Olmo to Fiesole: The Not-So-Short Short Day

June 11, 2016

It seems to us the walking mileage is adjusted to be a tad shorter each day as we near Florence.  And knowing this, our willingness to explore is expanded to fill more walking hours and take in Italy in great gulps now.

Ginestra with a vineyard background

Thanks to my friend, Malissa, we finally know that the scent that forever will remind us of this walk through the Emilio-Romagna and Tuscan Regions is Ginestra.  A big and heady perfume saturates the air wherever we see these vibrant yellow, sweet pea shaped flowers nestled on their leafless spiney branches.  We often linger where they are to take a photo or two in hopes of provoking the olfactory memory once we're home.

And oh the historical diversions!  Today we enjoyed our picnic lunch on the site where Leonardo da Vinci convinced an assistant to strap on wings and leap from a hilltop -- enabling a flight of some 12 or so meters centuries before the Wright Brothers did their thing at Kittyhawk.  I find it hard to stand on such sites (and there have been many) and not imagine the presence of those who so long ago walked, worked, created and contemplated

Painted between 1500-1510

And then there's simple curiosity:  We explored Fiesola's town center, to include the San Francesco Chapel with its 16th Century paintings, discovered the ever-so-intriguing town cemetery, and tested the local gelato before heading to our lodging (on the edge of town) just before an afternoon shower cooled the afternoon breezes for a clear view of the Duomo from a Fiesole trail.

Florence in the distance

. . . And so what should have been 15k was closer to 19k (to our lingering delight).  A not-so-short short day after all.