Monthly Archives: November 2022

What a magnificent place! Several friends had told us that Lucca is marvellous and well worth spending some time exploring, and it certainly has been. Our B&B, La Boheme (Puccini was born in Lucca) has been very comfortable and conveniently situated in the old city. Breakfasts have been excellent, with cheese omelettes freshly made for […]

Today’s start was unusual: it was downhill! After a steep zig-zag down the hairpin bends of the Villa Cavallini’s drive, it was then a gentle uphill path alongside the river to take us into Camaiore. Although the sun was shining warmly this morning it was quite cold in the shade and we needed our cagoules […]

We were given an excellent breakfast this morning, including scrambled eggs, ham and cheese, as well as an array of sweet foods and fruit, so we were well prepared for another long day of walking. The B&B Il Cuore was one of the best places we’ve stayed in – a very comfortable room and bed, […]

Last night’s accommodation was not one of the best. The room was very cramped, the water was barely hot enough for a shower, and the sound-proofing was so poor that Tom had to bang on the wall around midnight to get the person adjacent to turn down the sound on their TV. Breakfast was advertised […]

We dined well in the hotel restaurant Demy last night, and our room was very comfortable. This morning we woke to thick fog with an autumn chill in the air. Today we had two mountains to climb, with more than 400m of ascent, taking the direct route to Sanzana. According to the VF route description […]

We’re back to getting up early and setting out soon after dawn. Rather than a miserable coffee and brioche in a cafe we breakfasted on a good bowl of muesli with orange juice and a cup of tea in our room. This sets us up better for walking all day. The wind had dropped overnight […]

We enjoyed the luxury of a lie-in this morning, after a night of heavy rain and strong winds which swirled around the small enclosed courtyard outside our window. Today was very cold, with a northerly wind blowing down off the mountains, and intermittent showers of rain. We were glad it has been a rest day […]

Today was a relatively short walk to Villafranca in Luningiana as we had opted to split an exceptionally long stage of 34 kilometres into two more manageable days, enabling us to enjoy the walking and take in the sights and scenery. Nonetheless we started out early because heavy rain and winds were forecast for late […]

We thought supper was to be provided at the hostel last night but when we arrived the warden apologetically explained that he would instead order takeaway pizzas for us from the place we had passed a couple of kilometres down the road. That worked out well, they delivered two huge Quattro Staggioni pizzas and a […]

Fully clothed, inside our sleeping bags, with four layers of bedding piled on top and we were just about warm enough to sleep comfortably in our room up under the tiled roof. Today’s clothes had been kept warm in the bottom of our sleeping bags overnight, so getting dressed wasn’t too much of an ordeal. […]