Tuscan Beauty

Walking in the Mountains of Tuscany – September 19th – 26th
This could be described as the perfect holiday – good walking, great scenery, good weather, good food and good company. We were particularly lucky with the double act of Wendy and Stephen who shared the leadership of the D and D+/C walks that were offered each day.

Some of us thought we were D graders but were pleasantly surprised to find we could manage a C grade.

For the D+/C walkers the ridge from Croce Arcana to Libro Alperto (1937m) provided spectacular scenery and a bit of exposure.Not all of the walking was at 1500m-2000m, there were also lower level villages and autumn coloured beach woods to delight the eye.Three days of walking in the hills prepared our legs for sightseeing in Florence and some of us bounding up the 414 steps of the Campanile bell tower, where we got magnificent views of the city.The whole group started together on the last day. Half opted for the cooking school, which was an unscheduled added extra back at the hotel. We ate the food they prepared for dinner that evening and it was delicious. The hard core went for a “short” walk with Wendy, which ended up being the longest of the whole holiday. Nevertheless, Wendy’s chatter continued unabated throughout the walk.