Seggiano (the deafening silence)

Our home for the next month

Our last day camping was spent in the town of Lucca.  Karen went for a run before we left and found it odd that even though a barrier was down at a level crossing and the lights were red, cyclists and pedestrians were still crossing the line.

Obstruction on Karen’s morning run

The main thing we wanted to do in Lucca was walk around the perimeter on the outer of the four city walls, the original wall being built over 2,200 years ago.  The second wall was built in medieval times and replaced most of the original wall although parts of the original can still be found in basements.  The third wall was built in the 14^th and 15^th centuries as the town had expanded so much.  Finally, the current outer wall was constructed between 1545 and 1650 and is one of the only complete city walls left in the world from that period.

On the way into Lucca there are many examples of farm houses built with ventilation in the walls of the upper floors where hay was stored above the living quarters and the ventilation kept it dry.  These walls are protected by law now and cannot be destroyed when the farms are converted to holiday homes or villas so they are usually lined with glass on the inside to make for additional accommodation.

Two of the converted farmhouses with their preserved haylofts (or fienile) 

Lucca’s outer walls are just over 4km long and are lined with trees thus making an ideal circular walk out of the heat of the sun.

An avenue on top of the wall along the western side

The walls have a large green-belt on the outside which gives a sense of space as it provides a parkland between the suburbs and the city.

Walking along the northern section showing the green space outside the wall

As is typical of Italian towns, there are many old churches in Lucca and we passed several on our walk – Lucca cathedral was built in the 11^th century and many others were built before then.

Lucca cathedral

Circular brass plaques have recently been placed in the path every 200 metres to commemorate something to do with the preservation of the walls and are clearly sponsored by local car companies.

The start/finish plaque

We were soon doing plaque spotting in line with canal milestone spotting and found many plaques must have been stolen as we only found about ten in situ.

The skies darkened about half way around and all the tourists, including us, sheltered under the trees whilst it rained for about 20 minutes.

Sheltering from the rain

One of the large villas and gardens open to the public

When we completed our circuit, we walked into the centre.  The rain had stopped and the tourists were back on the streets and in the piazzas.

Even with the sun out, the streets remain in shade as they are so narrow

Drying out in piazza San Michele

Clouds have rolled away

The intricate façade of the 11^th century San Michele in Foro church

We spent the rest of our last day camping reading and going for the odd quick butterfly spotting forays.  We both agreed that this particular site was one of the best, if not the best, of the ten we have stayed at over the last three weeks.

Relaxing in the evening sun

There was a bit of excitement during the evening as we heard some commotion and saw a guy who looked like he had had too much to drink and had fallen trying to get into his camper.  It transpired that, even though (or maybe because) he had been drinking, he had decided to do some night maintenance under the van.

  

We packed up on Wednesday morning and set off for Seggiano where we have rented a cottage for the next month.  Seggiano is in southern Tuscany and about 40 miles east of Grosseto which itself is about 15 miles inland from the Mediterranean coast.

As with our journeys through France we kept away from the motorways and followed country roads inland, away from the Italian Riviera.  As usual, the pictures cannot do the scenery justice but here are a few from the journey:

  

  

   

By mid afternoon we could see Seggiano, a hilltop town like so many in Tuscany and had the task of finding the house.

Heading for Seggiano

We used Google maps to get us there and after travelling about a mile up an unmade road, realised that we were in the wrong place.  An Italian woman came out of a farmhouse to find out what we were doing in her road.  Her English was as non-existent as our Italian and all she could do was point back up the track and say, ‘Seggiano’. 

A young couple pulled up behind us in a car and the guy got out to find out what was going on and turned out to speak a little English.  He was an odd-job man who had arrived up to do some work for the lady.  It also turned out that he knew Luca, the guy we were renting the cottage from, and therefore knew how to give us the correct directions.  We were about six miles the wrong side of Seggiano – so much for Google maps!

We finally found the place and settled in.  We hadn’t realised just how high up in the mountains we were – at around 900 metres it was just short of the height of Snowdon.  Of course, being higher, the air was cooler but still pleasant enough to be outside in the evening in shorts and tee-shirts.

Our new home

It was unbelievably quiet and felt even quieter than when we are out in the countryside at home on the boat as there was no sound of water fowl. 

Once again, it was difficult to get a decent picture but we just caught the sun setting over the furthest mountains as we sat outside in the fading daylight - it was pitch black by eight o’clock.

Our view from the front in the setting sun - hopefully we'll get clearer pictures over the next few weeks

Our journey for the last month