A Visit From Home - Italia

Ridiculously excited about reaching Italy

Nine hours after leaving Cannes we reach our home for the next couple of weeks. Marina di Bibbona, 40KM outside Pisa. To get here we drove 540KM, all of it through mountains and miles and miles of rolling green countryside, at times we were so high up we were driving through clouds. The majority of the journey was along the coast with the most amazing views of the Mediterranean Sea, and when we crossed the border the Tyrrhenian Sea. The bright blue glistening ocean went on for as far as the eye could see with the occasional fishing boat or luxury yacht, a dot in the vast ocean.

We could not believe our eyes when we stopped for fuel, 1.74€ per litre of diesel, we had not paid more than 1.24€ since we left home almost 3 months ago.  It's evident that the people here can afford these crazy prices as on our journey we spotted at least 6 brightly coloured Lamborghini's, 4 Ferrari's and practically every other car was a high end sports car. It's no surprise that in our 22 year old camper we were often the only vehicle in sight as they all sped past us disappearing into tunnels. Eventually, after what seemed like driving for ever we reached our exit on the toll road. We had pretty much travelled along this road from France so when our ticket demanded almost 50€ we weren't at all surprised. We've managed to avoid toll roads up until now but Italy is pretty much a network of toll roads so we are expecting to spend a small fortune traveling through. We drove for another few miles through complete darkness until we reached Marina di Bibbona. 

It was 11pm and the streets were lined with holiday makers, there was a busy market in the centre and all the restaurants were full. We found our campsite in a cluster of 6 or 7 others. The reception was closed but the night porter kindly led us to a pitch and said we could check in and pay in the morning. After a long day of driving we settle down to get some sleep, although this is short lived as Oscar woke us at 2AM throwing up all over the camper van, the joys of having an overindulging, greedy beagle. 

resisting temptation. For now

Not feeling so good after overindulging

 

We waited until 8AM to check in and were directed to a large pitch right in the middle of the campsite. It's boiling hot already so we get to work putting up the awning and making ourselves at home. With all the wild camping we've been doing recently it makes a nice change to stay on a campsite and make the most of the space. This took us most of the day to do so when the sun started to go down we rode to the dog beach with Oscar which was through a large pine forest. He spent the majority of the walk chasing lizards and chewing up pine cones. When we reached the beach Jac wasted no time in stripping down to his pants and doing his best Daniel Craig impression. He emerged from the water a few minutes later to drag Oscar in with him and go searching for driftwood. Oscar was less than pleased about this and spent the rest of the walk running away from Jac afraid he would make him swim again. After the walk we got a take away pizza from the restaurant and watched Breaking Bad. 

Jac doing his best Beagle impression. Fetching sticks together.

 

 

Jac Luckins AKA Daniel Craig

The following day we enquired about a hire car and wrote the worlds longest shopping list in anticipation of our long awaited BBQ. We spend the next couple of days lazing about in the sun and eating ice cream. Tuesday lunch time a hire car is delivered and we take our monstrous shopping list into the city. Kayleigh's parents and grandparents are due to arrive late that night so we spent our day shopping and getting excited about their arrival and although it sounds ridiculous, a holiday. We spend our time moving from one place to another and planning and researching the next few stops so the prospect of settling in the same place for a couple of weeks is inviting. There are no cars allowed on the campsite so we join everyone else in cruising around on our boneshakers. Practically everyone here uses their bike to get around and everywhere you go there are old Raleigh Shopper style bikes. 

Our visitors arrive in the early hours of Wednesday morning, we meet them at Galileo Galilei, Pisa international airport and drive them back to Marina di Bibbona. We get a few hours sleep although later that morning excitement wakes us early. Jac's been preparing for this BBQ for a couple of days so is keen to get it going. A mixture of pine cones, pine needles and coal is the perfect concoction for a successful BBQ and we are soon sitting around the table eating the hordes of food Jac has prepared. There is sticky chicken, boozy pork and curried prawns all marinated in a variety of weird and wonderful ingredients, including rum, honey, garlic, chilli, mustard and fresh herbs. The food goes down a storm, as does the wine, which is sold in litres at the local shop for 2.20€ (red or white). A good few litres later we are onto cards. Fred, Kayleigh's Grandad is an avid card player so we spend the rest of the evening learning how to play various card games, watching him win every time. 

Addicted to Benny

This pretty much shaped the next two weeks, early morning dog walks through the pine forest to the beach, lazy lunches in the sun and cards and wine in the evening with a spread that rivalled Christmas. We took lots of trips into the village where there was a small selection of shops selling food essentials and souvenirs and an almost daily trip to the Ice Palace Gelateria. We must have tried every flavour ice cream ever invented from traditional Italian pistachio to tiramisu and cheesecake.

Evening spread, courtesy of Chris and Pearl

We also took a trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower or Torre Pendente in Italian, serving around the world as a shorthand image for Italy. A freakishly beautiful building and a sight that no amount of prior reading can blunt.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

 

Interestingly, we found out that twelve years after work began on the tower in 1173 it started to subside, in the opposite direction from the current lean. The build halted when it was only three storeys high and didn't resume until a century later when three more uneven storeys were added and in 1350 the stack was completed with a lop sided bell chamber. Since then measures have been taken to stop the tower from toppling at any moment. By 1990 the tower leant more then 5 metres from vertical and was finally declared closed to visitors. It was reopened in June 2001, once more allowing visitors access to the 293 internal stairs. Sand blasted in 2012, the tower is no longer black and now looks a light cream colour leading some people to believe it has been painted. After taking photos from every angle we headed to a restaurant where we had seafood and pasta. Feeling suitably stuffed we wandered back to the car and headed back to the campsite.

Pisa, Italy

Six days into the holiday Chris and Sophie arrive and we collect them from the airport. No sooner than Sophie is off the plane she wants to model her new bikinis and summer dresses for her big sisters approval. We arrive back at the campsite where Oscar is hugely excited to see Sophie, he jumps all over her planting big slobbery kisses all over her face and she is equally excited to see him. Greetings out of the way, Sophie can't wait to drag Kayleigh down to the pool to show her how her swimming has improved. She's advanced to butterfly stroke and manages to con 15€ out of Chris for a new pair of goggles. This becomes a daily ritual and we even find ourselves being roped into aqua gym, or in our case throwing ourselves around like a pair of lunatics in the water hoping to burn a few calories. 

Kayleigh & Sophie

Before our visitors flew home we decided to go for a meal in one of the many restaurants in Marina di Bibbona. We chose a small, secluded place not far from the campsite. We ordered enough food for 100 men, there was a nice meal of carbonara, steak, pork, pizza and chips left at the end which was a nice treat for Oscar. Jac and Mark sat quietly in the corner sinking vodka like it was going out of fashion, Fred, head of the table stuck to sophisticated G&T and telling jokes whilst Pearl, Chris, Kayleigh and Sophie chatted about all the amazing memories they had made in the last two weeks. When they waitress handed us the bill she also gave us a bottle of lemon cello, a lemon based liqueur best drunk in a frozen vase shaped glass originating from Sorrento. We had a couple of after dinner shots (obviously excluding Sophie) and there was still half a bottle left, not one to waste, mark polished off the remainder straight from the bottle, much to the disapproval of grandma. It was a lovely meal and the perfect way to end an excellent holiday. 

Mark & Jac

Sophie, Pearl, Kayleigh & Fred

Kayleigh & Chris

We were sad to say goodbye again but also excited to get on our way and explore. Neither of us have ever been to Italy before so we plan to spend 4-5 weeks here to see as much as we possibly can.