October 2001
We went to Tuscany with the Hash at half term in October. I forgot to take my camera, but Glyn got lots of nice pictures. However, I stole some to put here. This is the group on the steps of the Duomo in Florence.
Here we all are going for a walk in the hills above Castel Fiorentino, where we were staying. The theme of the holiday turned out to be hills and towers, as became clear as the week progressed.
Our first tower was Giotto's Campanile at the Duomo in Florence, which we duly climbed, to be rewarded by great views over the city.
Here we are on our second walk, up an extremely steep hill to Gambassi Terme, a spa town with natural sulphurous springs. We found a "wild" one just outside the town.
I'd been really looking forward to Siena, which is a lovely old city. We climbed up the Torre del Mangia, so-called because the building of it ate up all the town's money..
...and from the top could look back down to the Piazza del Campo, where the famous horse races are held in June.
Having expected Siena to be the highlight of the trip, it turned out to be San Giminiano instead. We walked there and back from Certaldo, a long way but with stupendous views along a high ridge, and found yet more towers.
We climbed the one above the town hall.
The most famous tower of the trip was closed for climbers, but the Leaning Tower of Pisa was still much more impressive than we expected. You can never tell from pictures of places if they will not live up to, or exceed expectations - luckily this was one of the latter.
Here we are on our last evening, enjoying a final overdose of pasta in the Youth Hostel we were staying in. No comments, thankyou. Sue, on the left, was the organiser of our brilliant week.
