Today’s Big Plan was to get out of the apartment before nightfall and take a hike around Colletta. There are walking trails all through the hills, with helpful maps and directional signs, so it seemed like a doable activity for a hikeophobe like me.
Man, is it ever beautiful around here! I headed down the hill from the village proper and crossed over the river on a stone bridge:
The trail looped around and back up the other side of the valley, across the river from the village. Once I got to the highest point of the trail, the views got really amazing:
From there I continued up the valley, gradually heading back down towards the road, where I encountered another stone bridge:
…and some views of Colletta from the bottom up:
The trail varied from well-groomed and almost flat to grass-covered and steep, and the degree of hill-climbing involved saw me just grazing up against my “fitness level” (such as it is). But it was good to get out and see some of the countryside and get a sense of the “neighbourhood.” If I can keep this up every day I will return home with much stronger knees if nothing else.
Comments
Is there anyone else there? So far, I have not detected any evidence of other humans being present. It’s like The Shining! Careful… all work and no fun makes Peter a dull boy.
You’re living in the Shire!
The Shire has other people.
There are scant few people around, and that’s why you don’t see them in my photos. I *did* pass a man cutting the lawn on the terraces during my hike, and I said Buon Giorno to two groups of people on the road back to the village. I passed an interesting group of men running a portable sawmill, but I was afraid if I said hello to them they might accidentally cut someone’s arm off. The olive harvest starts Friday, and with it comes promises of “many people.”
It looks very nice.