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2 THE FOOTHILLS AND HIGH APENNINES

The path along the edge of Lago Scaffaiolo (Walk 6)

The Pistoia district is a quiet hilly corner in the centre of northern Tuscany, well worth exploring for its pretty villages of old stone houses, and easily accessed thanks to the Florence–Lucca railway. The greatest drawcard here is a storybook about the wooden puppet-turned-boy, Pinocchio. He was the invention of 19th-century Tuscan author Carlo Lorenzini, who chose to use the name of his mother’s village, Collodi, as his pen name. Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio continues to be a bestseller, and has been translated into 260 languages!

Walk 4 links the village of Collodi with Pescia. Both have a dual existence. Pescia has grown up on parallel banks of the eponymous river, while Collodi is composed of a medieval alto (upper) part with a ruined castle, near-vertical pedestrian-only streets and tiny stone houses cascading dizzily down the hill, and a basso (lower) area with transport and facilities as well as the stately Villa Garzoni with its ornamental gardens. Pinocchio enthusiasts can also indulge themselves at the Parco di Pinocchio theme park (www.pinocchio.it).