More chestnuts anyone?

We hadn't made much in the way of plans for today as last night's weather forecast seemed to sit on the fence a little - so other than agreeing to go for another (probably slightly shorter) walk if the weather wasn't too bad, we didn't make any decisions. That inevitably made the morning slightly slower, as we had nothing specific to aim towards.

We finally got together at about 9.30am, once everyone was dressed, fed and watered, and decided first to do a small amount of grocery shopping to get Mum and Dad through the last few days of their stay. The weather was looking decidedly pleasant, and although cloudy, there were patches of blue in the sky and the temperature was rising. In order to save some time therefore, we decided to try and get the groceries in the village at Amanda's alimentari - we couldn't be sure to get everything we needed there... but we did, marmalade and all!

On the way back up the hill, we pulled over into the bin area as on the way past we had spotted that there were a set of new (additional) bins!! It's a reflection of how much our lives have changed, that that's the kind of thing that excites us these days - proper disposal and recycling of waste. We had noticed a new yellow bin yesterday, although we hadn't gone to inspect it. Today, though, the new yellow bin was joined by what must be a modified shipping container with compartments. It turns out that, from today, every Thursday, we can dispose of old tyres, toner cartridges, medical waste, small electrical items, larger domestic appliances, mattresses and loads more - and the yellow bin is for the disposal of cooking oils. Well done Pescia council!

By this time, the sun had come out and the patches of blue sky had grown larger. We decided to drive up the road into Pietrabuona and do a quick circuit of the village to admire the view of our house from a distance. We drove up the steep road and all breathed in as Stuart edged the car through the narrow archway into the square at the top of the village. We parked up and slowly walked around the perimeter of the village. The view of our house was excellent - the sun was shining, the terraces looked great, and with the recent felling of the oak trees in front of the house, you could see a lot more than the last time we paid a visit to Pietrabuona. Of course, neither Stuart nor I had taken a camera out on the trip to buy groceries, but Mum and Dad got a few good shots each.

Circuit of Pietrabuona completed, we quickly headed home having made the decision to try out a short walk that takes in the Ponte Sospeso (suspension bridge) a little way north of us. With the weather now beautifully sunny, but slightly fresher than of late, it seemed like ideal weather to be out walking, so not wanting to waste any more time, we quickly unloaded the groceries, grabbed our walking boots and got straight back into the car heading north on the road towards Abetone.

We wended our way gradually northwards, through Vellano and the little villages above it, through chestnuts woods and beech woods, until we eventually came to the small village of Mammiano Basso and turned down to the Ponte Sospeso.

We parked up in the large car park of the restaurant/fishing lake beneath the bridge - our (hire) car looking rather lost and lonely as the sole vehicle in the car park today. We were hoping the restaurant would be open so that we could fuel ourselves with some lunch before we set off on our trek, but were unsure as to whether it would be operational in October - very much out of holiday/tourist season. We were pleased, therefore, to find it open. We seated ourselves at a table on the outdoor terrace and ordered three bowls of mushroom pasta and a turkey fillet with fries. The food was simple but tasty, and certainly served its purpose of fuelling our bodies for the walk ahead. After a quick coffee each to finish the meal, we were off, wondering if we would be the only trade the little restaurant would see all day.

After strapping our boots on, we headed straight for the bridge. The bridge has featured on our blog before, as Stuart had taken his Mom, Kerys and Ben there back in the summer while I was still slaving away at my desk back at home. The 212m suspended footbridge was built in 1922 by the manager of the metal works in Mammiano Basso as a fast route for workers from the village of Popiglio (across the valley) to get to work and back each day. 

The bridge hangs 40m above the Lima river beneath it, and is constructed with a metal grid walkway - so if the mood takes you, you can look down and see the trees and the river 40m below you. I was astonished back in the summer to hear that Kerys - who is afraid of heights - had made it across the bridge and back. I don't class myself as particularly afraid of heights, but perhaps I would class myself in the category of those who have a fear of walking across bridges that swing, bounce and oscillate as you are traversing their more than 200m length while suspended 40m up in the air. My legs felt like jelly and I only managed to get across by fixing my gaze on the other end of the bridge, looking straight ahead and keeping going until I reached it. Stuart wasn't far behind me, but Mum and Dad seemed fearless, stopping every few metres to look over the edge, take photographs and admire the views - they were in no hurry at all to get the experience over with!

Gulp!

Reaching the end - note Mum and Dad off in the distance, stopping to take in the views from the middle of the bridge!

Fearless!

From there, the walk went along a section of road for a while, until we reached the village of Popiglio. Here, we picked up a path through the village before heading down out of the village towards the Ponte di Castruccio.

Entering Popiglio.

Church doorway in Popiglio.

Popiglio church.

Leaving Popiglio, heading to the Ponte di Castruccio.

The Ponte di Castruccio bridge was built by the Lord of Lucca between 1281 and 1328. At the time, the bridge marked the border between Lucca and Pistoia. The two houses at the far side of the bridge were originally customs houses - controlling the traffic between Lucca and Pistoia. A fascinating history and a very beautiful bridge:

Ponte di Castruccio.

Ponte di Castruccio and the two customs buildings ('le due dogane').

Quick check of the map.

The river Lima.

From that bridge, we made a very short detour to another two bridges over tributaries to the main river, before turning right to start making our way back to our starting point, this time walking on the other side of the river, largely through chestnut woods.

We passed these little (and littler) fellows on our way!

For some reason, despite living in the middle of a chestnut wood, my husband is unable to walk past a shiny chestnut lying on the floor without picking it up. And it seems the same condition has spread to both of my parents. This significantly slowed our progress through the woods, as Stuart insisted on collecting enough chestnuts to make up another batch of chestnut liqueur, and Mum and Dad joined him, each filling their pockets full of the shiny brown nuts.

One of Stuart's favourites.

Today's haul.

Thankfully, we did eventually make it to the other side of the woods before nightfall, and soon the path delivered us back into Mammiano Basso, from where we found our way back to the Ponte Sospeso and our car, which was still parked all alone in the car park of the restaurant/fishing lake.

We de-booted and piled back into the car for the journey home. As we had been nearing the end of the walk, it had started to get slightly damp as the clouds started to come down. As we drove towards home, taking the Lanciole road this time, the fog came down in earnest - at first, it made our route through the beech woods very atmospheric, but it soon became a real pea-soup affair, making the hairpin-bending roads pretty tough driving! As we slowly dropped further into the valley though, the mist gradually cleared, and by the time we reached the bottom of the valley it had cleared and dried up completely.

When we got home, it was time for a cup of tea for Mum and Dad, and a quick half-hour's office work for me, then we all got our work clothes back on and headed to the end of the drive to load the wood that Mum, Dad and Stuart had hauled up to to the drive yesterday into the back of the car for transportation back to the house. We spent about 45 minutes loading pieces of wood into the back of the car, with Dad and Stuart sawing the larger pieces up using a  bow saw, so that they could be loaded. The light began to fade just as we were reaching the end of the large pile, so we headed back down the drive to the house, Stuart and I went to put the geese to bed (who went into their house even more willingly than they did last night), then we all pitched in to unload the car, stacking the wood on our makeshift wood pile. By this time, the rain had started coming down again and was getting heavier - and by the time we'd unloaded the car, we were all soaked through, so we retired to our respective abodes to get changed and freshened up before dinner.

Tonight's dinner was a pea, mint and feta risotto, and we finished dinner with some of the lovely cheeses that we had bought at the chestnut festival in Vellano last Sunday.

The forecast for tomorrow seems pretty definite about there being rain in the mix. Whereas most days this week it has said 'chance of rain', tomorrow's forecast simply says 'rain'. We may thus be spending the day doing indoor activities - looking inside churches and so on. The morning first promises a coffee with Chris and Sue though, which we're really looking forward to, and after that we'll work out a plan depending on how the weather turns out - umbrellas and waterproofs at the ready!