Touring Tuscan Towns – 12 September 2009

After our croissant and coffee breakfast we set off for Volterre, the first of our four Tuscan hilltop villages that we were to visit today. Being there fairly early in the morning we beat any tourist rush that there may be and the town seemed like a 'regular' town with normal shops selling normal stuff to normal folk. This certainly did not hold for the next town.

We visited the Palazzo Viti, one of the finest private residential buildings in Italy. However, after seeing so many wonderful ceilings in England painted by imported Italian artists we were surprised at how under-whelming the ceilings were in this Palazzo. Nevertheless it was an impressive home, still lived in by descendants of the Viti family.

The entry ticket entitled us to a sample of local produce at the bar in the cellar below the Palazzo. There was local salami, 60-day and 6-month old cheese and a glass each of wonderful white and red wine. None of it was from more than 20km away. (The food-mile police would be very proud of us.)

Leaving Volterra we plunged into tourist territory by arriving at San Gimignono. Eventually finding a carpark, we joined the thronging tourists wandering along the streets lined with shops all selling tourist oriented Tuscan goodies.

The town is remarkable not only for its hilltop position but also for its distinctive skyline made up of 14 towers; all that remain of the original 72 mediaeval towers built by the feuding families each seeking to out-do the other for the highest tower.

Leaving the tourists behind we wandered into a different world when we visited Colle de Val d'Elsa. There may have been some other tourists around but they were few and far between so it seemed we had the narrow streets and cobbled passageways to ourselves as we explored.

Setting off for Siena we drove straight towards another hilltop village vista of walls and towers so a quick detour was called for and we stopped at Monteriggioni. This tiny gem of a medieval hilltop town was built in 1203 and still retains its complete set of towers and city wall.

Both Monteriggioni and San Gimignano are on the pilgrims route from Canterbury to Rome which passes along the via Francigena.


Monteriggioni appealed so much that we decided to stay the night and found a delightful room in one of the old buildings in the town.

Apologies for the poor photo quality but our 4-month old Canon Powershot G10 failed

Fire and Stone -11 September 2009

Last night as we returned from our walk we noticed a pall of smoke across the sun from a fire somewhere. This morning the smoke was filling the valley and there was a scattering of ash on the car. The airspace seemed busier than Heathrow as planes and helicopters ferried water from the bay to fight the fire; and our hosts were at pains to explain how we should leave Levanto to ensure we were not held up by traffic problems caused by the fire.

We managed to escape both the smoke and the traffic problems, discussing the destruction we had seen yesterday and the reports of fires in California, Spain, Greece and Australia and the seeming ease with which fires change course and trap motorists etc, as we headed southeast over the hills towards Lucca.

Just off to the side of our route was Carrara, home of the white marble so we detoured for a quick look at the quarries and the seeming wholesale destruction of the mountainsides behind the town before resuming our route to Lucca.

After a look around Lucca where we saw the workmen installing a few of the thousands of candles that were to be used in Sunday's procession of St Martin, we went over a pass and dropped down to the plains around Pisa. We had intended to visit Pisa on our last day of the trip but needed to buy a memory card so that we could use the phone as a standby camera since our fabulous new Canon had failed. So we detoured into Pisa and managed to locate a computer store and suitable memory card.

Since we were there, and it was sunny, it seemed foolish to drive away without checking out the tower. Thus we joined the throngs of tourists in the 'Square of Miracles' looking at the Duomo, the Baptistry and naturally, the famous Leaning Tower. Most of the tourists seemed to be taking the obligatory photo of their companion 'propping up' the tower, or 'pushing it over'.

So, now we had competed the circle, climbing one of the most famous buildings in the world clad with marble from the quarries we had been at in the morning. Climbing the tower is a weird mix of feelings as you circle the tower: some sections are overly steep and some, although you are ascending stairs, give the impression that you are 'climbing' downhill; all very odd.

Leaving Pisa we set off in the general direction off our next destination and stopped at Ponsacco where we eventually found what appeared to be the only hotel in town and a bed for the night and a highlight meal; Gnocchi with shrimps and orange; absolutely fabulous.

5 Photo ops and 1 major problem – 10 September 2009

Or, “How Canon ruined the most scenic walking route in Europe”.

Today was 'the' day: we were walking the Cinque Terre, or 5 Lands. These are 5 villages that are built into clefts in the precipitous rock faces that form the coast of this area of Italy. In the past the only access was by sea and a footpath. Now a train line joins them all, bringing masses of tourists, who come to walk the footpath.

End to end it is 7 miles (11km) and about 5 hours walking. We decided to walk east to west so took the train from Levanto to Riomaggiore to begin the walk.

The first town, Riomaggiore, is a great introduction to the area. We walked to the marina, checked out the upper town, and then we set of for the 30 minute stroll to Manarola, This is on a super-highway track, clearly designed for the day trippers so that they can go home and claim that they have walked the Cinque Terre.

We looked around Manarola and then disaster struck. Our 4-month old Canon G10 Powershot failed catastrophically as the CCD receptor stopped working. So here we were, 30 minutes into a 5-hour trek along a beautiful stretch of coastline with colourful villages tumbling down verdant terraced hillsides against an azure blue Mediterranean sea on a gloriously sunny day and we had no camera. “Thank you, Canon” - not!

With a heavy heart, we trudged on to Corniglia where it was large enough and touristy enough to at least sell cheap horrible disposable cameras.

The sections from Corniglia to Vernazza and from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare are designed to 'sort the men from the boys'. The footpath to the east had been quite civilised and did not get too far from sea level, apart from the climb up the 380 steps to Corniglia.

Corniglia to Vernazza was described as the greenest section of the walk and we were looking forward to seeing the terraced hillsides with their 7000km of stone walls and vineyards and olive groves and so forth. However, a fire on the Sunday before we arrived had reduced great swathes of this section of the hillsides to ash and the footpath had only just been reopened so, in spite of no decent camera, (did I mention Canon are not my favourite company today?) we did feel privileged that after finally making it to the Cinque Terre we were not turned back.
The highest point on the footpath is between Corniglia and Vernazza but the roughest part of the footpath is the section between Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. The temperature for the last two sections was in the high 30s so by the time we arrived in Monterosso al Mare at the end of the footpath we were fairly done-in and after exploring the town were quite pleased to collapse on the train for the short ride back to Levanto.


More photos of Vernazza are available here by kind courtesy of Young Jee Filer who we met on the trail.

A close run thing - 9 September 2009

The major highlight of today was actually arriving in Italy, but it was a close run thing. Because of some fortuitous bus connections we arrived at Stansted a full hour ahead of schedule so had a leisurely coffee and breakfast snack before sauntering off to the gate with ample time to spare and were well towards the front of the non-priority queue for our Ryanair flight to Genoa.

What we had forgotten was that when Ryanair relaxed the rules and allowed non-EU citizens to check-in online, they had added an additional stupid step to the process and forced non-EU citizens to get a stamp on their boarding passes before they went through security. This stamp signifies that the holder has a valid travel document (i.e. passport), something that anyone with normal vision can check.

The flight was announced, the priority people boarded and then it was time for the rest of us. We took our turn only to be told we did not have the stamp and the only place the stamp can be obtained is on the street side of security.

So began the mad dash, with 20 kilos of hand luggage, back from the gate through the departure lounge back to security – from the wrong side. A kindly soul let us out though a locked door back to the initial checking desk where we were, again, let out through the barrier and pointed at check-in desk 94.

Fortunately there was no queue at desk 94 and our boarding passes were soon emblazoned with about 8 stamps and the race back began. The initial checking man had said to return to him so we did and were passed through but then had to do the full scan thing again. We had barged past a bunch of people thinking we were immune this time around but, no, it was back through the scanners (fortunately without having to remove boots, belts and laptop and liquids from luggage, as per first time through.) What the people in the queue that we had barged past thought, I have no idea.

So then it was full pelt back through the departure lounge and off to the Gate arriving just as the last person in the queue was being processed. The relief with which we collapsed on to the plane was immense. Amazingly we had made the round-trip in under 12 minutes.

But enough of our stupidity, what about Italy?

Our first stop was Camogli, a fishing village tucked away off the main road where we enjoyed a relaxing snack, Then it was on to Levanto to find some accommodation for the night.

Roof-top Tour - 5 September 2009

The Historic Royal Palaces card is a great deal which gives unlimited access to a number of ex-Royal Palaces in London

They also have special members-only events from time to time and today was one such occasion as a tour of the Hampton Court Palace roof was available to members.

We took train to Hampton and walked back to the palace via Bushy Park. En route, we passed Garrick Temple by the Thames; built as a tribute to Shakespeare.


On arriving at Hampton Court Palace, we first took our chances in the maze, said to be the oldest surviving hedge maze in Britain, had a look again at the formal gardens, and then it was time for the roof.

After climbing the 107 steps, we were rewarded with wonderful views of the surroundings and a close up look at the 242 “Elizabethan” chimneys. The originals were long gone and the ones there today were painstakingly restored by the Victorians, using the original plans.

Driving the Dales - 31 August 2009

From the Dark & White Peaks, we moved south for a drive around the Dales; another a wonderful area for walkers. We first did a short walk over Stanton Moor, a hilltop plateau covered in heather in full bloom, to find the Nine Ladies. These, along with the Cork Stone, are remnants of the Bronze Age.

Then southwest to Longnor, down to a favourite town – Hartington, to Ilam with its pretty village via a new discovery – Milldale. This was a wonderful drive along narrow roads at the base of the Dale, it just felt like walking except it was less effort and we covered the ground much quicker. The lovely market town of Ashbourne, lead us finally to our destination of Tissington.


This is a stunning estate village, and driving over the cattle-stop and along the lime tree avenue feels like a different world, even though it's a public road. Bank Holiday Monday was our only chance to visit Tissington Hall, and when we arrived, it appeared that hundreds of other people had come with the same idea: the little village was packed.

We found the tour of the Hall, built at the beginning of the 18th century, really interesting. The guide obviously has great admiration for the current owner (who welcomed our group), who had unexpectedly inherited the property.


There was still enough time in the day for a slight diversion to Cottesbrooke Hall, also only available for us on Bank Holidays. We arrived just in time for the last tour of the day. The house has lovely rooms, an interesting layout with a semi-circular corridors linking the wings, but the overall impression is how much the family have always loved horses, hunting and hounds. There are paintings and bonzes of horses everywhere. I'm sure previous owners would be outraged and incredulous to learn that fox hunting has been outlawed in this country.

Walking the Peaks - 30 August 2009

As you drive around the Peak District, there are groups of walkers everywhere, and as this was our only full day in the Peak District, we felt it only right to joint them, so carefully choose a walk to suit us, rejecting two which had strenuous climbing. The chosen walk started along a canal from Whaley Bridge, but once we left the navigation area, it climbed steeply to 500m, through heather, along Cracken Edge and up to the top. The strenuous walk was worth it, and the views are stunning.

After the walk we set out on a circular drive in the area. This took in the attractive villages of Prestbury, Astbury and Buxton. A totally different point of interest was Jodrell Bank: the area around the giant telescope is open to the public, with a small visitor centre showing two excellent 3D films. It is always humbling to be reminded of the insignificance of Earth (let alone ourselves) in the enormity of the known universe. It was interesting to see the telescope up close, and see it moving as it tracks objects in space.

The rain started as we headed to Buxton, and hilltops at a lower elevation than those on our morning walk, were now up in the cloud. The recession did not seem to be effecting the popular Railway Pub in Buxton, probably helped by it's excellent value meals.