Garfagnana in the Apuan Alps

We had another day of amazing adventures, this time driving north from Lucca into the Apuan Alps. We have loved all of our city and town adventures, but we are mountain and forest lovers and have missed hiking in more green surrounds. Plus, it’s obviously been hot, and the mountains promised to be cooler.

Our first stop was ‘devil’s bridge,’ a crazy steep bridge over a river about which there are many legends but not much actually known (who built it, and when, and why so steep?). It must have been a 45 degree angle in the middle of the bridge. We walked out to the middle and gazed along the river before hopping back into the car. And then it was mid-morning, the perfect time to stop for cappuccino and pastries at Bar Italia, in another little town with a picturesque pedestrian bridge.

Our next stop was in Bagni de Lucca, where Steve had found this gorgeous, public, outdoor pool. The kids were so delighted to swim and it was amazing to be outside in the cool water, in this mountain town. There were also two diving boards, one low, one high. We all went off the low board - Steve showed off his best diving technique - and then Steve jumped off the high one. After some hemming and hawing (and even climbing back down the first time we climbed up), Liesl and I gathered our brave powers and jumped from the high board. She was so delighted - so proud - that she actually did it. She did it again, immediately, and was full of glee and that special feeling you have when you confront a fear and overcome it.

(Videos of our jumps from the high diving board to come! The wifi here isn't strong enough - )

We were starving after swimming, of course, and thus headed to the mountain town of Barga for lunch. Barga was wonderful - so steep, with narrow streets and alleys and archways and steps straight up between the houses. There’s a lively square with restaurants and a beautiful church with views all over the surrounding hills and valleys. We had an delicious lunch with some of the local specialties - chestnut soup, farro pasta, local trout, black truffles on eggs. The kids played their “spy game”, hiding from us and scampering around the town, and for the first time got a little lost. We had stopped, and they didn’t realize and ran past, and then spent 5-10 minutes running up and down around the whole town yelling our names. It was a salutary lesson for them in staying a little closer to us.

On the restaurant's menu, it said that you had to put your fingers into this stone face's eyes, and make a wish, so we all did.

The views from the terrace in front of the church - the Italian Alps, all around!

A simple but lovely stone church.

An old English telephone booth, filled with English and Italian books for the taking! Very odd.

Next, we drove up to Castelnuovo de Garfagnana and then went along SP 13, a famously heart-stopping drive through the Alps to the sea at Massa. The roads are narrow and twisty, there are unlit tunnels, there are cyclists sharing the road, there are steep drop-offs. We had been unsure if we would drive all the way through it, or turn around and go back the way we came — the quicker and easier way. We decided to drive a short distance to Isola Santa, where we could see a lake, and explore that area. The lake was pretty, and we walked a short trail alongside it, and the surrounding mountains were really impressive — I would have loved to climb to the top of one peak, but not this trip, with no supplies and children along. We had a really a hard time finding out information or maps for hiking trails in the area — maybe everyone hires a guide, or maybe it’s all in printed material and not online — so we kept looking for trailheads and trails that would go up, and not having any luck. At last, just as we were about to leave, we found a good trail that said “Garfagnana Trekking” and went straight up the hill. So frustrating! We walked a mile or so up, but there were no views above the forest and we had no idea where it was going, and it was getting late, so we turned around and came back down to the car. Another time!

A view from the car as we were driving north -

Everyone was a little tired so we headed back to Castelnuovo for our daily gelato - fabulous blackberry - and dinner. We were hoping to eat on a terrace overlooking the gorgeous hills, and didn't really find anything that looked promising (it was sort of a confusing dud of a town). So we headed back to Barga, assuming we could find food there -- but then it turned out that there was a jazz festival in town and all the restaurants were full with reservations. (Actually, there was one restaurant with a free table, but we sat down and waited 20 minutes and no one came to help us, and there were many tables similarly waiting, so we left.) At this point, it was nearly 9 pm, we had a 45 minute drive back to Lucca, and no one had eaten dinner -- a total travel/parental fail. We started driving back and found a good-looking pizzeria in Fornacci di Barga; two pies, a salad, done by 10, home by 10:45, and not in bed until probably 11:30. Phew. It was a tough end to the day, but also pretty memorable.