4-13-10 Montalcino via Buonconvento to Monteroni d' Arbia (day 9)

Today was tough in a diff way. I had insomnia last night... ..my mood was off, the real thing is that I was tired ... then I had to also deal with heavier car traffic that seemed a little dangerous and unnerved me today... luckly I did find the alternate route...but it took a while to get to that point.
it started as a rainy foggy day..much like my very first day..maybe more fog..it was that fine drizzle that has this ability to saturate everything.. this time my pack was covered correctly my rain coat is more a wind breaker since it does not really water proof completely but also it's the kind of wetness that dries quick if your moving and the day lightens which it did...

The first part was steep down hill which I walked very slowly … the first 8kms were slow slow..and not on main road..the town Buonconvento seemed to take for ever in arriving..the man at hotel had made it seem like 7kms but I think it was more like 9 or actually 10-11 once I got into the town proper..i had to walk on busy highways again... I think for at least a few km's I dont remember clearly now... oh yeah that is right ..the road was really winding with lots of blind spots and mercilessly fast traffic... I had to keep changing the sides ...it was bad...also the map showed this section as straighter than it appeared and I still some how doubt myself, as far as going right way, even though the off road trail had lots more room for error and I did not get lost on that even though the markings were non-exsistant...anyway lunch at Buonconvento, sweet little hippster restaurant ...though dude got me gnocchi with pork in it.. I dug it out and ate it anyway...artichoke side dish and white bean side dish amazing...the girl gave me a little piece of cake as well, free..at the end they all did bad math but it got sorted..

the sun came out and it was a bit humid.. so I had walked three hours, it was ten when I left, lunch around one..and back walking on the road... the town looked like it had a quaint old section, it was all flat here...i took a few photos from outside and went past...-waring interests... am I walking or am I exploring old towns.. right now it's one or other as far as time and energy...for now I decided that walking is the more important... so I had to now walk on highway 2 and hated hated it... cars not very kind..i felt more unsafe than previous times..

around Arbia-something-or-other(there were two subtowns with the same name in it as the main town)... out of desparation... even though I saw no clear signs and I knew I was past where the trail start was suppose to be … I saw in the distance what looked like railroad tracks along which the trail was suppose to go.. I followed this road to farm road and found my trail..mostly tractor grooves sometimes hard to walk on... I had to take breaks every hour and would have loved to have taken a nap..but the sanity of not walking along the highway was blessing.. and I was in walking past freshly plowed fields so a slightly different land scape... and today other than the morning down hill no other hills! But I felt foot sore and tired and running out of water.. I did not plug in today(my ipod)... finally by fivish I had to get back on the road and deal with on-coming traffic.. I got feeling a little emotional about it...fortunatly I found a hotel right at the begining of the Monterroni d'Arbia.. the peeps running were sweet (a family with little ones running around)... and I lay and rested for over an hour after my shower... then, downstairs to retreave my passport and find out about a place I could get food. The man wanted money right away cuz he might not be there in morning... no probs, I got receipt in case i needed to proof it to who ever was on the counter the next day..... then he actually insisted after i inquired about places to eat.. that he drive me to a pizzaria  about I km down the road at first i felt like it was too nice, but i am glad i took the offer..it started pouring rain, like nothing i've had to walk in yet....., I got pizza slices, water, ice tea, beer........ I was wondering if I was cheating by being in a car...but it's not like it got me any closer to Sienna so I am sure I am still pure...then german tv again... and dinnerin my room and laundry ...bed.. oh the tv had a german version of 'America's most wanted' ...interesting to see what kind of crimes they show and how it is covered. .. there was a case of a murdered prostitute and i could tell by the way they talked about the case, that she was alotted more humanity than perhaps at home where there is the sense that people in sex industry still have less human worth than other murders. at least the way its covered in the media..