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Wandering the World

Stories and tips from around the world.

Italy

The March of Tuscany

“In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, they had 500 years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

-- Orson Welles

In 2009 as part of a short trip around Europe, I'd visited Italy and had seen the likes of Naples, Pompeii, Rome, and Venice. Thirteen years later I was now returning, this time with my sister in tow, to see some of the places I'd not seen. My sister's last overseas trip had been Croatia and Slovenia where she'd seen a lot of Venetian influence, now she'd get to see a more modern view of Italy.

What had started off as an idea for seeing Milan soon expanded into a week long trip around the Lombardy and Tuscany regions of Italy.

Florence

Contents

Recent Trips

Valencia
The fourth city in our Super Half journey would be our second of 2025, and a much needed break after a busy year. As the race day approached, Carmen started to feel her foot play up again, and Valenci…

Lyon
My third time visiting France, and only the second city I've visited there. This was an unexpected chance to explore a little more, whilst also being around to support Carmen as she competed in the Eu…

Rwanda
My fourth Impact Marathons adventure was a trip to Rwanda where we would learn about the work Chance for Childhood do in communities there, the conservation work of the Rwandan Wildlife Conservation A…

Berlin
In the year that would see the 275th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach's, we would be heading to Berlin for the half marathon. > "One can profit there much more than in any other pl…

Cyprus
I didn't expect to be going back to Cyprus for a third time; though the timing of the marathon there, and knowing the conditions for it there would be warmer than in the UK made it a good choice. Carm…

More Trips…

Recent Races

Westminster Mile

Phoenix Running Track Wars IXXX - Legends Marathon
Another autumn marathon meant once again training through a hot summer, to prepare for my third marathon of 2025.…

Asics LDN X
We decided to do the inaugural LDN X race in Wembley. It sounded like it was going to be a fun event, but on the day, we could see things that didn't seem very well thought out.…

Market Bosworth Half Marathon

adidas Manchester Marathon

More Running…


© David G. Paul