20-Sept

So far, I've only been walking in cities. While I'm definitely putting the miles on (still averaging 12-15 miles a day in town), it's not what I intended primarily for this trip. A light conflict in scheduling between groups yesterday resulted in my having some free time (as if I don't already have this, hmm) and I found myself walking into the hills for a nice perspective over the town of Florence. As happens on these walks of mine, I reached certain points of review:
1) Do I have enough time to keep going? Yes.
2) I'm about to head off my map. Still good? Yep.
3) I've passed over a couple ridges and don't know if this road goes anywhere. Continue? Sure.

Times like this are how my wanderings develop. I ended up walking about 4 miles out of the town, up and into the hills. I passed along winding roads so thin (1.2m wide) that cars would have to wait for me to get to a doorway and step in so they could continue driving. Sides of the road alternated between high stone walls protecting the vast properties from onlookers and iron fencing allowing views of the valleys and ridges. I passed through olive and prune orchards. I passed the kind old Italian man, wearing an apron and sweeping the dirt off his portion of the street, who called out a sweet "Buena sera" to me. I have a few more days in town, but it got me excited for what comes next. This is the walk I came here for.