hiking monte ceceri.

Buongiorno!

Yesterday was the hike with my class. I was looking forward to it, and I wasn’t disappointed! It was a great hike with some fantastic views.

We boarded the bus and left Siena around 8:30. The drive to Fiesole was about an hour. When we got there, we met up with our tour guide, Manuela. Even though we weren’t in Fiesole for a long time, I’ll give you a little bit of information about it, which was passed to me by our tour guide and my guide book. :)

Fiesole started off as an Etruscan settlement in the 9th or 8th century B.C. Some of the walls date back to the Etruscan time. It actually used to be more important than Florence, ruling over the valley from its height. Florence was encouraged to grow by the Romans in order to take importance away from Fiesole. Eventually Florence succeeded, and after many years of conflict, Florence destroyed Fiesole during the 12th century. It has since been a popular destination to escape the pollution and business of Florence (since it is only about 20 minutes away). It also has an amazing view of Florence and the surrounding hills and mountains.


So after getting organised with the lunches which had been prepared for us, and a quick bathroom break, we walked through Fiesole uphill to the Via degli Scalpellini. Via degli Scalpellini means “stonecutter’s street.” I don’t remember exactly what Manuela said about the street, but I can guess. The park used to be a heavily quarried area. The stone was probably transported from Monte Ceceri to Fiesole along this road.

From this road we entered Monte Ceceri park. The stone which was quarried here is called pietra serena. Much of this stone was used in building up Florence. Our guide said it is thought that about half the stone in the Monte is now part of Florence. The quarry in the picture above is called Cava Braschi.

From Cava Braschi we walked uphill to the highest point of Monte Ceceri, Piazzale Leonardo. It is so named because this is supposed to be the mountain from which Leonardo da Vinci tested his idea for giving man wings with which to fly, one of his many inventions. Of course, Leonard didn’t test the wings himself. He had his assistant put on the wings he had built and jump off the mountain. Although the wings did not work, the assistant got away alive with only broken bones. The plaque in the picture below commemorates this experiment.


After seeing the Piazzale Leonardo, we walked back down the Monte, and left the park, heading for a small town called Settignano. To get there, we crossed forests and an olive field, where we stopped under some olive trees and ate lunch. The forests were mainly made up of oak trees and Cyprus. As well, we saw some wild fennel and asparagus (seen in the picture below).


Settignano is a quiet, old, small town. It is and was popular among artists and scholars. It is easy to see why; the beauty of the landscape around this area is great.

This is where the hike ended, probably around 2. It was a fairly short hike, especially compared to the hikes I’m used to back home, but it was just as tiring, if not more so. A lot of the walking was uphill, and during the hottest hours of the day. At the end, everyone was hot and exhausted, so we stopped at a gelato shop. :) Then the bus took us back to Siena.

While we were gone, by the way, Siena had started preparations for the Palio. The horses for the ten competing contrade were chosen. Trial runs also started yesterday, but I haven’t seen any yet. I hope to see the trial runs tonight and/or tomorrow morning. When we arrived in Siena, all the contrade had decorated their streets. Now, the streets are coloured with different flags and lamps. The city is getting ready for the big race! It’s pretty exciting!

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’m really happy I finally got to go on a hike, and I hope to go on at least one more before I go home. I found out that a couple of my friends might just be interested in going on another one. It would probably be best to start early in the morning, when it isn’t so hot, relax for the middle of the day, and then return later in the afternoon. Therefore, I can’t go between Monday and Thursday since I have class. I have to get on the plans for the hike though. After this weekend, I only have two weekends left!

Hugs & kisses to everyone back home!
Ciao <3