Mysterious and beautiful. Intertwined with history and charming in every season. Tuscany.
It was impossible to resist the description of travelling in this part of Italy that was made by Biljana and Renato, so I made a decision. I’m going. I was getting to know the beauties of Tuscany six years ago and now I got to know more.
Our trip started on May 30th 2016 and the goal was the city of Siena where we stayed for three days. It was nice to walk the city’s streets after the long drive. This city takes your breath away with medieval and gothic architecture that is part of the world heritage Unesco. We took a stroll from the city centre Piazza del Campo to Porto Ovile and we were in the middle of narrow streets that all end in Campo – a field in a shape of a fan. The centre is divided on nine fields that symbolize the world of nine that ruled the medieval city. The buildings around the main square represent the golden time of the city between 1260 and 1348. In 1348 the plague hit the city and third of people died. 200 years later the city fell because of Florence which suppressed the development of the city and Siena stayed the way it is. A frozen beauty. Around 300,000 people live there today. There is a fountain Gaia on Piazza del Campa with many statues. And I simply must mention the gothic cathedral that is one of the mightiest in Italy.
You experience the magic of Siena when you sit down on one of the Campo’s fields and look around and you see the 102 metre high bell tower of an elegant town hall. If you use your imagination, it can easily take you to Palia, the most known festival of horse races that happens twice a year (July 2nd and August 16th). You can almost hear the trotting, galloping, the crowd screaming, their cheering...
The path lead us to the south of Tuscany, to Castelnuovo del Abate, which boasts with the oldest monastery in this area, St. Antimo that was founded in the 9th century. We took a stroll between famous hills in Tuscany and saw the intriguing houses with vineyards. A breath taking view no matter which side you turned. We ended our stroll in Montalcino, known for producing red wine Brunello. Wine tasting is a must. We spent the afternoon exploring and finding new amazing things of this beautiful town.
Renato took us to the south of Tuscany on Wednesday and the way there went by so fast because of the beautiful landscape. Instead of sunflower fields we saw some wheat fields with poppy that will amaze you with the combination of red and green. Gerfalco is a former mining town, mentioned in the year 900 and that is where we started climbing a 1060 metres high Le Cornate. There was some rain but we climbed on top and saw Ligurian Sea, Elba and Piombina.
We left Siena on Thursday and took a path to San Gimignano and Florence. It would be a mistake not to visit these two pearls. I was amazed by San Gimignano. This town is also part of the world heritage Unesco. You get a feeling that the time stopped while strolling on the streets. The city of towers. There were 76 towers in the past and now there’re 14 that offer amazing views. You stop breathing and talking. The square with the cathedral, fountains, streets that offer Italian culinary treats that put a smile on your face. I got a feeling that tourists are one with the city, they get lost in it and try to feel the beat of the city San Gimignano. When we strolled in Florence everything was gone because of so many tourists. We saw a cathedral in the heart of the city, walked to Ponte Vecchio – the old bridge and some of us went to see the gothic church Santa Croca and other streets. The old bridge is the oldest in Florence. It was built in 1345 and is the only bridge that hasn’t been destroyed during World War II. There you can find workshops and shops with gold.
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana is a place where we prepared for climbing on the roof of Tuscany, to the highest mountain Monte Prado. The weather was really bad on that day so we only visited cottage Il Casona di Profecchia, turned, went back to the valley and decided that we want to see if the weather is any nicer at Ligurian Sea. It was possible to look the seaside town at the same day and the harbour La Spezio. Then we accommodated in Aulla. La Spezia is calm and sleepy despite 300,000 people. Maybe it was the weather. We certainly liked the walk by the sea, watching the boats and sailboats.
The last active day was booked for getting to know an 18-kilometre area by the Ligurian Sea, Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre means five lands, which symbolizes five cute, picturesque villages that were built by the cliff beaches. The boat took us to the last village Monterosso and then we walked to Vernazza. What a wonderful path! It runs with the beach, has many stairs, views on the sea, little bridges and streams. The villages are connected with a railroad, with hiking trails. Many tourists visit it in this time. There’s a Path of Love carved into a rock between the villages Manarola and Riomaggiore. We wanted to go there on foot but was closed so we will find our path of love somewhere else. Monterosso is a fishing village, known as a pearl of Cinque Terre. Vernazza can boast with the remains of medieval castle, Manarola is a small treasure in Genovese style and Riomaggiore is known for tasty wines and narrow streets. Corniglia is one of the five villages that doesn’t lie next to the sea and is surrounded by vineyards and terraces. You could spend a lot of time in these five villages but we were short on time so we took a train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore and then we took a boat to La Spezia.
I would like to add a though from the Kilian Jornet’s book Run or Die: “You can tell your story and people will see it through your eyes. You can take photos and they can hear the birds singing and the snow moving the branches on the tree. You can write it down so they can feel the wind on their faces or smell the wet earth. But you can never get them to truly feel the excitement you felt when you were there.” Maybe you just saw a bit of Tuscany while reading this article.
