Visita alle Fortificazioni di Pittone a Brancoli (Visit to the Pittone Fortifications at Brancoli)

Yesterday (Sunday, May 26) we went on a guided visit to the World War II fortifications on Monte Pittone. This is located in the Brancoli area of the Provincia di Lucca, due north of the city. These fortifications formed part of the German's Gothic or Green Line defensive position in the latter stages of the war. There are all sorts of these remnants in the hills north of Lucca and further afield in the Appenine mountains. Some of them are being reclaimed and many events are planned in the area to commemorate the 70th anniversary of local occupation related events.

We started out near this lovely church that is perched on the hillside. Pretty much everything in Brancoli is perched on the hillside as it is quite a steep area.

The views from here are stupendous. It was very clear yesterday morning. Here is Dom admiring the view from Mary and Orlando's new house. You can see the Serchio River winding its way out of the mountains towards Lucca and the sea. The hills in the distance are Monte Pisano and the other Pisan hills.

Here is Mary and Orlando's new house. It is incredibly cute and very traditional.

The visit participants gathered just below the church. The event was a guided hike followed by an early lunch--zuppa, pasta, antipasti, bread, water, wine, and desserts.

Of course there was some swag for sale. I bought two hats and later a couple of CDs. Dom wore one. The event is put on by the local volunteer group so covering the costs is an issue.

There were a number of people there in costume. Here is an "American" soldier.

Here are a couple of "Germans" talking to an "American." There are a lot of people in Italy who are into all things World War II like some Americans are into Civil War re-enactments.

We were divided into a couple of groups. The first thing we came to was an "American" camp. There were tents, nurses, a first aid station, and a checkpoint. I had my passport just in case.

A local boy was chatting with the soldiers.

One soldier is manning his machine gun.

A pup tent set up on a terrace.

The first aid station. There were also a number of "British" soldiers.

As we came by a "priest" began saying mass.

After visiting the camp we continued along the trail up to the top of the ridge. The views got better and better.

The path was well maintained and not too strenuous. For much of the first part of the walk we followed an older woman who probably remembers the German occupation vividly.

Near the top of the ridge we came to the ruins of an old chapel. One of our guides explained that this area had medieval fortifications here and a customs point. The main north/south route through Italy to much of the rest of Europe used to go right through the valley. All that is left is the chapel ruins. Some of the stone might have been used by the Germans. Orlando said the local group would like to reconstruct the chapel one day.

Orlando told us the interior of the chapel used smooth, round river rocks. Those stones had to be carried a long, long way.

More stunning views.

Here you can see people heading into the first of the two bunkers we visited. This one had an opening on the opposite (cliff) side with a view up the valley. There was never any fighting near these fortifications but they certainly had great sight lines. Unfortunately, a nearby mountain towers over this ridge and it would have been easy for the Allied forces to just lob ordinance right into this area. What actually happened was the Allied forces used planes to bomb the area and the Germans retreated further north into the Garfagnana.

It was not easy to get into these bunkers which was just the way they were designed. Once inside they opened up.

After visiting the first bunker we followed the path along the cliff. It widened out just around this corner but it really is something of a goat trail along the cliff edge.

More stunning views. The cultivated fields (olive groves) in the middle of the picture is where the valley to Partigliano begins.

Here is the entrance to the second bunker.

Once inside the large, main chamber our guide, Enzo, tried to tell us all about it. It was difficult to hear because some of the people would not stay quiet and the room echoed. It looks like we could see quite well but that is the camera flash. In reality, it was nearly pitch black. Enzo had a flashlight and others turned on their smart phones. In the middle of Enzo's talk the electric lights came on. Later we learned no one had started the generator!

After climbing out of the second bunker via a ladder at another entrance, we hiked further up the hill to a field that the local volunteer group had hacked out of the hillside. We had a great lunch at long picnic tables set up in the area. Mary worked but Orlando, Dom and I, as well as Richard and Denise from the San Francisco area, sat and chatted and enjoyed the food and wine.

Afterwards we continues up a short trail to the cross at the top of the hill. It was built before WWII and does not seem to be a memorial to either World War.

From this location you can see all the way to Partigliano and Fondagno. You really have to know the area to make out what is what in this picture but, trust me, you can see the village church in Partigliano.

Here is another view up the Valdottavo valley without using the camera zoom. The town in the foreground is Piaggione which is on the opposite side of the Serchio River from Valdottavo.

From the same vantage point you could also look back the other direction. Because of the trees you could not see Lucca but the town in the middle of the photo is Ponte a Moriano.

This is the ridge we hiked along. If you find the power tower you can follow it down the knob it is on and see the trail we walked along between the two bunkers. The first was at the far end of the ridge and the second at the base of the knob the power tower is on.

There was a pair of WWII era periscope-style binoculars that one could take a look through.

Here's Orlando and Dom...

...and Richard and Denise.

It was really a fun day. The weather was perfect. We saw 30 degrees (mid 80s F) on our way back to Capannori so it was a good thing we started early and finished by 1:30 pm.

After we finished lunch we walked back down the hill by the a direct route that only took 15-20 minutes to get us back to the church. It was a lovely, relaxed finale to a great excursion.

Because it is the 70th anniversary of many of the important local events related to WWII, there are a number of other visits of this type planned for later in the summer and especially in September. If you are planning a visit to the area check them out.

Lucca, Cinque Terre, and Portofino

Our friends George and Alice and their daughter and son-in-law, Nicole and Craig, came and stayed with us for a few days. They arrived on Saturday afternoon in the middle of the Mille Miglia drive by. They had been traveling for a week so we had a quiet dinner in and then walked over to the local gelateria for dessert. 

On Sunday we went into Lucca for lunch. Below is a picture of Alice, George, Nicole and Craig on the Lucca wall with the gardens of Palazzo Pfanner behind them.

On Monday we drove to Monterosso al Mare, the northernmost town of the Cinque Terre. It was gray and cool but we only a a few drops of rain. If you enlarge the photo below you can pick out the other four towns of the Cinque Terre--Vernazza, Coniglio, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

This is the older part of Monterosso al Mare. After we checked into our accommodations we walked over to this area for lunch.

Seafood is a specialty of the Ligurian coast. George ate seafood at nearly every meal. As you can see he dug right into the shellfish.

Our lunch setting was a pretty little piazza in old Monterosso al Mare.

After lunch, we took the train to Vernazza. I think it is the cutest of the Cinque Terre but it was obvious a lot of other people thought the same thing. We could not believe how many people were there. After strolling down the main street we enjoyed gelato at the water's edge.

Here we are waiting for the return train to Monterosso.

That evening we met for drinks. We found a spot that served margheritas and daqueris and other sorts of "American" drinks.

A margherita "bucket" was ordered but Alice and I opted for Italian aperitivi (the orange glassed contained Aperol spritz and who know what else--they were very tasty). They also brought us all sorts of nuts, olives, and chips and salsa.

We had dinner that evening in a FABULOUS spot--Ristorante de Miky. The food and ambiance were both wonderful. George was happy and this was before we ate!

The water glasses were lovely. They had different patters of blue glass "dribbled" on the outside. A set of these would be nice to have but they probably don't do well in the dishwasher.

On Monday we drove from Monterosso al Mare to Santa Margherita Ligure. From there we took the passenger ferry to Portofino. On the way there we snagged seats on the top deck. The weather was perfect "sunny Italy." It was a great day to be out on the water.

Taking the ferry is always fun because you get a better look at some of the palazzi along the coat than you do from the road.

We had lunch in a waterside cafe (troppo caro!). Afterwards, everyone but Dom hiked out the point to the lighthouse. The path starts from near the peach colored Yacht Club Italiano building at the water's edge. The views from the trail are great and it is a good postprandial excursion. Portofino was also crowded, mostly with tour groups.

The harbor in Portofino is tiny. It's amazing how many boats they can anchor in there. They leave a path for the ferry boats to come and go. Here is one arriving at the dock on the right.

After we returned to our cars we headed back to Capannori. That evening we had a great dinner at La Cantina--great meat and pasta followed by more of our local gelato.

On Wednesday morning George, Alice, Craig, and Nicole headed off for Siena.

Dom and I took it easy the rest of the week, caught up on projects, and read. We have done a lot considering we have only been here two weeks!

The Mille Miglia Passes Through Capannori

On Saturday, May 19th the Mille Miglia passed through Capannori. Wikipedia explains it better than I can:

"The Mille Miglia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmille ˈmiʎʎa], Thousand Miles) was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italytwenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before the war, eleven from 1947).

Like the older Targa Florio and later the Carrera Panamericana, the MM made Gran Turismo (Grand Touring) sports cars like Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari, Maserati and Porsche famous. The race brought out an estimated five million spectators.^[1]

Since 1977, the "Mille Miglia" has been reborn as a regularity race for classic and vintage cars. Participation is limited to cars, produced no later than 1957, which had attended (or were registered) to the original race. The route (Brescia-Rome round trip) is similar to that of the original race, maintaining the point of departure / arrival in Viale Venezia in Brescia."

The bottom line is that a lot of really classy classic cars passed through the piazza in front of our apartment.

The local car and motorbike aficionados brought their nice vehicles and parked them in front of city hall.

Before the 1927-1957 cars came through there was quite a parade of younger Ferraris and Mercedes vehicles came through.

Dom went out and took a LOT of pictures but there were over 400 cars in the 1927-1957 portion of the "race." He wore out long before all the cars came through. Here is a sampling of some of the pictures he took.

Some of the classic vehicles had a whole parade of support vehicles along with them. Some of the support vehicles were awfully nice themselves.

There was occasional passing on the turns.

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After the banner went up across the piazza we looked up the official entry list. We recognized a few names--Jay Leno and Adrian Brody. It was fun to watch and made for an interesting introduction to Capannori to our guest who arrived the same afternoon.