A walk with R and S

Last year, in the month of May, I had a lovely walk along track number 37 of CAI from Montegonzi to Moncioni. I went on this walk by myself, with the only company of a picnic and my camera. The track is quite beautiful, passing through the lovely hamlet of Poggio alle Monache, vineyards and olive groves. The village where you start is on a hill and the village where you arrive is on the opposite hill, so you have to walk downhill first, then at the bottom of the valley along a stream which you ford twice and then uphill. Tracks are signposted in Italy, so it is quite easy to follow them, provided you pay attention to the signs (usually two stripes, a red and a white one).

This morning, my friends R and S wanted to do the same and asked me to go with them. The village of Montegonzi today is hosting the truffle festival, so parking was difficult and we decided to start the walk from the hamlet of Poggio alle Monache. S wanted to lead the way and I stayed back with R. I kept an eye on the signs and we arrived in Moncioni without any problems! After a short break, we started back. On the way back I got a bit distracted, taking pictures of flowers, butterflies, landscapes, vineyards, olive trees and so on and all of a sudden I realised we were not on the right track. The signs had disappeared completely! S insisted on going on and kept on choosing random turnings, until we got to a place where R and I mutinied! Then, we turned back, carefully retracing our steps until we, luckily, found our track again. We arrived safely back to the car, exhausted, but happy we had made it! We walked about four hours all together... a walk that would take approximately three!

What have I learnt today? Never trust S to lead the way along a track!