Montecchio - Monteriggioni - Siena 21 + 20 km, 14th and 15th of October

The appartment Peter and me had in Montecchio was absolutely fabulously situated with a patio and a breathtaking view over the valley towards San Gimignano in the far distance. It was pure magic with all the shades of green and blue and unfortunately the photo's don't give enough credit to what we're really seeing. On our way to Monteriggioni we came through a medieval village called Colle Valle d'Elsa. It consisted of this typically long, narrow and climbing street with old high houses on both sides. There were no people and no cars to be seen at all and it was like walking through a ghost town. At  the top there was a steep descend to a more modern part of the place and here there was a big market where of course all the people were. After Valle d'Elsa we walked for 3 km through a park along the beautiful river Fiume d'Elsa with blueish melting water and the cool water was so inviting that both of us jumped into the river in our Adam costume. Luckily there were few passers-by. 

Monteriggioni, which as the name implies is sitting atop a "mountain" or rather a hill. It is like a fort surrounded by a high wall with towers around a small square and some restaurents and that's about it. Very picturesque and importantly no cars! Little did we know that the next morning some 800 Italian cyclists would start exactly from that Piazza for a 150 km long cross country race 🥴. It was almost impossible to get through the crowd with all the bikes and us with the back packs. We were pushed off the road several times on the paths to Siena by these "crazy" Italians. 

Siena is of course a very old place and especially the large shell like Piazza del Campo is famous for its shape and the surrounding buildings and Palace. A meeting place in town with people sitting on the paved surface to relax and take it all in. 

Tomorrow a rest day before the remaining 225 km to Rome.