Out the door by 7:30 trying to beat the rain forecast for the afternoon. The cloud cover kept the temperature down in the 70s, but walking nearly all of the day in the open still made it warm. Vineyards were all around and so were places for wine tasting as I passed through the Montalcino Area (only a mile from Montalcino, famous for its world-renowned Brunello di Montalcino wine). I tasted some of the Sangiovese grapes waiting to be picked to become Brunello wine—VERY sweet, almost like raisins.
At the 7-mile mark I spotted my lunch break point—all downhill for another mile. Lots of pellegrinos had the same idea. I met one in particular from Utah, a fellow APOC pilgrim, Kathy, who has a near 2K following on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@kbhothothot?si=G57ucGT9kfz2Osfb The picture includes Kathy who interviewed me regarding my long walk from the Ukraine-Polish border to Santiago.
The insalada mista was the first I’ve had on this journey with tuna and egg—ever so grateful since I didn’t venture out for dinner in the rain.
The last five or six miles had some serious hills and, in particular, the last mile came with the long promised rain that made finding my hotel with Google Maps a real challenge—smartphone screens don’t like wet fingers.
