First and last trip overseas in 2007 took me off on a walking holiday to Tuscany. Visited the family in Sale on the way down and left from Manchester airport. This was my first visit to Italy since inter-railing in 1983. Following a successful two week walking holiday in Spain two years ago with HF holidays http://www.hfholidays.co.uk/index.asp we decided to follow up with our second choice for that yearWe were staying in the Garfagnana region of Tuscany in a small hamlet/village called Albiano which was about and hour and a half on the coach from Pisa airport. The group was made up of 4 Americans, 5 Scots and 17 English and included our two guides Viv and Diane.

Our first walk was directly from the hotel and took us through chestnut woods to a hilltop village of Sommacolonia. From there we had spectacular views of the Serchio valley and the Apuan Mountains, with the terracotta tiled roofs of the village giving us a colourful foreground to the wide vistas. The village also has a memorial to local partisans who died there in 1944. From Sommacolonia we descended along mule tracks through vineyards and entered the nearby town of Barga. This town has strong Scottish connections. In times of poverty a number of local people immigrated to Scotland and set up the well know ice cream cafes and fish and chip shops with which many of us are familiar. You will see from the photos that bunting with Italian flags and the St Andrews cross were prominently displayed in the medieval town.All in all we had four days of walking and two days sightseeing in the cities of Florence and Lucca.

I had been in Florence before and thankfully it has not changed much. No high rises to be seen apart from the spectacular Duomo(cathedral) and the tower of the Vecchio Palace. A beautiful city even if very busy. Viv guided us 'round and all the major sites were taken in, San Miniato and Santa Croce churches, the Duomo, the Ponto Vecchio Bridge and the Piazza della Signoria with its famous statues. Still, with the crowds and the heat it was nice to get back to Albiano and the relatively cooler mountain air.

Our free day was spent in Lucca and was a trip well worth making. A beautiful walled city with lots to see and do. Getting around was easier than in Florence with everything on a smaller scale and the option of hiring bicycles to negotiate the mostly pedestrian streets. Two of the outstanding features within the city are the Guinigi Tower, which is an emblem of one of the most important families of the city. Its uniqueness comes from the unusual plume of centuries old holm(oak) trees on its summit. Another unique location is the Piazza Anfiteatro which stands on the spot where the ancient Roman amphitheatre stood. Its oval shape and beautiful architecture made it a great place to stop for coffee and lunch, drinking in the sights and watching the world go by. Check out the photos! Lucca's 16th century walls are wide amidst leafy trees and grassy banks. Amanda and I hired bikes and took a trip all the way around. One last thing about Lucca: I don't know the story behind it but one Madonna painting seems to have a handbag added to it. See the photo section....

The other walks took in a number of other interesting sights. In the medieval walled village of Coreglia where we started one walk, we took in a unique museum of plaster sculptures. The artisans or 'figuristi', make plaster figures, masks and religious statues. We were able to visit the workshop as well as the museum. At the beginning of our final days walk we had an excellent guided tour of a deep mountain cave with fantastic rock formations. These are best experienced personally and the one photo I took does not really reflect the visit but some things are nigh impossible to capture on film..

The final days walking was the most spectacular and took us high up into the mountains. Most of the walking before had been below the tree line and it was great to get above it onto the mountain tops. Our highest point took us above a massive and spectacular rock arch and we were favoured with incredible views.

On the social side the group had bonded well by the end of the week and a couple of the evenings at the hotel will be remembered for a long time. The food was excellent and plentiful, with the phrase 'encore' being used frequently when seconds were offered! The house wine was of a good standard but the Fubbiano is a recommended choice. A small, hardy band braved the unheated swimming pool daily, which was a great way to end a hot days walking in hills or sightseeing in cities. Swimming caps were mandatory so the photos should provide a few laughs.

It's fair to say I would recommend a walking holiday in this area to anyone.

Update 13th November....Thanks to my good friend Alan Burnett who scanned in the negatives and produced better quality digital shots. All the photos are now in the album including the one with the yellow swimming cap. Scary!

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Until the next time.

Yours aye

Murdo