11. In appreciation of Sigeric the Serious

San Quirico d’Orcia to Castiglione d’Orcia

The keen eyed among you may have noticed that both our town of arrival and departure have the same name endings. That is because they are both in the Val d’Orcia, a valley of such beauty and abundance it seems a bit unfair to the rest of the planet. UNESCO has agreed and it is recognised for both its natural beauty and the quality of its wines. What I like about is that I had no idea it existed until now so it is wonderful surprise after wonderful surprise.

Today was a short day as we have three really big ones coming up. Raw Travel very kindly split the big stages to make them more digestible. Today should be all the way to Radicofani 35 km but we are breaking it at Castiglione d’Orcia, so that tomorrow will just be 25km. The rain is coming so the easy time we have had in glorious sunshine is about to end.

As it was a shorter walk we could stop for coffee en route and we did so at a beautiful little spa town called Bagno Vignoni. The photo at the top of the page looks down over the little town above. We had intended to try out the thermal baths until we heard they were 49 degrees C!

There is quite a climb up to the town of Castiglione d’Orcia as it was an important line of defence and its castle/ fortress is an impressive landmark which has 360 degree views that stretch forever. The town itself is tiny, medieval and beautifully restored. Being Monday most things were closed but we did find a rather wonderful Enotica (wine bar) where we had a fabulous Tuscan bean soup and a glass of another local white wine varietal called Vermentira. Recommend.

You may be pleased, after my reflections yesterday, that today was epiphany free and I was more focused on Sigeric the Serious. A reminder - he was the Archbishop of Canterbury and had to make a pilgrimage to Rome to receive his pallium from the Pope. I found myself trying to imagine what it was like when he did this journey in 990. My understanding is that he was on horseback, but it would still have been astonishingly challenging. The full account of his return journey with the 79 stops and the 23 or so churches he visited is preserved in full. I discovered today that he is even more interesting than I thought as he was also the person who advised Ethelred the Unready to pay off the invading Danes/Vikings and that kept them at bay for a period of time. Sigeric the Serious also paid the Vikings at a later date, shortly before his death in 994, to not burn down Canterbury Cathedral. Thank you Sigeric. I do like the descriptors, and I wonder if the ‘serious’ or the ‘unready’ was something they carried in life or if it was added historically. I also wonder if you have a right of appeal if you want to change yours. The loss of this tradition is our loss I feel! What would you be?

I will leave you with a photo taken today of Castiglione d’Orcia from the top of the Rocca di Tenntenano looking down on the old and new town. We are in a delightful BnB in the old town looking across to the tower.

Wish us luck and little rain tomorrow. I’m sorry my blogs have got a little behind - I had a lot if trouble with the internet for a couple of days. I’m pleased so many of you noticed.

love Marie