To Montecatini Alto

Saturday 28th April

We moved on again this morning, but the short journey wasn't too comfortable for me as I slipped on the campsite shower floor last night and although I didn't fall, I jarred just about everything below the belt!  We travelled through the scenic Tuscan hills on minor roads to Montecatini Terme and arrived at Camping Belsito at 1.15 only to find that the barrier was shut from 1.00 till 3.00! We thought that was only a French thing - still, we carried our chairs and lunch through the pedestrian gate and sat under a tree until Trudie came to let us in.

This is a super site, on a hillside almost as high as Montecatini Alto village, with amazing views.  Because of my current affliction (hurting a lot to sit and walk) we decided to pay the extra and have an en suite pitch!  We have a loo/basin/shower room on our pitch and 2 sinks on the outside of it.  (Photos to follow)

Sunday 29th April

Feeling a lot more comfortable this morning, so we got our picnic together and walked (rather more slowly than normal) up to the village of Montecatini Alto perched on a hilltop.

 

 There is just one main piazza

Built as a theatre, now a restaurant!

 
 and steep cobbled roads up to a church and castle remains one end
 

and the clock tower at the other.  The clock face is interesting, with 6 Roman numerals, but the time was wrong - it was an hour out - we were having our lunch at 1 o'clock!

Most people were coming up there by 'Funicolare' from Montecatini Terme but after exploring Alto, we did the reverse and went down to the spa town. 

View down to Montecatini Terme

There are huge parks with several different thermal baths and treatment centres (all closed Sundays).  We just enjoyed the parks and did some geocaching (brilliant here as all the caches stay dry - not like the soggy, rain-filled ones in England!). 

From the park up to Alto

 When we were walking back to the campsite from the upper Funicular station we passed a monastary that was (aparently unusually) open today.  We went in and saw an exhibition of ceremonial robes and beautiful intricate embroidery.

We couldn't see much of the building itself, but we could go into one of the courtyards.  We sat peacefully for a few minutes, before a group of loud talkers arrived(!) and spoilt the atmosphere.

San Gimignano

Friday 27th April

Another amazing day! The 10.06 bus should have picked us up at the campsite gate, but it didn't appear, so along with a dozen or so other people, we stood in the blazing sun till the 10.37 arrived.  We were soon in San Gimignano ("city of beautiful towers") and able to cool off in the shade of the tall buildings walking through the back streets.  The towers date from the 13C and 14 of the original 76 have survived.  They were built to serve both as private fortresses and symbols of their owners' wealth.




We climbed just one of the towers which surprisingly, is now a holiday apartment for hire.  But when it isn't in use it's open to the public - Torre Salvucci Maggiore.  There are now 11 (very small) floors, from a kitchen with table and chairs, up iron spiral staircases (160 steps in total) via bedrooms, bathroom, library and near the top, another kitchen and toilet before you get to the open air terrace with amazing views.


 
 
 

 
 
 Lunch in a cool restaurant gave us energy then to explore the beautiful buildings and the cathedral with its huge frescos.

 

 
The shops are really lovely too, but we were just looking ....

Camping Lago le Tamerici, Coltano

 Wednesday 25th April

Today has been a lazy day enjoying being beside this beautiful lake in glorious sunshine with a gentle breeze from the sea.
 
 
 
 Our receptionist had told us that today was not a day for negotiating the bumpy narrow road out to anywhere because it is a National Holiday today and just like every Sunday, hundreds of local families drive to the field next to the campsite for picnics, barbecues, fishing and a general party.  The campsite charge them 3.50€ each to park and the restaurant further along the track also does extremely well!  Apart from some of the children walking through the campsite as a short-cut, we were very impressed with how quiet and well-behaved so many people could be.  Barbecues and umpteen picnic tables under the trees, rubbish bins and toilets are provided for them.  What a super facility.  We wandered along the track during the afternoon and watched children playing football, two horses giving rides around the field (another money-maker) and parents chatting under the trees.  Then before sunset, they had all gone ... until next Sunday.


 
During the afternoon, Marilyn and Alan arrived and we spent another happy evening chatting with them....

Thursday 26th April

.... and took their photo in their natural habitat before we left this morning! 

 The big field today:




It was very tempting to stay in this beautiful place for longer, but we want to see as much of Tuscany as we can, so drove inland to be able to visit some of the beautiful cities. 

The scenery changed to rolling hills with vineyards and olive groves:




We've come to San Gimignano, a medieval town on a hill and are camping a short distance away in the village of Santa Lucia.  We will be visiting there tomorrow.  This is the view from the entrance to the campsite:

Pisa

Monday 23rd April

The morning began well with us up and off to cycle to the station for the 11.07 train to Pisa.  But things at the station were no more lively than yesterday.  With no way to buy tickets (and the threat of 50€ on-the-spot fine for not having them), we had no option but to abandon Plan A. So it was back to the campsite to have lunch and plan a bike ride for the afternoon.  We were just about to leave, when a couple from the Wirral we had met and chatted to at Deiva Marina appeared!  They apologised for 'stalking' us(!) and then we set off exploring the area some more.

We ended up cycling 12k by finding a track that ran behind the sandunes along the coast through the "Parco Naturale Migliarino S. Rossore e Massaciuccoli",

Found a geocache in this bush!

stopping for a while to trudge over the hot sand for a paddle
 
 
and continuing on into the busy streets of Viareggio and following the GPS to Lidl!  So far in Italy this time we've only found very small shops, so it was fun having a bit more choice.  Then with a stuffed rucksack and loaded bikes, we pedalled back to Torre del Lago via a long straight, tree-lined road through the forest.

We spent a very enjoyable evening chatting with Marilyn and Alan ...

Tuesday 24th April

... with a plan to meet again tomorrow afternoon when they catch us up at our next campsite.  Plan B for getting into Pisa was to travel this morning to another site just south of the city, where we could get a bus in.  Camping Lago Le Tamerici is very different from others so far - very open, grassy and we have a pitch beside the lake.  A downside is that it is on the flightpath into Pisa Airport!  But the new plan worked a treat - our friendly receptionist arranged for the minibus to take us at 1.30 to the bus stop where we could catch the No.8 bus for a bumpy ride into the centre of Pisa.
 

 
 
The afternoon was plenty of time on our feet to see the town and in particular, the Piazza dei Miracoli.  The buildings are just amazing and it was really good to join the crowds in photographing the Torre Pendente.

 

 The only building that was free to enter was the Duomo but you still needed to get a timed ticket.  So we had an hour's rest at a pavement restaurant, where I had Spagetti Pesto but John just had to have a pizza in Pisa(!)
 
before we could go and admire the huge cathedral. 

View from our pitch as the sun went down this evening