right.
Because of the curves and altitude changes in the road, sometime you could see the tower and sometimes not. I joked that the tower never seemed to get closer - like chasing a rainbow - and Filippo joked that the tower kept mystically disappearing and reappearing
Eventually it did seem closer but we both needed a break. We had both bought panini for he road while in Gallina and decided that the next spot of shade we would rest our backpacks and eat. After we said that, the shade seemed to disappear; we couldn't find any shade to sit and take lunch until about 5 km from the tower. We even had to go off the road a bit into another road to sit in the shade of some trees. We finally ate our sandwiches/heroes (neither describes it, panini is just panini) and I shared the two oranges and two plums that I bought along in my backpack.
The last few kilometers were steep, even after the long uphill from Gallina. But we made it.
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