48 HOURS
Hot off the afternoon flight to Pisa, I journey an hour through the Garfagnana region of Tuscany. The Serchio Valley view, flanked by the Apuan Alps and Apennine Mountains, makes for a mesmerising sunrise after a night resting in silky sheets. I head to the Tuscan mountainside for a trek through its ‘lost’ villages, taking a slow, rocky, three-hour walk up a steady incline with just the gentle tweet of birds and rough turret of water for audio company. I saunter through some of Italy’s medieval villages and lose myself in the romanticism of life in Guzzano and Gomberetto, two such villages now occupied by only a smattering of people. Life is slow, very quiet and idyllic. Lunch is a hearty Tuscan cabbage stew, followed by some perfectly al dente pasta, before I rest my food-laden body by the pool and fall asleep during a massage.
Food, glorious food!