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| Medici villa Trebbio |
Breakfast at Hotel
Felicino was a formal affair with set places at a large table. I Inadvertently
sat in the “wrong” place and was politely requested to move to make way for a
middle aged permanent resident of the hotel. Also at the table were a group of
English hikers who were unable to muster sufficient courtesy for to say “hello,” which was quite an odd experience as there is usually a sense of camaraderie among
hikers!
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| Fortezza San Martino |
Wonder
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| Wonderful misty morning |
Abbie and I headed off
before 8 am, keen to walk as far as possible before Andrew picked us up so we could
return the car to Florence and then catch our train to Rome. The full stage is
very long- from San Piero a Sieve to Florence at nearly 12 hours which
highlights that the trail should ideally be undertaken over six days. It was a
glorious autumn morning and we wished that we had organised ourselves with
enough flexibility to at least complete the stage at Fiesole in the heart of
the Mugello, which is said to be wonderful.
Climbing up through
the village we reached the Fortezza Medicea San Martino, built as a fortress by
Cosimo Medici in 1569 due to its strategic position between Bologna and
Florence. Unfortunately it was too early in the day to visit so we continued on
through some of the most magnificent Tuscan countryside reaching soon Castello
del Trebbio, another World Heritage listed Medici Villa. As the gate was open
we stepped inside but a woman informed us that being a private residence it
wasn’t open to visitors. She did allow us though to take some photos of the
exterior and its gorgeous garden.
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| Avenue of pines leading to the Villa Trebbio |
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| Delightful little church |
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| Ceramic Madonna and Child |
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| Add caption |
Surrounding the Villa
are olive groves and orchards with an iconic Tuscan avenue of candle pines leading to the gate.
Nearby is a tiny church and then above a community trough, a beautiful ceramic
Madonna and child. We continued along country lanes with the Villa on its hill
a constant landmark until entering forest once more. We were confronted with a heart- wrenching
poster advertising a “lost” domesticated boar answering to the name Hermann,
which the owners presumed had been killed by hunters. Photos of the animal
showed it as an affectionate creature and we hoped that it may yet be returned.
Autumn is hunting season and the sound of guns in the forest ubiquitous and
disconcerting with hunters’ vehicles parked off forest roads, even in areas
designated as fauna reserves!
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| Poor lost pig! |
We rested briefly
outside the village of Tagliaferro before another steep climb, but on seeing
the English hikers in the distance we set off once more on a sustained climb
past the abandoned Abbey Buonsollazzo and saw no more of them. At this point we
decided to hike to the village of Bivigliano where there would be an
opportunity for Andrew to pick us up in good time to return to Florence and
where we could have lunch. Sitting on the terrace of a little restaurant bar where
we had a quite delicious mushroom pasta and glass of white wine, we toasted
each other and the walk itself.
The climbs had been some of the most sustained and toughest thus far on the trail but the beauty of the forests, the landscape and unexpected sights of animals and of course wonderful rural countryside was hard to leave
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| Abbey Buonsollazzo |
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| Wonderful countryside! |
On a future occasion I want to complete the
final section with time also to explore some of the sights of the region we had
missed. This trail is one of the most well marked and supported with resources
and information that I have yet encountered and I thoroughly recommend it, but
with time built in to explore!
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