Tour 6 / The North West Tuscan Way / Pietrasanta / In Pictures
p r e s e n t s
North West Tuscany for the independent tourist
I N P I C T U R E S
Tour 6: Pietrasanta
At this point on the North West Tuscan Way we arrive at a juncture whereby, for me, this whole tour began. For it was here, in my over active mind’s eye, that I was to carve the famous Carrara marble. 
It was here, seated precisely this spot at this cafe table to the left, in Pietrasanta’s main square, that I quashed all such notions of carving, of working, and focused instead on exploring the region, as documented in my Rogue Carver on the Loose series of dispatches. It was also here in Pietrasanta that I began to relax and unwind, at long last, after months of at times quite brutal, physical work.
A little personal perspective may be helpful at this point: The recently completed 1314 Winter Collection put me through my paces like few projects I have ever undertaken. 
Tough, tough work it was, I can tell you. At times the quite savage Colorado Rocky Mountain conditions threatened to intervene and scuttle my plans, but as I boarded the plane on March 31st, 2014, I could look upon my achievements with a significant degree of satisfaction. And so it came as somewhat of a relief not to be carving rock hard marble, truth be told, and I felt a rush of excitement when the full implications of my impulsive decision swept into view. To paraphrase Rango: ‘I could be…anyone’. And so the Rogue Carver was soon On the Loose in Italy. But not ‘Italy’ as a whole, and not just Tuscany for that matter, but the whole wild north western frontier of Tuscany. As mentioned here and in previous related posts I felt an immediate and beguiling bond with this region: the mountains, the marble, the Med, the food, the wine, the attitude, the culture, the aromas, the adventures, and yes… the people who so casually and confidently make all this wonderfulness happen. By the time we complete this tour – back in Pisa, who knows when… 
it is my fervent hope that you will see why, in my opinion, we could all do to weave a little of the North West Tuscany Way into our day-to-day, daily, every-day life. And so, off we go. Take your time. Get into the cool groove that is Pietrasanta. Eat (lots – the food is universally great!), poke around the shops and galleries. Hike the huge fortified hill guarding the square. Oh, and haggle, really haggle, at the Saturday antique market – the encounter will do you good, and hopefully reveal much about what it is you need really need to know about the culture in which you are up to your tourist neck, and quickly! We’ll meet up at Bar Avio to slake our thirsts in style (right).
After which we’ll head off to Da Pio B&B (below, left) for a guaranteed great night’s sleep. And in the morning, fresh and relaxed, once we have devoured Maria’s excellent and enormous breakfast, we are headed back up into the foothills for two quite different outings, the first of which will have us travelling back in time when we wander the 800 year-old narrow, cobbled streets of Monteggiori, a Not So Hidden Gem of a typical Tuscan hill town.
I hope you enjoy Pietrasanta as much as did I. Conflicted as I was upon arrival, during the month I based myself there, this artsy little cosmopolitan town truly won me over. It is also undoubtedly one of the best, most interesting, and pleasant people watching opportunities afforded anywhere, as locals and visitors alike promenade their way up and down, down and up, up and along the narrow, arrow strait streets, and onto the wide open central square. And most fortunate of all, as it is largely avoided by the tour buses – and the mass tourist industry in general, the place holds an intriguing off-the-beaten-path feel, with an overwhelming majority of visitors hailing from within Italy, or so it was during the enchanting month of April, when these photographs were taken.
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and now
the slideshow
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- Stephano
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- Da Pio
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- Maria
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thanks for visiting martincooney.com
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next
The North West Tuscan Way
I N P I C T U R E S
Tour 8: Monteggiori
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Μ∂Γ†!∏
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