Beautiful wild roses grow along the side of country trails while the other wild roses from Women's Own Adventure walk along these same winding trails.
We are now staying in a beautiful olive farm with a pool and a view to die for. The hills of Tuscany are simply beautiful. Today we walked for about 4 hours through little country roads and picked wild cherries along the way, wild strawberries, through chestnut forests, saw almond and walnut trees and of course lots of olive trees and grapevines as well as so many different coloured and scented wild roses. We also met an Australian man who moved here with his wife and live in a beautiful house that was rundown and empty for 30 years, they were here on holidays about 8 years ago and decided to stay and bought the old house and fixed it up.
Lunch was served in a 10th century castle which is now owned by an English family and has been restored from almost ruins over the past 10 years. They grow grapevines and olive trees, making their own wine as well as their own olive oil. Both are fantastic! The local wine, especially the red wine is very good and is served with every meal (except breakfast thankfully).
The other morning, while some of us enjoyed a hilltop walk of some 8 kms to be rewarded with beautiful 360° views all around, two of our group took the opportunity for a 40km bicycle ride through winding roads to arrive at the natural hot springs, which are like a hot bath with waterfalls, out in the open and surrounded by trees and the sounds of birds. The Tuscan countryside is so very beautiful and very special. Their are no tourists here, so we are experiencing authentic Tuscan culture with wonderful people. This countryside is like walking through a picture postcard.
Tomorrow morning we will be having a cooking lesson at the olive farm and everyone is looking forward to that, as we will be eating our creations for lunch. Yum!
- signing off from Marika, Women's Own Adventure
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