On My Own Again

Once again, I was alone. Although Sam wanted to go hiking with me in the Tuscan mountains, her upper respiratory infection did not allow her. So off I go to Fiesole, by myself and very content. After a short bus ride to Fiesole, the last stop on the line, I found myself in a small Piazza. The largest structure was a bell tower, which struck bells every hour. Fiesole is not a city, it is a small suburb of Florence, and there is not much to do there. However, my goal was to hike in the Tuscan country side, and I accomplished this.

After asking a few people if there were any known trails that I could walk, and getting no real answers, I decided to try and find something by myself. I walked to an arch, which turned out to be the entrance of the Fiesole Archaeological Museum. It stopped letting people in at six, and I arrived around 6:15. I did not mind too much. I picked a direction, and simply started walking. I walked the entire way on pavement, which was really meant for tiny cars. The roads were steep and winding, just like you would expect in the mountains. I wanted to hike in Tuscany because after living in a city for three weeks, I feel that the only real way to learn and know the land on which you are living is to see it up close. Seeing the view is great, and we had already done this. I just wanted a little bit more. I wanted to see what it was like in the Tuscan mountains themselves.

It could not have been more beautiful. Since I went in the evening, it was not even too hot. The mountains are surrounded by more mountains, with huge houses peaking out from the greenery. In some areas, there are many houses, a little town. Mostly, however, the houses are far from each other. I walked up and down the mountain road, stopping frequently to take a picture of the view. The view was mountains surrounded by mountains, mountains with mountains in the distance. The road I walked on was paved and there were usually stone walls on either side of the road. Every so often there would be an opening, from which I could see another magnificent view. Tiny speckled lizards jumped in and out of the stone walls. A stream of honeysuckles lined one part of the road. The smell was of country; no car fumes, no cigarette smoke, no smelly people, no man-made noise was there to bother me. Do not get me wrong, there would be the occasional car on the road, but mostly, it was just the Tuscany and I.