And the path lies through the woods. You make your way under the
mountain towards S. Miniato in Alpe, leaving it at Villa del Lago for a
mule-track, which leads you at last to Consuma and the road from
Pontassieve. The way is beautiful, and not too hard to find, the world
about you a continual joy. If you start early, you may breakfast at
Consuma (though it were better, perhaps, to carry provisions), for it is
but two and a half hours from Vallombrosa. Once at Consuma, the way is
easy and good. You climb into the pass, and in another three hours you
may be in Romena, Pratovecchio, or Stia. But there are other ways, too,
of which the shortest is that by the mountains from Vallombrosa to
Montemignajo--that lofty, ruined place; and the loveliest, that from
Vallombrosa to Raggiola of the forests; but there be rambles,
pilgrimages, paths of delight unknown to any but those who hide for long
in the forests of Vallombrosa. Your tourist knows them not; he will go
by rail from S. Ellero to Arezzo, and make his way by train up the
valley to Stia; your traveller will walk from Vallombrosa to Consuma,
where Giuseppe Marari of Stia will send a _vettura_ to meet him. For
myself I go afoot, and take a lift when I can, and a talk with it, and
this is the happiest way of all to travel. Thus those who are young and
wise will set out, putting Dante in their knapsack and Signor Beni's
little book[134] in their pocket, and with these two, a good stick, a
light heart, and a companion to your liking, the Casentino is yours. And
truly there is no more delightful place in which to spend a Tuscan
summer. The Pistojese mountains are fine; the air is pure there, the
woods lovely with flowers; but they lack the sentimental charm of
Casentino. The Garfagnana, again, cannot be bettered if you avoid such
touristry as Bagni di Lucca; but then Castelnuovo is bare, and though
Barga is fine enough, Piazza al Serchio is a mere huddle of houses,
and it is not till you reach Fivizzano on the other side of the
pass that you find what you want. In Casentino alone there is
everything--mountains, rivers, woods, and footways, convents and
castles. And then where is there a better inn than Albergo Amorosi of
Bibbiena, unless, indeed, it be the unmatched hostelry at Fivizzano?
As for inns, in general they are fair enough; though none, I think, so
good as the Amorosi. You may sleep and eat comfortably at Stia, either
at Albergo Falterona or Albergo della Stazione Alpina. At Pratovecchio
there is Albergo Bastieri; at Poppi the Gelati pension; at Bibbiena the
Amorosi, as I say. These will be your centres, as it were. At La Verna
you may sleep for one night--not well, but bearably; at Camaldoli, very
well indeed in summer; and then, wherever you may be, you will find a
fine courtesy, for rough though they seem, these peasants and such, are
of the Latin race, they understand the amenities. Saints have been here,
and poets: these be no Teutons, but the good Latin people of the Faith;
they will give you greeting and welcome.