Day 19: an adventurous drive to Farnese and enchanting Pitigliano

Some acquaintances happen to live near Pescia Romana and have a plot with a small house in the countryside near Farnese, where they live an alternative life and grow most of what they eat. We decide to go and see the place, and only in the last few kilometres do we discover that the road — by now a gravel track — is thick with trees and bushes. Too thick for Enea. We do our best to get through in one piece, but a few scratches we cannot avoid: and the sound of branches squealing along the sides and over the roof is simply horrible. In exchange we see what the countryside around the village looks like, and what a heavenly quiet there is.

After lunch and a walk round the vegetable garden we go back out along the same scratching track. And we return to Tuscany, to picturesque Pitigliano. We park in an area set aside for campers where you can stay overnight for free — perfect for visiting the medieval centre, wedged between steep valleys of tufa.

On the footpath up to the old town there is a spectacular viewpoint over Pitigliano. We walk through the village, which is beautiful, past independent shops, bars, restaurants and a character all of its own: exactly what we had been missing the days before. We end the day with dinner at a good restaurant.

On the way back to the camper, one last look at the village that stays with you.