Monday 12th October 2009 – Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Italy

We said final goodbyes to our Italian friends at 08:30 and wished them a good journey. They were travelling to Alba, just a few kilometres away) and then going for a ride on their scooters (their common interest) before returning home, most to Turin but one couple going to the Venice region.
We were on the road by 09:30 having set a cross-country route to a valley west of La Spezia.
There was a breeze this morning for the first time for many days of our travels. It soon became clear that there hadn't been any wind in this part of Italy for a while. After passing huge numbers of vineyards for many kilometres we came to higher land and the chestnut tree areas. The road was strewn with chestnuts, falling as we passed, dislodged by the blustery wind. The views were fantastic – forested hills, hill-top villages and barren mountains in the distance. The wind got stronger and more blustery but did not affect the handling of the van. However it did bring down many branches from the trees. The police and council workers were out warning or clearing fallen boughs and we took evasive action to avoid large branches. On one occasion we had to stop the van, put on the hazard-warning lights and remove a small tree that we saw fall over the road.
We kept passing all of those fallen chestnuts and it was obvious from the many cars parked in obscure spots just off the road, that the locals were all collecting chestnuts. In the end I gave way to temptation and stopped Jane stayed firmly in her seat whilst I collected two kilograms of chestnuts in less than fifteen minutes. Because the wind had only just dislodged them, they were in excellent condition and very few had those tell-tale small holes that indicate invading creatures! Well, that is the Christmas chestnut stuffing sorted and we will probably have a few roasted chestnuts during the sojourn. For fellow chestnut enthusiasts (and to remind me) I can reveal that I collected them on a small road joining the S45 and P225. Travelling south from Laccio the turning left comes just after a tunnel and takes you immediately through a short tunnel. The route is marked in green on our Michelin map and is very pretty. There are also many places to stop and collect those lovely nuts.
The route that we had picked was much more tortuous than we had realised. My arms got lots of exercise with all of those mountain roads but, more importantly, it took longer than we (or the sat nav) estimated. We arrive at Castelnuovo di Garfagnana when it was virtually dark and struggled at first to find the aire. However when we did find it, it was very good with plenty of space.
Photos: Left on our own at Ai Cuivin after the Italian group had left; The village of Caprigiola above the river Magra near Aulla north of La Spezia.