An Italian Adventure – The Labyrinth of Laigueglia –
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An Italian Adventure – The Labyrinth of Laigueglia –

Hiking in Italy – interrupt me if I have told you this before – can be an exasperating experience. Far too often, you are distracted from the beauty of the scenery by the need to ward off evil trolls who seem determined to test your orienteering skills or, just as frequently, your fortitude and your…

Easy Hiking in Elba – In Search of Time Past and a Good Time
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Easy Hiking in Elba – In Search of Time Past and a Good Time

No trip to Elba would be complete without a search of time past: a visit to places that are associated with the island’s most famous ever resident. A Bonaparte Pilgrimage Walk might feature stations all across the island: the central highlands with Napoleon’s summer residence in San Martino, for example, the west with the residence…

Go Easy Hiking in Elba into the Heart of Lushness
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Go Easy Hiking in Elba into the Heart of Lushness

After our first foray into the spectacularly beautiful landscapes of Elba – a coastal walk, nominally, but one which turned out to involve quite a lot of climbing – we were a little apprehensive before our second tour on our itinerary. This route, after all, was to take us all the way up to Marciana…

Easy Hikes in Elba – the Mediterranean’s Emerald Isle
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Easy Hikes in Elba – the Mediterranean’s Emerald Isle

Elba’s most famous visitor stayed on the island for roughly one year. He left, eventually (although he always emphasized how much he had enjoyed the experience), in search for a better job on the mainland. This did, in the end, not turn out very well for him (he lost his new job after a probation…

Asti Beyond Spumante – Discovering Southern Piemonte Part 2
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Asti Beyond Spumante – Discovering Southern Piemonte Part 2

The charms of Southern Piemonte – as we saw last week – may be rich and many, but a beautiful landscape is not one of them. Most of Southern Piemonte consists of flat, endless fields, so your best bet for a day trip is a town walk. The historically most interesting town in the area…