Tuscany

From Levanto we drove via Carrara and Lucca to Artimino, our next 7 day stay in Tuscany. From there we did day trips to the planned areas.

First day of our stay was utilized by the cooking course in which we learned how to make Pasta and Cantucci. Finally, after the whole trip, it was the best Pasta we had during our 19 day stay in Italy 🙂

On Tuesday we went for the first round trip to Volterra and back to Artimino. Unfortunately the daylight was still very bright, so not all pictures came out as brillant as wanted.

On Wednesday we took the train to Firenze. For me this city is not worth to go for. Very crowded and not even close to be as nice as people say. Maybe I am a philistine, but that’s how I think. Lucca was as well very commercial but much better. In that respect, Volterra really wins. Nice and – at least at the time we were there – not as crowded.

On Thursday we went for the next round trip down to Val d’Orcia. It was farther away than I thought. Took us 2h to get there and therefore only the evening light was left for us to take some really nice pictures.

On Friday we slowed a bit down. Taking the train to Pisa and leave the afternoon to relax and plan further. Pisa was also very crowded around the Piazza dei Miracoli. Worth to visit? Not really, only if you are there anyway.

On Saturday, our last full day we took another round trip into the Crete Sinesi – instead of going to Siena.

Tuscany is absolutely worth to visit, but probably not in September. The fields are often already plowed or at least scythed which gives a more brown than golden coloring. Best months should be May and June when the fields are bloomed and more green or golden. Therefore we are planning for another trip there next year – we’ll see.

On Sunday we left towards Rome, but Artimino really showed us the brightness of Tuscany on the last morning…