[walkingnatureworld]

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the first day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 20 kms from Quart in Aosta to Chatillon.



Watch the full video here:

Our first day of Via Francigena started quite late at 11am in the morning. Because before we stayed for several days in the campsite in Aosta and we got lazy and a bit disorganized as it happens always when you stop at one place for some time. We needed to have a break from our previous hike Tour de Mont Blanc to restore our powers. And so, it took time to gather all our things together and we hoped to get into the hiking routine back soon.

We decided to do the Via Francigena because we really wanted to explore more of Italy and also we needed some easier trail to take in between our challenging mountain hikes. And as it was passing very close to where we were at the moment we decided to go for it.

We planned to do some parts of this pilgrim trail and skip some bad stages on the car roads or in the cities if there would be any by taking public transport, the same as we did with the Camino. And doing it this way allows us to enjoy more natural beautiful places and take our time with it. We wanted to get to the Mediterranean seacoast then and do a Cinque Terre hiking that everyone recommends and say it is a must hike in Italy. After that we planned to continue the Via Francigena hiking in Tuscany that is also believed to be one of the most beautiful parts of this trail.

But let's get back to our day. It was expected to be very sunny and hot right from the start and it came true during the day. The air was very hot and stuffy too and it was hard to breathe. So we decided that we are going to start all our next days as early as possible and finish the trail till 12am. Also on the weather forecast it was said that it can be thunder storming later in the day but we knew that it was hard to predict so hoped to be at the place at that time.

So we planned to do around 20 kms from Quart in Aosta to Chatillon as we knew it is our golden mean when we don't feel too exhausted but at the same time accomplished.

The trail was going quite flat all the first part just passing through the villages and little towns. There were still a lot of big snowcapped mountains around us and the landscapes were quite dramatic. We couldn't get over of the beautiful Alps mountains that we got to discover recently and were happy to be around them still.

Most of the trail was going quite easy mostly on the pavement routes and sometimes on the dirt farm roads. The marking was quite good, only at first we lost the trail but then luckily found it. The marks were sticked to the metal city lights and it was better in the villages. But out of them we could always find other local trails marking that were going in the same direction so it was fine. Just sometimes we used GPS to be completely sure of the right path.

Along the way we saw lots of vineyards here and there as well as many gardens with lots of fruit growing in them. So we made a conclusion that the people there are very dedicated to their land and this kind of labor.

We surprisingly didn't meet any pilgrims or backpackers at all that day and we already were thinking of how unpopular this trail probably is but one case assured us that there are other people walking it. One señor when we passed close to his house in a small village called us and asked to leave a small note and put our names in his book for pilgrims. And there we saw the today's date and left note from some other people. So now we knew that this trail are doing other people too and probably we will meet them during the next days. Also we are sure that the pilgrim passport do exist just like in Camino we just don't care much about it. But to have it like a souvenir and for the memory purpose can be fine.

Closer to the end of the day the path started to go up and down more and swirl along the hills. We were already quite exhausted mostly from the heat and the sun so decided to take an easier and quicker route to the town Chatillon. The wind began to blow fiercely in our faces and we were battling hard with it the last couple of kms.

When we got to the town we were afraid that the rain can start any minute so we rushed to the supermarket to buy some fresh fruit and veggies as always. Then we had a little snack with focaccia bread and yogurts and left to search for some camp spot.

After wandering for some time we already saw that the area is not that easy with a steep mountains and hills and lots of private fields where it is always a good chance that somebody can disturb you. So we had nothing to do but to head to the camping site that was in 2 kms more from Chatillon in village Saint Vicent. It was called Paradise Camping and the name was promising to be very expensive. When we got close to it we noticed that it was very quiet and had no people at all. There was a mature couple that met us and said that the campsite is still closed until the end of the week and that it's not very well adapted to the tents. But as an exception he would let us stay for one night. That was really kind of him and we were so grateful that we found a place for tonight. So we set it all up quickly, had our dinner and went to sleep.

Do you enjoy hiking through the countryside and farmlands?

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the second day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 20 kms from the village Saint Vicent to the town Verres.

Watch the full video here:

We woke up at a quiet campsite that we found yesterday and we had it all to ourselves. Yesterday night there was a thunderstorm that disturbed our sleep quite a lot and so we couldn't felt asleep at time. Because of that we got up one hour later than we planned and started the day a bit late.

The start of the day was sunny and warm and was very similar to the previous one. The air was more fresh and cool after the rain and it was a great sensation.

We went down to the town Saint Vicent and bought two cherry ice creams to have something sweet after the breakfast. Only here in Italy we discovered the best ice cream in our life and what's more incredible easily available at any supermarket. The cherry flavor also was very new to us and we loved it.

After having this nice little sweet break we headed over to start the trail. All the first part of it was going nicely through the deep shadowed forest paths and we enjoyed it quite a lot as we knew it's not going to be forever. Everywhere we saw a lot of irrigation equipment that were streaming a big water flows over the fields and meadows. It was hard to get through them without getting wet but on such hot days it was fine and even refreshing. Also we noticed quite a lot of footsteps of the horse and thought to ourselves that maybe somebody does Via Francigena by horse even though it is a rare sight to see nowadays. Rather it was just a short walking path for somebody.

We were getting through a lot of wild cherry trees and fruit gardens full of nectarines and apricots that were very tempting to try. Suddenly we came across a cycling couple that we doing the Via Francigena by bike and were determined to go all the way to Rome. It was our first meeting with real pilgrims on the way.

Then when we were having a little break in the shadow we saw an incredible show. At first we thought that it was a wasp flying back and forth from the rock wall but then we realized that it was some kind of a fly camouflaged like a wasp. But what impressed us the most is that it was carrying little sticks and rocks to the little hole in the rocks and probably was building her nest this way. We have never thought that the insect like a fly can actually carry any objects. So it was unbelievable discovery to us and it was so special that we got to see it in person.

The trail was swirling between the fields and little villages with the rocky rooftops, the mountains were still all around us giving us a beautiful scenery to look at. We were walking in kind of a gorge between the mountains and the uphills and downhills were still there but not that much. The second day around we were seeing lots of old castles on top of the hills. It seemed like every village had a castle where lived a major or a king. It definetely made the trail more special to walk.

Because we started the day a bit earlier than yesterday and the climate was better to walk we were able to make 18 kms to the town Verres at around 14pm that wasn't bad at all. We got into the supermarket to do our usual shopping and had a little break at the bench in the town. The clouds were appearing on the sky and we heard the thunder somewhere up in the mountains. Suddenly it started to rain but it didn't last for long fortunately.

Today we knew that we are going to wild camp because there were no campsites around and we didn't want to take a bus to the nearest one in 13kms and skip part of the trail. So we got out of the town, crossed the river bridge and luckily found a spot very close to the trail in the little forest. It was quite secluded and in the shadows of the trees nobody could spot us from any road. There were many roads and even a highway close but that was a reality of these places very challenging for this kind of camping. The mountains were quite steep and rocky and all the flat space was usually taken for building and farming purposes unfortunately. So we got to this spot quite early at 18 pm, had a bit of a shower from our water container, had a little snack because we already had lunch not long ago and were good to go to sleep because tomorrow we wanted to start the day even earlier to walk in a more fresh weather conditions. So having done all that we called it a day and fell asleep.

What was the most beautiful castle you have ever visited?

[walkingnatureworld]

Watch the full video here:

In this post we are excited to share with you top 8 most beautiful one-day hikes that you can do in Dolomites and this way discover all the beauty of the region. Some of them are very popular destinations and some are less known. They are all wonderful, with a very picturesque scenery and are able to impress even an experienced hiker.

What are some of your favorite hikes to do in Dolomites?

[awilsondc]

Thanks for sharing!  The Dolomites are definitely a bucket list destination for me.  I hope I can go in the next few years!  Thanks for the stoke!

[walkingnatureworld]

[walkingnatureworld]

Hiking through medieval villages and castle Forte di Bard - Via Francigena in Italy from Arnad to Pont Saint Martin

It was the third day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 20 kms from the village Arnad to Pont Saint Martin.

Watch the full video here:

We had a very quiet and calm night in the secluded forest place that we found yesterday. Luckily nobody came up to disturb us and that because of the camp spot we chose was not possible to see even up close. We slept for 8 hours straight and with fresh powers were ready to hit the trail. It was very hot and kind of stuffy at night and we slept almost without any clothes and were not using sleeping bags.

Having had our breakfast and wrapped everything up we started the day at 8am that was one hour earlier than yesterday but we still could do better.

All the first part of the day we were walking along the fields and mostly on pavement car roads with no shadow. That was absolutely killing because the sunlight was very strong and hot. And even wearing a hat the sun was striking our heads badly.

We passed through the village of Arnad where we were met by lots of loose dogs, ate our ice cream to start the day as a tradition and went forward. We noticed that there were quite a lot of water machines that were selling natural and sparkling water for 5 cents/litre. That wasn't bad but considering that there are a lot of natural sources around it wasn't that necessary.

Then we crossed the old river bridge and the most boring part of the trail started. It was all on the car roads and along the fields close to the highway. The only thing that was saving the situation a bit were the incredible rocky mountains that were very close to us. But the heat wave was real so we rushed to the closest village Hone to take a break.

Already from a distance we saw a big castle Forte Di Bard situated on top of the hill. It looked a bit scary to be honest and more like a jail but apparently that's how it was built in medieval times. It was located on different levels and looked very massive. So we enjoyed the view of it for some time, took several shots and moved on.

We went through the village Bard and then met the steepest downhill of the day. The legs were already forgetting it after our Tour de Mont Blanc Hike. But it was quite short and then after walking along the side of a rocky mountain we got out to the old Roman route - part of which was conserved in its original state. It looked impressive with the huge rocks that was making a brick road and the cut part of the rock on the side. That was crazy to think how they were making it back then without any advance technologies we have now. The route itself was quite uneven though and we could not imagine someone's passing in his carriage or cart smoothly.

Then because of the extreme heat conditions we decided to take a shortcut route to the campsite where we planned to stop tonight as we already were too exhausted to continue walking under the sun. So we had to skip the Pont Saint Martin village entirely and walk along the rails of the train for some time. Unfortunately the supermarket was closed for afternoon break but we didn't really needed it that much so we continued on. We had another 5 kilometers to go and they weren't the most interesting going along the fast car roads.

So we did somewhat around 20 kilometers for that day when we got to the campsite. This area was still quite industrial but the camping itself turned out to be very good. It was quite spacious and green with lots of space for the tents to choose from. There was even a little swimming pool. The facilities were clean and new. The price was around 17 euros for the night and they were kind enough to even make us a little discount.
Later that evening it started to rain for a bit but then it stopped. The rest of the day we were making our plans for the next days to come considering how hot it was and what was the trail like…

In which situations you consider to skip some parts of the trail?

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the 4th day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 17 kms from the town Altopascio to Fucecchio.

Watch the full video here:

We spent the night wild camping in the little forest in the fields of Tuscany that turned out to be quite a calm place. It was raining during all day before and a bit that night but then it stopped in the early morning. We gathered all our things in the backpacks and were out on the field to have our breakfast that were the leftovers of the rice cooked from previous night.

We started the day at 9am and the sun was already up on the sky and quite hot.   The rain the day before helped to cool down the temperature and the ground a bit so we were enjoying the fresh wind all day long.

We were really unhappy to know that the first few kms of official Via Francigena trail were going on the fast car road which seemed almost a highway sometimes with the plenty of big trucks passing by. We thought that we skipped all the bad roads already by train but unfortunately it wasn't the case. And at first there wasn't even space for pedestrians to walk and it was really dangerous. Then there was a narrow sidewalk, which was much better, and we feel like it has to be on every difficult part like this.

We already learnt with the Camino so it wasn't a discovery for us that nowadays most of the long trails are like this. They're inevitably crossing the car roads and there are just parts of it that go on some old quiet forest paths away from the traffic. That's just the reality of it at least in Europe. And for us there's nothing wrong with taking public transport and skipping really bad parts as we like to discover the most natural places and don't want to waste time rubbing our soles on the pavement car roads.

Then the trail turned away from traffic and we appeared to be on the quiet and green forest path, which nowadays you see mostly in some fantasy movies and cartoons only. We even have spotted a baby hare that wasn't really afraid of us and was pasturing quietly eating the grass in front of us. Probably he was living in the dense bushes down the trail that we saw. Also there was some man on an old cart riding a horse which we don't really know was for some work or just entertainment. We met some half-ruined old bridge and many old rocks that were serving as signs of the road number and direction back in time.

We would have loved to continue walking solely on this path but after 1km we were out on some village car road again back to civilization. We filled out water bottles with a water from drinking fountain (which there were quite a lot of them around and the water was always good) and fortunately the trail turned back to the forest again.

This part was around 8 kms long and was a bit boring going very straight along the young pine trees that weren't giving much shadow at all. But it was so much better of course than the car roads so we were happy about it anyway. Also on the way we met some quite big pond with water lilies and some birds and fish living there. We had a little break there in the shadow having our snack and continued on.

We passed by the village Ponte a Cappiano where was located an old bridge over the river that served as a fortress at one time as well. From that point we started to see the typical Tuscany landscape that you would expect from seeing many photos on social media with the green hills and big masons on top of them, cyprus trees and yellow fields around them. That is mostly why the people are attracted to these places to see this unusual type of picture.

The trail continued going along the river very straight and easy. On one of the electric columns or poles we spotted some perfect circular nest and some big birds sitting there. From a far it looked like some monument and not alive but coming closer we saw that it was actually a stork staying on the guard and two baby storks sitting in the nest. The circular structure was so perfect because the metal base was man made probably knowing that the storks love nesting on such structures. We are sure that they would prefer an old dry tall tree in a natural environment but close to people nowadays, it was the only option for them. We were fascinated to see them as it was our first time and we were lucky to see them nesting. We would love to spend several days there observing their life if we could.

So we had our lunch there in the shadow on the field close to their nest and continued walking a bit more to the town Fucecchio that was located on top of the hill.

It was quite a big village with a huge hypermarket in it. It’s funny how you don't expect from such places to be that big and they kind of look as a countryside but the amount of traffic and huge supermarkets tell you the opposite.

So we bought some food for the next dinner and breakfast there and headed towards the fields to search for the camp spot.

There were no campsites around so we knew we were going to wild camp this night. We headed towards direction of the forest sign that we saw on our map and it was obvious that we have to go uphill.

So we wandered around the streets and private houses and had to turn away from the Via Francigena for around 3 kms. We were getting close to that forest and all we were seeing were the high metal gates with the private houses deep inside. Then we passed a bit further and hoped to find some place in the fields. And wandering around the area on every corner we stumbled upon the sign that the access is forbidden and it's a private property.  We didn't really know was it just for the cars or for people as well but we had no other option rather than just pass through the sign and go straight to the little forest between the fields. We were lucky to find some spot between the trees and not in the open field. So we stopped there and as it was already getting late and dark we didn't really had any dinner and went to sleep right away.

What do you think can be done to reduce the bad influence of the car roads on the old hiking trails?

[walkingnatureworld]

The access is forbidden to the fields of Tuscany, Italy?? - Day 5 of Via Francigena from Fucecchio to Calenzano


It was the 5th day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 18 kms from the town Fucecchio to the village Calenzano.

Watch the full video here:

That night was really disturbing partly because we had a fear of somebody's chasing us away partly because there were a lot of noises coming from the nearest car roads, dogs barking everywhere and even some loud music from the discos. Also we heard the shot guns of probably some hunters and it was really scary and strange that they were hunting at night. Not to say that the thought of who they were hunting for was terryfing as well because we were seeing lots of baby hares recently and it just breaks our heart thinking about it. Later in the day we saw many plastic from the patrons left on the fields and sides of the road and it made us think that hunters could be wandering everywhere. Meeting them in the middle of the night would not be a pleasant encounter it added up to our other fears.

So we had a really bad sleep and were feeling broken apart right from the start of the day. We didn't even stayed at the place to cook the breakfast. We got out on the other small path and set up for cooking there in the shadow. The sun was shining really bright from the very early morning and we knew it's going to be a hot day.

We had our mix of buckwheat, rice, aubergines and fresh tomatoes with salad for the breakfast and by the time we finished it - it was already around 9am. We knew that it is too late but had no other option but to get on the trail.

First, we had to get back on the official trail of the Via Francigena and for that we had to do another 3 kms. When we got there the trail continued to be quite boring going along the fast car roads (at least not on it) and it was all in the direct sunlight between the fields.

We passed through little villages and houses and saw that there is a big supermarket in front of us. As we knew that we are not going to meet any later in the day we wanted to do some of our usual shopping like fruit and veggies. And also it was a good opportunity to take a break. So we bought as always the focaccia in a style of pizza margherita and some ice cream to have a good snack. We spend around an hour sitting on the bench in the shadow and it was a nice middle day break for us.

We did quite a bit of uphill in order to get to the village San Maniato which was located right on the hill and had some old fortress and towers at the side of it. Getting there wasn't enjoyable at all walking on the same road with the cars that didn't seem to care about any speed rules and it was the reality of all hiking that day unfortunately. And the weird thing was that we weren't meeting any other hikers on any trail and at any time of the day not even one day hikers or walkers, only several cyclists a day. It felt like we were being the only ones or the first people walking this route. And everybody else was just driving their cars. That was our observation but we think it was very close to the truth seeing as much traffic on every little and secondary road we walked on. That was a really sad fact to us and we still hoped that in the next days some Italians will prove us wrong. Because at that moment it seemed like nobody was caring about hiking or even walking.

So we did another 9 or 10 kms on the car roads without having many exciting views on the way. And we were feeling just an extreme heat striking our heads and sweat dropping down from everywhere. We felt like there was not enough sources of water neither for such hot conditions we were in.

Only at the end of the day the trail turned away from the car road on a dirt gravel road. Not on a forest path as we wished ideally but still promising to be much calmer. Without wandering for too long feeling very exhausted we found a place on the field on the side of the road close to the little forest. It seemed to be a place for hunting as we saw some built structures for observation on there. Also there was a closed on a chain dirt road probably used by hunters but we hoped they were not going to come that night. It was 18pm and as we already had no more powers to search any longer especially seeing the hilly terrain around we decided to stay at that place. We were feeling very sweaty and sticky so we had a bit of a shower under the sky from our water container and it was the best feeling ever. We right away felt more refreshed and were able to change our dirty T-shirts. So we took our time setting up a tent and cooking dinner and we were good to just rest there till night. We were hoping to get a better sleep that night around and with a desire to wake up earlier we went to bed at 22pm.


In what area did you face the most struggle wild camping?

[walkingnatureworld]

You can watch the full video here:

In this video we want to share with you why don't we film on a point and shoot camera and prefer to film on digital camcorder and action camera instead. We feel like it may be interesting for many people as it offers a new point of view on filming in general. As we found that the most popular option that people tend to stick with are point and shoot cameras nowadays. So if you are interested in the topic stay tuned as we are about to share our arguments and test in the field in order to compare the different types of cameras.


What is your preferred camera type and why?

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the 6th day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 20 kms from Calenzano to the town Gambassi Terme.

Watch the full video here:

We had a very quiet and calm night in the fields of Tuscany, it was our 3rd night wild camping and it was the most quiet. Also because we were at the place several hours before the dusk it helped us to rest better.

Feeling refreshed and energized having had our breakfast we were out on the trail. We planned to do 17 kms to the next major village Gambassi Terme that day and we saw on the map that the route was going through the small paths and little villages and were really hoping that the day would be much more interesting and beautiful than previous ones.

We started the day at around 8am and hoped that it would help us to escape the hottest time of the day. The weather that day was really helping us with the sun in the haze of small clouds and some fresh wind coming from North West side was cooling down the body.

The trail from the start was passing through the little forests and the fields and had quite a lot of shadow that we enjoyed a lot. Major agriculture grown in these places were the olive trees and vineyards so they were dominating the landscape together with the moved fields of bright yellow color because of the strong sunlight. Among the fields were located many farmsteads or manor houses that were called hamlets but in reality looked like they were all a private property of one person or family. They all had different names and it was probably like that starting from the old times.

On the way we met quite a lot of signs with directions of Via Francigena and others and we noticed that they became better and appeared more often than the days before. Also we met that day the most amount of pilgrims probably 3 hikers and 5 cyclists and maybe it was a coincidence but we think that is because this area is quite popular. And arguably the most popular of all parts on the way. Also there were quite a lot of picnic tables and benches on the way which was nice as well.

Out of interesting things we met that day was the first aid emergency kit box at one point and the 2019 pilgrim book where everyone could leave their little note. We did it as well and saw that quite a lot of people walking this trail in winter which was probably a wise decision because of how hot the weather conditions were here in summer.

Then the trail began to go under the sun more often and as the sun was getting up on the sky it made it harder to walk. The difficulty of the trail wasn't challenging at all, having quite a lot of small uphills and downhills that were easy to do. And it would be even easier if it wasn't that hot. Fortunately there were lots of drinking water fountains like every 3 kms or so on the way where we could always wash our faces and have a fresh cold water to fill in the bottles with. But in such heat we wished there had been even more of them.

We had a little break in the shadow of the cyprus tree close to some of the houses and noticed that these trees weren't giving too much of a good shadow so they were probably mostly used for the decoration purposes and the form they look.

So we can consider that day a first authentic day of the Toscana trail when we had a joy to walk on the calm dirt roads away from the traffic and enjoy the typical landscapes. We hoped that the next several days would be similar to that day.

All the last part around 3 kms to the village of Gambassi Terme we had to walk along the car road again unfortunately. But at least there was a sidewalk for pedestrians so it wasn't that dangerous to walk.

At the entrance of the town we had a break in the shadow of the olive tree close to 12th century old church because we didn't want to walk under the middle day heat and also had to wait for the supermarket to open so it was very much at a good time.

Then we went to the supermarket to do our usual everyday shopping for some fruit, cereals and veggies and we were out in a search for a camp spot for tonight. We hoped that we won't have to wander too far away from the Via and would find it quite fast so that we have time to just chill out.

In the end we had to walk along Via Francigena around 3 kms more because at first all we saw were the vineyards and the olive tree fields. And these ones we wanted to avoid because we knew that the chances we got disturbed there are high as most of the works are done there. We found a spot on the mowed field near the forest and hoped to have a good rest there. So with the thoughts of the new upcoming day and what new beautiful landscapes it may bring to us we went to sleep.



What is your favorite old trail you ever walked?

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the 7th day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 15 kms from Gambassi Terme to the town San Gimignano.


Watch the full video here:

We had another quiet night in the Toscanian fields between the vineyards and the only thing that we heard were the sounds of some deers from the closest little forest. But they didn't really approached us and we haven't seen them close.

We had our delicious oats for breakfast and were good to start the trail. We knew that this is going to be a shorter day because we wanted to stop at the nearest campsite - first that we met in several days and it was in 15kms.

The sun was striking our heads starting from the early morning and we were super hot doing the first uphill for the day. Overall we saw that the relief started to be more hilly and the mountains looked higher so it may be more challenging trail to walk in the next days.

All day long we continued to enjoy the views of the beautiful Toscana fields with plenty of vineyards and olive trees and cute houses on top of the hills.

First part of the trail was going mostly uphill and was on a quiet dirt car road. But the second half coming closer to San Gimignano it started to go on a pavement car road again with little to no shadow. And these parts we hated the most - the mix of hot weather, no shadow, uphill and the car road was always killing for us.

On the way there were quite a lot of backpackers hiking the second day around but we didn't really know were they doing a long way or just several day hiking.

When we were getting closer to San Gimignano we saw the unusual picture of the old village. It was all sandy colours made of rock and had several high towers around it. When we got closer and entered it we realized that it probably was a fortified medieval town back then with a rock wall surrounding all the village. Then in the Internet we learnt that this village was one of the best conserved medieval towns in the whole Italy and maybe even Europe. And the towers that were a specialty of this village were built by the wealthy people at that time and it was kind of a competition between them. Probably because of that the streets of the village were very crowded with tourists and tourist guides and it was full of artisanal, souvenir shops and art galleries. We didn't like the fact that it was so busy, so probably visiting it out of the high season would be a better idea.

We saw that there was a supermarket close to the village so we headed there to buy some pizza and ice cream to have a snack. We had a nice break in the shadow in the local park eating the delicacies of Italy and then went out in the direction of the campsite.

Campsite was situated in 2 kms from the town and it was all downhill so it was easy to get to fortunately. We were happy that we had a short day today because the heat was absolutely killing and almost with no wind it was super extreme conditions.

So we checked in to the campsite that of course wasn't cheap at all as every place in the high season. But at least it was nicely situated on the side of the hill a bit far from the car road and had a special flattened spots for the tents. Also close to it there were swimming pool, tennis court, football pitch and a picnic area with playground. But we weren't really interested about any of that. We just wanted to have some rest for more hours than we normally get at night. And we felt it to be quite unfair to the backpackers and any people really who don't want or don't plan to use these facilities but they are still included in price.

So we had a really nice rest there on a secluded pitch under the oak tree eating watermelon and cherries and just chilling out in the horizontal position. It was a nice easy day for us and we were excited about the next days and hoped they will be beautiful and not very hot.


What is your favorite old town or village?

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the 8th day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 17 kms from the town San Gimignano to Quartaia.

Watch the full video here:

We met another sunny morning in Tuscany this time at the campsite Boschetto Di Piema. We had a bit disturbing night with the dogs that were barking all night. But overall we liked the location of the campsite and the view from it right on the town San Gimignano.

Yesterday we were curious to learn more information about this old medieval town and it turned out that in this town of seven towers how they call it were filmed some movies. In one of them called “Miracles can happen only once” of 1951 was starring one of our favorite actors Jean Mare. So we went ahead and watched it as we feel it to be very special while you're still at the place. It turned out to be a great romantic picture with some food for thought. So we added another favorite movie to our collection.

As it often happens when we are staying at the campsite we tend to leave it late in the morning and this time wasn't an exception. We left it only at 9am partly also because we didn't sleep very well that night. The sun was already up and another hot day was expecting us.

The first several kilometers when we left the camping were going through the vineyards and little farm houses and was climbing mostly uphill. We were afraid that we would not have any shadow to hide in all day but fortunately that wasn't the case.

We accidentally wandered away from the Via Francigena and did extra kilometer uphill because we were distracted by filming the words. There are quite a lot of crossroads on the way so it always better to pay attention to the signs. We didn't mind that extra 2 kms much because we got another great viewpoint of the town San Gimignano and also met wonderful colorful bird at the side of the vineyards.

During the first half of the way we met several pilgrims walking by us and one Korean guy even stopped us to ask some questions. He was really worried about where to stop that night and how much of a distance he should make. He spoke a bad English so we couldn't understand the problem much but we got that it was about accommodation. Unfortunately, we couldn't help him because we didn't know much about hostels on the way. But we understood that he was saying the price for the dormitory room was 20 euros. And that was really a shock to us already thinking that campsites are charging way too much with 30 euros so now we knew that it wasn't the limit. Then for the two beds in the dormitory room we would pay 40 euros and that's not the prices pilgrim should accept in our opinion. That was one of the reasons why we are always carrying our tent with us apart from the fact that we like having our own little space - it was always giving us the freedom of where to stay and how many kilometers to do a day. And we simply couldn't imagine how terrible it would be worrying about the reservations and places to stay every single night and thinking about it all day long would take all the joy out of hiking for us. So we felt grateful another time for having our tent with us.

So after some kilometers of walking in the sun the forest path started and we've been on it almost all day long. And it felt great and refreshing and very special too because it happens so rarely nowadays to find real authentic forest paths. On this kind of routes, it would be possible to walk even on the hottest of days and the majority of the routes should go like this. To us it always the most enjoyable of all the hike parts. The amount of the oak trees was astonishing here, by how big and high they were we could assume that they were at least 150 years old. It was a miracle that there are still places where they are conserved and we could only imagine how magical it was thousands of years ago when there has been even bigger and denser forest. That would be absolutely fantastic to go back in time and to walk in such forest.

So basically all day long the trail was going in the forest paths more or less dense and just sometimes was coming out to the fields. We started to see some sunflower fields that day apart from the olive trees and vineyards.

So we crossed only one car road and one village called Quartaia and when the time was getting closer to 15pm we felt like it was about time to start searching for the camp spot. Fortunately, we had enough food so we didn't have to search for any supermarket and just collected some water from a drinking fountain in the village and were good to go.

We were hoping to find some secluded field along the way and it wasn't as easy as we thought because there were many sunflower fields where it wasn't possible to camp at all. Luckily we spotted some clearing among these fields and found an open field partly mowed with some ploughed part of the ground. It wasn't perfect at all with the uneven terrain and the slope but at least we didn't have to worry about anybody's disturbing us at night because it wasn't seen from the road apart from the tractor which we hoped wasn't going to work here that day. So we did rest there all the left hours of daylight, had a small shower with just fresh water to rinse the sweat and cooked our dinner. So being happy that we escaped the middle day heat today and had more hours to just rest we ended this beautiful forest day.


What is the oldest tree you have ever seen?

[walkingnatureworld]

You can watch the full review here:

In this video I am going to make a review of my new backpack Forclaz Trek 100 Easy Fit 70 L from Decathlon. I bought it just recently to replace my old backpack Forclaz Travel 500 that was not satisfying my needs anymore. I chose to buy the 70L one because the 50L in this particular model didn’t seem enough for me looking at the dimensions (it is a bit narrower and higher). I have tested the backpack doing several day hikes in the region and I feel like it is in many things similar to my previous backpack and so I can share my opinion about it right away.


What kind of backpack do you use?

[walkingnatureworld]

It was the 9th day of Via Francigena trail when we hiked around 20 kms from the village Quartaia to Monteriggioni.

Watch the full video here:

That night we didn't sleep very well because of some deers coming to visit us at night and also the sounds they were making. So we felt sleepy all day long then. But fortunately no people had disturbed us there.

At that campsite in the field we have found some curious things - lots and lots of shells big and small ones, some of them were just lying on the ground some built and engraved into rocks. It almost felt like we are at the bottom of the ocean and it was astonishing how well they were conserved after millions of years or maybe it wasn't so long ago who knows. Nowhere before we haven’t seen so many shells even at the ocean side. That was a wonderful discovery about which we wanted to learn more. So we took one little shell with us as a souvenir of this unusual place and went out on the trail.

The first part was going  through the beautiful oak forest again and we have been enjoying it thoroughly. The weather forecast was promising 37 degrees Celsius for that day and we really hoped that the trail would be as shadowy as possible.

Unfortunately to us after we walked out of the town Gracciano de Elsa the trail started to go more in the sun and through the open fields which was killingly hot. And all that day the weather and the sunny trail weren't merciful to us at all striking our heads from above. We suffered again from the lack of water sources on the trail and didn't understand why it was so difficult to make more of the tap water faucets along the way. And sometimes we had to even walk away an extra 800m or km which was unacceptable in such heat.

So this way we got to the village Strove and then to Abbadia Isola having little to no shadow at all. There were lots of vineyards and just empty fields with the rolls of hay on it on the sides of the trail. Also we met quite a lot of pilgrims with backpacks again and we knew that probably all the way to Rome it would be like that as it is a popular part.

Abbadia Isola was an old Monastery with the small rocky buildings and streets and the place itself was very little. There seemed to be an albergue as well but we of course continued forward because as always we planned to wild camp that night.

Then we had to go through quite a steep uphill that fortunately was partly in the forest, partly in the fields. And in the end the way to the castle de Monteriggioni got even steeper and rockier.

At first we thought that it was a usual village but it actually was an old castle that had a rock wall around it and everything was in quite a good condition. It had a small village inside of it consisting of 2 streets, one square and a church. It turned out to be another touristic attraction with a lot of people and lots of small shops and restaurants in it selling ridiculously expensive staff and food. And unfortunately we were unable to find any fresh fruit or veggies in it and the closest supermarket was in 2 kms - that was too far. We just bought two ice creams in the local bar there and that was all. We ate our snack under the olive tree and went out of the castle. We honestly hate this type of places with the crowds of tourists and nothing for the regular people. They could have been nice and cute villages with a lot of history but this fact just turns us away from them.

So we went out of the village, walked a bit more uphill and felt like it was about time to start searching for the camp spot. Because further on the trail we saw that there will be lots of car roads and usually these are not good places to find a camping spot. It was around 14pm and the heat was very strong. We stopped at the water fountain to collect fresh water, wash all the upper body and to wetten our T-Shirts. And it was one of the best feelings ever but unfortunately all clothes were dry in the matter of seconds.

We stretched a bit further along the way on the forest path and have seen no possible camp spots at first with the dense forest on the sides of the trail. Then we turned away from the Via to check out some dirt road going in the forest and there we found a surprisingly flat spot on the meadow between the trees. It wasn’t seen from the road which was the most important and there were no houses close. There was quite a lot of trash laying around which we have no idea how it ended up there, so we had to clean it up a bit. It was still too early to set up a tent so we just put our mats under the shadow of a tree and had been resting there for some time. Even there in the shadow we were really hot and it was hard to breathe.

Then we had our little shower, very modest dinner because we had no vegetables or fruit to freshen it up and went early to sleep. Because we knew that the next day we had to do another 16 kms to the town Siena and the day would be the same hot so we wanted to get up real early and start the day as early as possible.


What was the most astonishing discovery you had on the trail?