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Alastair Tour Leader
chats about our Tuscany & Liguria Hill Walker tour (XCT):
It was sweet and sad, last evening, to gather for our final group
dinner after an exceptional two weeks touring Tuscany. Margaret
Farran, a group member, quoted us a line from E.M. Forster: “The
true Italy is only to be found by patient observation...”, adding
that this tour had enabled us all really to savour and experience at
a deeper level our remarkable Tuscan surroundings. We had time: to
walk; to pause; to look more closely; to listen; to taste; to
breathe it all in.
Much of our time was spent in less visited areas of Chianti and
Southern Tuscany, where we balanced country walks through a variety
of landscapes with cultural visits to some of the region’s loveliest
towns: Florence; Siena; San Gimignano; Volterra; Montalcino and
Lucca. In the evenings, we would gather together for wine-tastings
and enjoy meals of homemade pasta and local specialties at charming
country inns.
For our walks, we chose lesser-known trails of moderate ease.
Heading off, one morning, from the Benedictine Abbey of Sant’Antimo,
we crossed an emerald field of barley splashed with thousands of
crimson poppies. We climbed a ridge and had to stop and simply look
and look: the views of the surrounding countryside were so
profoundly beautiful. At times, the silence was penetrating. At one
moment, we froze as a wild boar leapt across the trail ahead of us
vanishing into the undergrowth in a second. We picnicked at a 14th
century castle at Ripa D’Orcia, under cypress and olive shadows, on
fresh buffalo mozzarella, crusty loaves, vermillion tomatoes, black
olives, pecorino cheese and pears—with a good bottle of chianti
shared all around. Our walk continued after lunch, passing an old
travertine marble quarry, to arrive at the tiny Medici spa village
of Bagno Vignoni, where we soaked our feet in the hot sulphur
springs that spilled down the hillside. This was a typical day.
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