Backroads, Day 4, Part 1

Wednesday morning was mostly spent traveling from Liguria to Toscana. I slept on the bus and missed most of the scenery, but I did get one interesting shot  of big blocks of marble. 

Then we did a short hike to a small trattoria for lunch. It was amazingly hot. It's been in the upper 90s all week, but today seemed even hotter. I was wilting (and drenched in sweat, just like every other day this week - we have done laundry in the shower several times because our clothes are too gross to put back in the suitcase). I now have a more intimate understanding of the phrase "under the Tuscan sun".

Lunch spot:

The delicious gluten free antipasti plate they prepared especially for me:

The heat on top of the fact that I only slept about two hours the previous night (due to dehydration) made us opt to take the afternoon easy. We had the van drive us to Greve, where we spent a couple of hours eating gelato and window shopping before getting a taxi to the hotel in the late afternoon. 

Greve:

This hotel where we spent the last two nights of the trip was absolutely beautiful. Our room is large and heavily air conditioned, and the grounds and view are spectacular. 

Villa le Barone:

There is a pool (getting lots of use by all members of our group) and a "fitness path" with 12 different stations of equipment and recommended exercises. 

Fitness with a view:

Backroads, Day 3

Hotel Jolanda, where we stayed the second and third nights (nicest hotel we've stayed in so far):

Views from the balcony of our room:

Santa Margherita Ligure to Portofino:

After several miles of hot, hot hiking under the Tuscan sun, one of the trip leaders surprised us with lemon Popsicles. 

Bathroom and drink break:

These nets are spread out under the olive trees to catch the ripe olives when they fall off:

Portofino:

Next leg of the journey - lots of stairs!

After all that hiking, arriving at the San Fruttuoso monastery and going for a swim was just the refreshing treat we needed. 

The entire group dined together at Antonio's. 

Antipasti:

Primo (Minestrone pesto soup):

Secondo: