Tag: photography
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Via Francigena Miles Add Up
Day 7 Oh my gosh, that was a long day! What did we do wrong? When we left San Gimignano we were prepared for a 14-mile day with 2,358 feet of ascent, a bigger/longer day than we like. By the time we finally dragged through the gates of Monteriggioni 8 1/2 hours later, it was…
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Via Francigena – Time Out
Day 6 Today we slept in! Our room in San Gimignano is clean, comfy and mostly quiet. The first order of business was to pick up our laundry. Reg found Lavanderia Viola, a laundry where he dropped off our bag of trail-dusty clothing yesterday when we arrived in town. Today, after breakfast we picked up…
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Via Francigena – Up & Down, Up & Down
Day 4 We anticipated a long day (15 miles) with lots of climbing (2300 feet) as we made our way to our next stop in Gambassi Terme. After a stretch of road walking the path took a turn onto a dirt track, plunging us into to the quintessential Tuscany countryside. We followed along, up and…
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Via Francigena Easter Sunday
Day 3 Our day was a success. We found morning coffee and food. Had a mostly uneventful walk, had time to explore at the end of the day and somehow made dinner reservations with our bad Italian and their not so great English.
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Via Francigena Tests Our Readiness
Day 1 Rain ushered us out of Lucca Friday morning. The guidebook mapped out a city walk for today, but also suggested an alternate, rural (muddy) route with some climbing. We chose the easy, flat city trek for the first day out. This was probably the right choice given how tired our legs and backs…
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Our Via Francigena Begins
The journey gets real. We arrived in Lucca, Italy today where our Via Francigena begins on Friday – tomorrow.With help from an incredible taxi driver (he refused to leave us stranded), we left luggage at the appointed spot, a dingy bicycle shop attached to a car park garage, where the Friday pick-up driver will transfer…
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Via Francigena Prewalk
After three plane flights, a train ride and a 25-minute walk to our Bed & Breakfast, we arrived in Florence, Italy for a two night recuperation stay. Several months ago I stumbled upon a blog post by the Jetsetting Fools featuring a free walking tour in Florence. Perfecto! I stashed it in our Italy email…
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Local Publicity Appreciated
Many thanks to Ashland’s local online news source Ashland.news and to Lee Juillerat for his excellent review of Reg’s latest book Hoofin’ It On The John Muir Trail. Book review: Hiking book author approaches writing step by step-by-step March 16, 2025 Reg Spittle’s wife, Sue, talked him into hiking Spain’s Camino de Santiago and taking…
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Trapped On Cape Blanco
Our plan was to take a Sunday drive from our Cape Blanco State Park campsite, north to the coastal town of Bandon, for a breakfast out treat. Mother Nature had other ideas. Our expectation was a small patch of water covering a short stretch of road. We led the way while another guest, hoping to…
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