Day 9 Gambassi Terme to San Gimignano

348 kms to Rome
13.4 kms walked today
184.7 kms walked so far
I think fatigue has caught up with me.
This morning I seemed to have no energy. We had a very short day and it should have been a breeze. My ten blisters did not help. I have decided to retain my personal physician for the rest of the trip.
San Gimignano is a pleasure to visit. Car are banned from the old town and there are many little alleyways on either side of the main two thoroughfares​.
I'll let the photos tell the story.

Still smiling

Day 8 San Miniato to Gambassi Terme

372 kms to Rome
23.6 kms today
171.3 kms walked so far.

We left at about 8 on a day with no bars for 20kms and a maximum of 32.
The rolling hills of Tuscany are very beautiful, when you aren't overheated and trudging uphill.

It is all about shade. You cross cross roads to be in shade. We picnic'd next to a dam under the only shade for miles (sorry kilometres*1.6) and listened to the chorus of green frogs.

The last 6 kms to Gambassi Terme are up hill. At -4 we drank our last water.
At -3 the Pizza Restaurant was "closed on Mondays"
At -2 we sat in the shade of a telegraph pole for a breather
At - 1 the petrol station was unstaffed, self service at the bouser with a credit card for fuel only.
100 metres before our B&B we found a bar. Two litres of water, two magnums and 45 minutes later we set off for our B&B

Day 7 Lucca to San Miniato

386.7 kms to Rome
15 kms walked today
147.7 walked so far
If you looked on maps you would see that this can't be walked in one day day ( except by Oxfam veterans of course).
The answer is that we needed one more day than we had and so we caught a taxi the 30 odd Kilometers to Ponte Cappiano for the start of our walk to San Miniato.
This was a good move as we were still exhausted from our walk to Lucca and a short day, missing flat semi rural land cross crossed with motorways, was just the trick.
The walk from Ponte Cappiano was peaceful and interesting. At first we walked along irrigation canal embankments and through farmland.
They grow wheat or barley, corn, grapes and olives. We then walked through San Miniato Basso (at the base of) an affluent suburb with stone and wrought iron gates and fences and everything tiled. Italians love tiles!!!

San Miniato

Perched on the top of a ridge, this town has amazing views over the Tuscan countryside.
It is also excessively busy and noisy.
Cars roar along the narrow streets and the stone walls reverberate the noise.
Some pictures

Town squares

Day 6 Pietrasanta to Lucca

452kms to Rome
33 kms today
132.7 walked so far.
We walked this yesterday. I couldn't write this post last night for two reasons.
I was too tired
I had no adjectives (or expletives) as I had used OMG and wow.
I have new admiration and astonishment for anyone ( like you Chris M) who has walked the 100kms Oxfam walk. The 33kms we walked yesterday nearly killed us. It was over 30C for the last 10kms and we were just trudging on autopilot (our minds had gone).
We planned ahead. We started walking at 6.30 and bought breakfast at 9kms. We shouted a Nigerian to a ham and cheese pane instead of buying any of his various knick knacks. Every town has a new type of tinker, Africans selling lighters, balls, umbrellas, tissues, bum bags, selfie sticks and pegs. This one came by boat via Libya leaving his family behind. He spoke local languages, Italian and very good English.

From there we went down hill metaphorically and up hill actually.
As the day go hotter we stopped sooner and sooner.
13.9kms was a bar at the apex of our climb c~300m.
19.6 a bar answering the call of nature.
At 24.1 in desperation we sat against a car park wall giving shade and ate our oranges.
In desperation at 28 .6 we packed ourselves on stools in a Gellatissimo and ate???? Very cool and nice they were.
We then just had to put our heads down for 4.4 kms to our room in the old town of Lucca.
The picture is our rather nice way to recover. Better than an ice bath.

I waited a day so I could honestly say

Still smiling

Feet, heat and the urge to cheat

The hardest two things about walking a long way is not your two legs.
Even someone as banged up as me, (with reconstructed limbs x2) can take it one step at a time. After you have done that 30000 times you have probably earnt 🍺, beef, brocolli and bed. The biggest b of all however is blisters, the bain of all bipedal beings.
They struck today and I (Ross) did not cope well. The heat didn't help either as days are now reaching high twenties.
Tomorrow we need to walk 32 Kms and so our plan includes
Two compeeds for my worst blisters
Plasters for minor ones.
A six thirty start with breakfast at a patisserie that Google says we will find ( open) at 8.4kms.
We will buy half our water along the way. That stuff sure is heavy.