We've moved, not far - only about 7km to the next ACSi campsite south, Camping Maremma Sans Souci. We hoped its location directly on the beach and bike track directly to the nearby town of Castiglione della Pescaia would address the grumbles we had about the previous place, namely that the beach was commodified and the place itself a temporary colony of greater Germania.
By moving we've addressed grumble number two, but not the first one. The new campsite is a more down market variation on the previous one in so much as it mainly consists of self catering cabins in the woods mixed with a smaller number of camping pitches arranged awkwardly among the trees. Cars are banned from the camping area in the forest; there is a big car park outside where people staying in the cabins leave their vehicles. Judging from the number plates here too is a moveable suburb of Dusseldorf or Zurich.
We had a wander about. If anything the rough tracks through the forest were even narrower and bendier than at camping Rochette, the vans parked in them were almost all small campers.
A chance encounter with a German couple at the moho service point alerted us to the fact there was a small sosta in the far corner of the big car park. We opted to stay there. It was utterly unlovely but less hazardous. Whether the beach was less li-lo land than the last place we have no idea because we never got as far as the sea. The receptionist was offhand and unsmiling, the entire place a tad depressing, we decided to stay for one night then move on again.
However, we achieved our other aim - a break-out from moveable Germany into actual Italian territory. We unloaded the bikes and pedalled into Castiglione della Pescaia down a cycleway. It's an attractive small seaside town with a walled medieval village on the hill above the harbour, a few fishing boats among the swanky yachts, and an esplanade fronting a more modern town, developed in the early twentieth century by the look of it
Old bit...
Harbour..
The ghost of Palladio perhaps in the proportions of the modernista villas.
It was fiveish, a kind of pre-passiagata was going on, but in current circumstances masked and slightly subdued. Subdued is how Italy feels, in Vernazza, and here - the same social mores, but lacking the habitual pizzazz . Or perhaps it's us, simply a bit weary of dealing with the restrictions day after day.
Nevertheless, there are still pleasures to be had. As I locked the bikes at the rack on the esplanade I noticed a gelateria opposite. The name, Gelateria "Orso Bianco", seemed familiar, maybe it was the one that received rave reviews on TripAdvisor when I investigated the delights of Castiglione della Pescaia when planning our trip.
This required further investigation later. First, Gill found a well regarded Macellaria in the back streets specialising in local cooked meats and sausages. Google said it was open. This is Italy, it wasn't. So we headed back to the even better regarded gelateria, which was open and as good as Trip Advisor promised.
Gill's chocolate one - dark and delicious with a slightly gritty texture, and my 'limone' - a heavenly mix of sweet and tangy, with a complexity of flavour you would not usually associate with something so light, each was as good as any we remembered from Cremeria San Stephano in Bologna, which in our eyes is the paragon of all gelateria in the entire universe.
5 comments:
I really enjoy your blog,Pete. When my home screen tells me there is a new posting it gives my day a little lift knowing that there is a diversion from the usual Johnson/Trump buffoonery. I have read other people's travel blogs but they tend to be simple narratives or a list of what things cost or what mileage they have achieved. Might be of interest to some but not for me. Your more reflective approach and the quality of your writing is much more to my taste. Several months ago I queried if you missed the more cultural aspects of life in the UK while you were away and now given there is no theatre, few exhibitions, fewer films here, I think you have the best of the bargain. There seems to be a bit of a theme in your blog at the moment. Is a site predominantly occupied by the Germans( perhaps an unfortunate choice of phrase) better or worse than one dominated by Brits or the Dutch.
I really enjoy your blog,Pete. When my home screen tells me there is a new posting it gives my day a little lift knowing that there is a diversion from the usual Johnson/Trump buffoonery. I have read other people's travel blogs but they tend to be simple narratives or a list of what things cost or what mileage they have achieved. Might be of interest to some but not for me. Your more reflective approach and the quality of your writing is much more to my taste. Several months ago I queried if you missed the more cultural aspects of life in the UK while you were away and now given there is no theatre, few exhibitions, fewer films here, I think you have the best of the bargain. There seems to be a bit of a theme in your blog at the moment. Is a site predominantly occupied by the Germans( perhaps an unfortunate choice of phrase) better or worse than one dominated by Brits or the Dutch. Pete Scott
Thanks for your kind comments. It's an interesting question if the 'shoals of Herren' are more demoralising than a place being dominated than any other nationality. The right and proper answer is no, once an influx of a single nationality dominates a place to the point where it is difficult to find a local, then it becomes a bit sad for everyone. Somewhere back in the blog you can find posts railing about Brit dominated places on the Costa Blanca - Spaintree, I think I called it. But...I did have a boyhood when Commando comics were required reading and films like 633 Squadron and The Great Escape were seen as perfectly OK, so maybe I am less tolerant of being in Germania in Italia than I should be!
It's always nice if people like what I've written. I think the blogs that concentrate on the practicalities motorhoming are really useful,especially for people contemplating long-term touring for the first time. Most are produced by people who are motorhomers who write, whereas, and I know this sounds somewhat pretentious, I am a writer who happens to motorhome, not a very successful writer admittedly, but someone who been serious about writing stuff for decades before we started travelling. In which case, the blog should really be better written than it is. One of the challenges is that you are writing on the hoof, without time to re-draft or moderate what you've said. I do it because I enjoy writing in the same way that others like taking photographs or playing the piano. I can't imagine not doing it. When others enjoy it - that's a real delight - so thanks!
I understand your point about past experience colouring today's feelings about others. I still struggle with both the South African and Northern Irish accents because for so long hearing either on the news meant something bad had happened.
On the topic of writing, do you do it for your own amusement or have you got anything in print? I have met a couple of people who have had books published electronically without much in the way of literary merit as far as I could tell. The trade off seemed to be that they needed to generate sufficient likes or reviews to maintain the availability on line so more an exercise in data gathering than services to the arts.
I write these days for my own amusement. I could 'monetise' the blog, but as you say it does make 'chasing likes' a temptation which might change what you decide to write. I've given up on seeking publication. Everything I have had published in the past was written using the pen name 'Alan Wickes' It's gathered together here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1499766157/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_yxeGFbDTG0JG6
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