A long Walk

Well yesterday the weather was finally dry and increasingly getting better. In the interest of saving petrol and of keeping ourselves active, we went out on foot yesterday. First we had some business in Sarzana. So we went down the Via Francigena, leaving the house about half past 9. From Sarzana we walked to Arcola via the regional park of the river Magra. In Arcola we spent a couple of ours doing some basic weeding, nothing to strenuous as we’ve already walked for 4 hours. Finally we walked home, taking a slightly more scenic route we normally take. Instead of going down the hill and walking along the relatively flat bit along the river, we headed over the hills from Arcola and found a beautiful area that we had not discovered do far. From Arcola towards the village of Vezzano Ligure we walked along a ridge with views in both directions, over the Magra valley and our own village as well as towards La Spezia. We took one wrong turn which made this a little longer than planned, but it was well worth the detour. This is the area of Arcola’s best wine producers and you can see why as they have beautiful exposure to the sun up there. Above you can see a view of the village of Arcola .

As we crossed back over the Magra we could see the result of all that rain we’ve been having. I’ve never seen the river carry so much water. What you see in the foreground is a popular beach in the summer for sunbathers. Now it’s under several feet of water! All in all we did an almost 7 hour / about 25km round walk and I can feel it in my bones today.