» My Best Walk in Italy

My Best Walk in Italy

Italy Map My son and his family live in the community of Calcinelli. The nearest larger city is my daughter in law’s home town of Fano on the Adriatic coast, then Ancona which is shown on the map to the left. This puts them on the eastern side of Italy roughly half way between Rome and Venice. Calcinelli is just far enough away from the coast enough to be part of the rolling landscape similar to what the Tuscan region is known for.

As it turned out the countryside in Calcinelli provided the perfect backdrop for a perfect walk. Here’s why:

Exercise value: The distance was about eight miles. At the beginning of the walk I had to climb a tall stairway, then a steep hill. There were several other smaller hills along the way.
Great Scenery with changing views: Mountains, meadows, and wooded areas provided natural views. Farmland, red roofs, bright colored houses, and brick walls provided great man made views.
A unique setting: The Italian countryside!
Tranquility: During the longest stretch of the walk (about six miles), I didn’t see a car, hear a lawnmower, tractor, music, not even a human voice.
Comfort: Even though it was a hot day in the low nineties, it wasn’t humid, there was a breeze, and most of the roads were shaded.

The walk started after finding a tall set of stairs near the main street. From the top stair I could see all of Calcinelli and a few other areas. From this point on, this was more like a country walk. From there I followed a road which continued to climb the hill. I followed that road noticing that farmland started appearing on my right. A few large homes appeared on my left.

In another few minutes there were only occasional farm houses and distant mountains. Even though it was Spring and about 80F (27C), one mountain still had snow still on it. Next there were open fields and wooded areas. I chose a road which took me downhill and seemed to follow the line of the hills on the right. At the bottom of the hill there was a house to my left, a very old yet well kept farm house. An aging man was tending to a small garden in his side yard. The right side of his house had a few rows of Olive trees and the remaining areas of the property were yielding wheat. Then for about a mile it was just open fields with hundreds of poppies in bloom.

After the fields, the next views were of a couple of farms, one of each side of the street. The one on the right seemed to have the most crops. Somewhat near the road was the owner’s house protected by a set of gates and a decorative cement and iron fence. Large trees shaded the house and there was a neatly planted set of Olive trees, then a variety of other crops - including grapes. I took another look at the house across the street. Then I realized that its setting was much grander. That house was high on a hill, near a vineyard. The Olive trees seemed to form a small forest, and his crops were changing the color and texture of the fields. I took another picture.

Between these two farms, I didn’t see anybody working. I didn’t even see or hear a dog or cat. All I could hear was a few birds and the breeze. The road turned and went through a patch of woods putting me in view of a sloping meadow and more hills. As you look at the hills from a distance, you see large sections of trees, surrounded by areas of different shades of green. Within the green areas there are tan, brown, yellow, and orange houses with dark red roofs. Around the house you can see more shades of green then a combination of other colors making up the garden. More photos.

The road now started climbing and by this point I had completely lost track of time. At the top of this hill there was a freshly plowed field. Way off to one side I could see a man walking along the edge. In the past hour or so, this was only the second person I had seen. From this point the vineyards dominated the fields. The scenery continued and so did my picture taking.

The road finally ended in Lucrezia, the next town over. I took another road back to avoid repeating the same route. When I returned I gave the walk a great review. My daughter in law called it La Passeggiata Perfetta (The Perfect Walk). I’m inclined to agree because when an experience is really good you keep thinking about it. Well, I’m still thinking about it.