Michelangelo’s Marble

Deep in the centre of Mount Torrione is a marble quarry, older than Michelangelo and today was the day we would pay it a visit. After a two hour drive from our hotel in Bologna this morning, to the town of Carrera,  and then up, up, up into the mountains, we thought we had reached our destination. 

We availed ourselves of a toilet stop and browsed the marble knick-knacks for sale, all the while waiting  for our tour. At the arranged meeting time, there was no sign of anyone, so Kim asked again in the cafe only to be told the tour leaves from a spot outside a cave 1 km further up the hill, and our drivers were telling us they weren’t allowed to drive up there!  

We began to walk, but felt unsafe sharing roads with large and fast moving vehicles (especially those of us who were in the van which was almost run off the road by one of these quarry trucks on our way up the hill).  Two kept on walking to find our tour, while the rest of us turned back  Fiona convinced the drivers they should drive us up there, so they took her up, whilst Jane and Steph were busy at the mouth of the cave negotiating whether or not we could still join our midday tour. 

The drivers eventually came back for the rest of us and we joined the tour, somewhat late, but the guide was very accommodating, explaining everything alternately in French for the only other two tour group members,  and English for us. She was very proficient in both languages  

It was fascinating to learn how they quarry the marble from inside the mountain, when most of the quarries are open air, including the one where Michelangelo chose his sculpting marble, which was at the other end of the tunnel. The tunnel we were in was originally built to house a railway for moving the marble, but now minibuses move tourists in and out and trucks transport the marble. 

After the tour our drivers collected us from the cave, only tutting a little at the white marble dust on our shoes, and delivered us to nearby La Spezia, a port city in Liguria. It was nice to be beside the sea and as soon as we had checked into our hotel, we all set off to explore the marina, lust after the expensive luxury yachts docked there, and then wander at our leisure through the town. It was a very relaxing afternoon.   

Tonight we ate at a traditional restaurant, which as well as the usual pasta dishes, had mouth watering seafood on the menu, which we took full advantage of.  















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