Lovely hot day again, I say lovely as we have no plans and can just alternate between the cool shaded van / outside and wandering along the track to the dog friendly beach for refreshing dips in the sea – what is not to like?
I have also taken some time to do a bit of planning ahead and tried to decide exactly where I want to visit. This coastline has been trickier to access /find places to stay than the Ligurian Coastline from back in May, compounded by the extremely hot temperatures we are having. I have been looking at the Italian Aires (Sostas) to give me a few more options but have found them nearly all to be in unshaded areas which in this heat will be unbearable. As such I have also found that we have had some lengthy drives through not very interesting landscapes – so am feeling more focus is required. A plan always helps.
Today we opt to walk southwards along the cycle / footpath to take a closer look at the prominent Fort on the rocky headland that we can see along the far end of the beach. After about a mile we have to turn off the path and then cover another mile or so along the side of the road which isn’t very pleasant, though fortunately the road is not busy, to return to the coast. There actually isn’t any village here just a string of holiday parks which is a bit disappointing but Spiaggia di Rochette is a welcome sight….
Forte delle Rochette looks pretty impressive as we sit in the shade of some rocks at the waters edge to cool down….
Now that is what you call taking your work with you!!!! Strangely this stretch of coastline has been my first encounter with these beach traders in my travels around Europe. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable and soul destroying it must be just trudging up and down the beach all and everyday carrying your wares which must be heavy and most people don’t want….
Having not particularly enjoyed the walk here we opt to return via the beach which though tough walking and in the full sun is probably about half the distance….
About half way back on Spiaggia de Roccomare there are a number of bamboo roofed shelters (belonging to one of the holiday parks which is closed for the season) along the way for us to stop, sit, cool down and have a drink (as always I am armed with cold water for Tilly and a flask of coffee for me). We are in no rush….
A bit further along we have to leave the beach to cross a stream and that involves wandering through another deserted holiday parks which in the semi shade before rejoining the beach at Spiaggia Pineta di Roccomare….
Wow that was certainly a work out and a bit of recovery is required before taking a latish dip in the sea to complete our recovery before calling it a day.
As the sun is beating down and the beach is rather narrow with only soft sand to walk on, I opted for us to walk the couple of miles into Castiglione della Pescaia along the cycle / footpath. Not the most pleasant walk as the path is next to a fairly busy road but it was relatively shaded and cool. Once arriving in the town we took the first opportunity to join the wide promenade and walk the rest of the way to the old town along the seafront – a mix of private (paid) and open beach (Spiaggia di Sud Punta Capezzollo)….
As we approached the old town the overlooking Castello Araganse was dominating the skyline….
The promenade ended at the main Spiaggia Castiglione della Pescaia and from there we followed the river with its marina into the old town….
A pleasant town of old shabby chic buildings both residential and a mix of shops, bars and restaurants….
Unfortunately by this point the heat was beating us so we didn’t wander up to the castle, instead we found somewhere to sit in the shade and catch our breath before walking back to site the way we came, with the promise of a dip in the sea and an afternoon in the shade….
Time to move a little further south, as there is not a lot here to keep us amused – apart from the sun, sand and sea! Fortunately my kindly German neighbours were around to help me manoeuvre out of my pitch without any further mishap and we were soon on our way.
We stopped briefly for a quick food shop and then meandered our way up to the hilltop village of Castagneto di Carducci for a walk around the old town, stopping to admire the lush Tuscan countryside on our way up….
We passed the old church perched on the side of the hilltop….
And meandered our way around the narrow cobbled streets adorned with potted plants and laundry drying from upper floors with teasing glimpses down to the lush greenery below…
The main street home to a few bars and restaurants bedecked with outside tables and umbrellas or far reaching views towards the distant sea (from whence we came)….
Even the rooftops have a certain shambolic charm….
After cooling down for a while in the shade of the van, with all the doors open to ventilate the van we left the hilltop village behind and headed back down to the coast joining the main SS1 coastal road south. This section of the coastal road is in fact mostly inland a bit and not that scenic, however within a couple of hours we arrived at Camping Maremma sans Souci, on the outskirts of Castiglione della Pescaia.
No guided tour by golf cart here, we were just handed a map and told to park up in the car park, wander around and choose a pitch (or indeed several as there were quite a few others wandering around with a map) and then report back once done – straight forward – not!
With it being a pine forest with a similar twisty turny layout as the previous site, many of the pitches appeared just too tricky to access (though to be fair some very capable manoeuvering had been deployed as the site was pretty chocca) or were very awkwardly sloped, this was no mean feat. I did however find a few that looked ok and reported back to reception only to be told that my first 2 choices had already gone and my 3rd & 4th were larger pitches for bigger vans, so number 5 it was! It then took over half an hour to get back out of the car park as there were vans abandoned all over the place and when I got to choice number 5 someone had parked in the opposite pitch making it impossible to get sufficient angle to reverse into the pitch!! Suffice to say we did get settled onto a pitch eventually but that is 2 hours of my life I’ll never see again….
Still on a positive note the pitch was right next to a lovely pine forest walk to the much quieter dog friendly bit of the beach – Spiaggia del Camping Maremma….
The weather continues to influence this journey, or should I say, lack of. It is just too hot (being in the upper 20’s) and full sunshine for us to do much. Fortunately the almost total shade of the site is keeping the van and surrounding area nice and cool. During the night the temperatures are still kind and ideal until about 4 in the morning when suddenly I feel a chill and have to reach for a blanket to supplement the sheet I am sleeping with. The sunrise brings almost instant warmth.
We happily settle into a new routine of walking for an hour or so around 8am and then again around 6pm, usually along the beach in one direction or the other. We fill our days with further trips down to the beach for me to swim in the lovely refreshing sea, Tilly alternately chasing driftwood or pinecones and sitting in my shade and reading – well we are on holiday after all!!
Heading down to the beach a little later to catch the beautiful sunsets….
Tilly occasionally making a sit down protest in the distance if the waves are a little noisy….
