Day 3 - Monteriggioni to Siena

Coffees: 2, Gelati: 1, Wine: 1/4 litre
Actual Distance Walked: 18.2km, Actual Time Taken: 5h 34m
Planned Distance: 18.2km, Planned Time: 6h 30m (I'm getting the hang of things now!)

Weather much better for walking today, mid-twenties and overcast plus a glorious, blessed breeze.  Met up with another (English) pair walking this route today - a father and daughter.  Tried to avoid walking with them but couldn't do so without being rude.  Turned out it wasn't a problem as father was one of those rare males who is willing to read instructions so we didn't go astray once.

Today was Sunday so the locals where either going to church or, if male, heading out with dogs and a shotgun to shoot at things.  Saw and heard many attempts to kill the local wildlife but didn't see any evidence of success.  I assume they enjoyed themselves anyway.  Can't imagine what use it is to shoot pigeons and the like with a shotgun.  Surely all that would be left, assuming they managed to hit something, would be a mess of bloody feathers.

Have started taking photos of all the different Via Francigena signs I've seen along the way.  I've seen at least 6 types so far, many pointing in contradictory directions.  Not too surprising really.  Sigeric's original "route" was mainly a list of the towns he stopped in along the way.  Most of the roads/paths/tracks he would have followed would have been ancient Roman roads.  Since the Romans knew a thing or two about building roads, many of them are now major highways.  This means there are many different modern day walking routes linking the towns on Sigeric's path.  Today's route was not too bad, except for the last 3-4km into Siena which were along roads - some of which were busy.  Glad it was a Sunday and not a weekday.  Not looking forward to the exit from Siena tomorrow.

I've been religiously stretching my calves, hamstrings, quads, glutes and hip flexors so aside from some mild stiffness in these muscles first thing in the morning, they are all OK.  That means the only one I haven't been stretching, the muscles in my shins, are killing me.  Trying to buy the Italian equivalent of Tiger Balm from a pharmacy was an educational experience for both the non-English speaking pharmacist as well as myself.  I succeeded (I think).  I'm pretty sure what I purchased is for external application.

I had dinner at the Grotta del Gallo Nero, which serves medieval-style cuisine, as well as standard Tuscan fare, using recipes researched by students at the University of Siena.  I had originally planned to have the medieval degustation menu but wimped out at the last minute - just too spicy (nutmeg, cinnamon and the like), too sweet and just too much food for me.  Instead, I ordered the "traditional" Sienese peasant menu - assuming that peasant was fat and rich.  It was based on goose, and had goose in every course (except dessert).  I had assumed you got a choice from the dishes listed for each course but instead you got the lot!  I'm feeling just a tad full right now.

To start with I had an antipasto platter which contained 2 pieces of bruschetta (tomato on one, liver paste on the other), 2 slices stuffed goose neck with pesto (didn't think pesto was Tuscan) and a spelt salad with pear and pecorino.  This was followed by chickpea soup made from goose stock with more pecorino. The pasta dish was pici with a minced goose meat sauce.  Main was roast goose with roast potatoes (someone needs to teach them about other vegetables).  The goose meat was dark and rich but a little dry.  Dessert was lemon cake stuffed with ricotta and pinenuts.

Burp.