TuscanyMaremmaElba 4th Day

I set off early in the morning for Pitigliano, this ancient town built on tuff stones—it's always been a dream destination for me. 

Once again, I traveled over incredibly bad roads (I've never seen so many potholes! 😩) into the countryside, up into the heights to look down from there. The drive was truly a bit of an adventure but I’m somewhat familiar with the back roads of Tuscany, which was beneficial. Without much searching, I found a parking space, likely because it was still before ten in the morning, and then headed into the town, but only with trekking poles. That was a good decision 😅.

This place is wonderful and sad at the same time, old and new, loud and quiet, all at once. Ancient alleys tell stories of the many people who once lived here, but now many young people have moved away to the countryside. Everywhere you smell “old,” lavender, rosemary, and chamomile, but at the same time, there are new, youthful scents of cappuccino and French fries. In the Centro, there are many people with the usual noises; the further you venture into the dark alleys—the sometimes only silence, only the wind sings through the narrow streets. 

Old people sit there with their cats on a chair in front of their door, just like they probably did a hundred years ago, and if you look closely, you see a hundred years in their faces. 

I wandered through every alley, climbed hundreds of steps, and absorbed it all. And when the tourists 😅 arrived and it became crowded, I fled to not spoil the beauty of this place. That was a good choice!

On the way back, I took a break in Saturnia—there was a town festival going on, quite nice what such a small community can organize. Coffee break and an ice cream🍦 and then back to Poggio Murella to rest. 

In the evening, I had a very!!! substantial Aperol in my little bar and that was it.

Insight of the day: sometimes you have to get up early to see the essentials. With love! ♥️