Day 3: Consuma to Stia

 September 3, 2022

10.5 miles

1600 ft of elevation gain

An update on the woman who flew past us on the trail…she stayed at the same hotel as us, so when she walked by me this in the hotel, I stopped her and asked her if she speaks English. She’s German, but does speak English, so we chatted a bit and she joined us for dinner last night. She told us that she had three brain surgeries in 2015, and after the third one, she lost the ability to speak. She had to relearn how to talk in German, and then went on to relearn English. Physically, she was fine and since she had to retire early due to her tumor, she started walking these caminos.

We walked through forest today, which was pretty, but I missed the vistas of the countryside. Mid morning, it started to rain, so we walked in rain, with our ponchos on for the rest of the day. 

We arrived wet and tired in the town of Stia, at our hotel, B&B La Guardia. I think the hotel was full because our room is actually a small apartment down the street from the main hotel. As we walked there, we passed a small market and realized we had to grab something quickly to eat since it was 12:50, and everything shuts down at 1:00 until 4:00, in this country. Takes some getting used to. 

Enrique taped my feet this morning because yesterday I felt like I might be getting blisters. They felt much better today and I’m getting used to the heavy backpack. On the first day, I had difficulty maintaining my balance with it on, and was swaying side to side, as if I had too much vino. But I’m much more stable with it now.

I’ve always wanted to visit Tuscany, but never imagined it would be on foot like this. The landscape is amazing and by spending the night in these small towns, we are getting to know the Italian culture up close.