Month: June 2025

Apologies. For many reasons (but mostly as a result of my website account having been temporarily suspended by Namecheap) it has been well over 3 weeks since I’ve been able to update the blog. During this time, we have continued our travels around Europe (it’s 22 June 2025 now and we are currently in the north eastern Dutch Province of Friesland) but; I’ve taken hundreds of photos and made copious notes about the places we have visited and; I’m reasonably confident I can bring the blog up to date in the not too distant future (barring any further unseen complications). Of course, the entries may be a bit shorter than normal.

I mentioned in my last entry (Suvereto, Tuscany, Italy) that Vanya has the bit between her teeth with regards to camp sites and had booked us into another Hu site (Hu Camping Orbetello – near Monte Argentario) which she wanted to check out. I think she sometimes forgets she is no longer a travel agent. No matter. Although nowhere near as impressive as it’s sister site (Hu Camping Norcenni in Figline Valdarno), there’s nothing wrong with Hu Camping Orbetello except it is a long walk from the campsite to the two places on the Monte Argentario peninsula which I most wished to see, namely Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole. Result – I did a great deal of walking but ultimately missed out on Porto Ercole.

We made an early start from Figline Valdarno and travelled about 150 kilometres down through Grosseto to the campsite which is situated on a thin spit of land to the north of Monte Argentario. This thin stretch of land, which being made of sand is called a tombolo in these parts, separates the Laguna di Ponente from the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is part of the Med. Shortly after arrival I went walkabout along Strada Provinciale Giannella (SP161) which stretches the length of the tombolo and on into Porto Santo Stefano. It was a long, hot walk but it was easy enough until I reached the hamlet of Pozzarello; where the verge disappeared and I was compelled to walk along a very unsafe, narrow, winding road full of would be Italian F1 drivers. It wasn’t a long stretch of road and it soon gave way to a pedestrian path which followed the long disused railway line into the town but, it really wasn’t pleasant.

Monte Argentario and Porto Santo Stefano are sometimes referred to as Tuscany’s answer to the Amalfi Coast. Certainly, much of the peninsula’s coastline is picturesque and some of it’s villages are as arresting as those on the Amalfi Coast but… Porto Santo Stefano? Definitely not. Porto Santo Stefano is a small, pretty town with some considerable character but it doesn’t have the charm of the Amalfi Coast towns (e.g. Positano, Ravello, Maiori or Amalfi, etc). No, I think Porto Santo Stefano, with it’s abundant wealth and privilige, is better compared with Liguria’s Portofino or, more accurately, Rapallo. Neither Rapallo nor Porto Santo Stefano have the quiet sophistication of Portofino and/but, unlike tiny Portofino, their harbours can accommodate numerous large, very expensive motorboats. I feel a rant coming on.

Porto Santo Stefano’s beaches are fine (of those in and immediately around the town, Spiaggia La Cantoniera stands out) but; what I enjoy most about Porto Santo Stefano is it’s lively waterfront promenade (the Passeggiata lungo el Porto) which is dotted with just the right variety of cafes, bars and restaurants; a few shops (including two really impressive fish counters) and; two ice cream booths (selling the very best Italian ice creams). It’s a great place to sit and watch the world go by.

On the down side, there are far to many ostentatious motorboats cluttering not only the town’s TWO port areas (the old Porto Vecchio and the new Porto del Valle) but almost every available remaining inch of the beautiful quayside. The quayside should be reserved for traditional fishing boats, not giant motorboats and; the overweening owners of these behemoths should be instructed to anchor them offshore or, at least, to keep them in the port areas and leave the quayside for local fishing boats. I mean, how is anyone supposed to take decent photographs with these monstrosities obstructing any and all decent photo opportunities? Rant over. I think I need to stop and have a glass of wine.

The walk into town in the day’s heat took more out of me than I thought and I spent far too long sitting, enjoying a very large beer (and an ice cream) on the seafront. I did find the energy to wander some of the old town up and around the 17th century Spanish Fortress but I wasn’t inclined to enter the fortress which contains a small museum but, for the most part, is now given over to cultural events and exhibitions. I also took a quick look inside the town’s principal church, the Chiesa Santo Stefano, but; with the long walk back to the camp site ahead of me, there was never going to be enough time to visit Porto Ecole. I understand Porto Ecole is considerably smaller and quieter than Porto Santo Stefano and I think I would prefer that but that will have to wait until another day.

The last word goes to the camp site. It’s beaches are great…

Having stayed a third full day at Hu Norcenni Girasole in Figline Valdarno, we felt it was time to move on. Our next stop would be yet another Hu Site (Camping Park Albatross) – Vanya now had the bit between her teeth so far as campsites were concerned.

Hu Camping Park Albatross is located between San Vincenzo and Piombino in the province of Livorno. We drove through San Vincenzo as we made our way south to the campsite and were not overly impressed by the place but, no matter, our primary reason for heading this way was to visit either the tiny island of Elbe (which was where Napoleon Bonaparte spent an all too short period of exile before Waterloo and which can be reached by ferry from Piombino) or the Tuscan hillside village of Suvereto (which is one of the ‘borghi piu belli d’Italia’ – one of the most beautiful villages in Italy). We settled on the latter, it being just 10 miles or so inland from where we were camped.

Suvereto, formerly known as Castello di Sughereto, is a remarkably well preserved medieval village of some 3,000 residents in an area of Italy known as the Maremma. This area of almost 5,000 square kilometres encompasses most of Tuscany’s Grosseto Province and extends along the Tuscan coast as far north as Cecina and as far south as Civitavecchia in Lazio. It fills much of what was once Etruria, home to the Etruscans, and is perhaps the wildest part of Tuscany. This is largely due to the Romans who, after finally defeating the Etruscans in 396, failed to properly care for the canals and drainage systems developed by the Etruscans. As a result, much of the land deteriorated into swampland, with malaria became rife, and only the hilltop villages (the likes of Suvereto, Pitigliano, Massa Marittima, Montegiovi, Canneto, Buriano, etc) continued to prosper. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that the Grand Duke Leopold II set about restoring the drainage systems and the land was properly reclaimed.

There are two entrances through the largely intact walls which encircle the old village; the north gate, the Porta di Sassetta, and; a south gate, which lost it’s original name when it was rebuilt in 1857 and seems now to be known simply as the ‘new gate’. The entrances are connected by the village’s main thoroughfare, the Via Magenta. We entered using the new gate from the Piazza Vittorio Veneto but not before taking breakfast at a small coffeeshop, the ‘La Gattubuia’, which is esconced in the old walls on the Piazza. It was a lovely way to start the day; just sitting in the shade for a while and drinking coffee on this pleasant little square.

Of course, it was Vanya and our dogs who spent most of this short time on the square because, also on Piazza Vittorio Veneto are two churches, one alongside the other, which simply had to be explored. One is a very plain salmon coloured church, the Church of Saint Michael Archangel, which was built in 1881 but abandoned soon after and turned into a small museum (the Museum of Sacred Art). The other is the village’s primary church, Chiesa di San Giusto Vescovo. This church was built on the site of earlier Christian structures some time in the 10th century although, it wasn’t completed until 1189. It is named after a former Bishop of Volterra and; while it too doesn’t have a particularly impressive exterior, there are some interesting features inside.

The Chiesa di San Giusto has some interesting history about it too. In 1313, the Holy Roman Emperor (Henry VII of Luxembourg), who was not liked in these parts, was allegedly poisoned while taking holy communion and his body was temporarily interred in the church pending an investigation into his death (he died aged just 38). Franciscan monks from the nearby monastery then roasted the Emperor’s body over a fire and removed his head and boiled it. Now, why would they do that? Was it part of the internment process or were they seeking to conceal evidence of poisoning? I doubt I’ll ever know.

After a second cup of coffee, Vanya and I made our way up the Via Magenta into the old village. Suvereto is a compact village full of medieval stone houses linked by a maze of mixed stone, paved and cobbled streets and alleys. It is mostly pedestrianised because, with the exception of Via Magenta, the streets are too narrow for four wheeled vehicles. Moreover, it’s a mountain village with some steep streets which often give way to covered walkways and staircases and these too make it difficult for vehicles. You only need look at some of the photos I took to realise this.

We made it to Suvereto’s equivalent of a town hall, the Palazzo Comunale, before Vanya’s concern about Nala’s ability to negotiate the steep streets in her ‘walking wheels’ prompted a return to the La Gattubuai. Before anyone gets too excited over the impressive looking Palazzo Communale, it is not open to tourists. I asked for a look-see and was politely declined.

Vanya was happy for me to continue my exploration of the village. I made my way back to the Palazzo Communale and then on to the village’s highest point, the 9th century castle ruin of Rocco Aldobrandesca. The ruin is being restored by the municipality but it is difficult to believe it was used as a private residence from 1800 up until as recently as 1950. It is very much ‘work in progress’. No matter, the short walk up to the ruin is worthwhile if only for the splendid views over the thickly forested Val di Cornia with it’s many chestnut trees, cork oak plantations, olive groves and vines. A little aside, did you know that the cork oak can regenerate it’s bark? It takes about 9 years.

The descent on the far side of the Rocco Aldobrandesca leads around to the Porta di Sassetta and the top end of the Via Magenta. This would lead me back to Vanya and our two dogs at La Gattubuai on the Piazza Vitorrio Veneto and, with a few short diversions, allow me to explore the rest of the village.

One of the more interesting buildings on the Via Magenta is the Chiesa della Madonna di Sopra la Porta. From the outside it looks like just another chapel but inside it is something else. Much like the time travel vehicle, the TARDIS (from the TV programme ‘Doctor Who’), the church seems to be far bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. For those who have never watched the TV programme (could there be such people?), TARDIS is an acronym for Time and Relative Dimension in Space and; thanks to “dimensional engineering beyond human comprehension”, the Tardis has the ability to fold one space inside another, thereby allowing it to be bigger on the inside. Simples!

Another interesting feature of the village is to be found alongside the 16th century Chiesa Crosifisso. It is the old cloister of a 13th century Franciscan monastery which now serves as a tiny square in the village, the Piazza della Cisterna. Some of the monastery buildings were knocked down and used to build the Chiesa Crosifosso and, more recently, others were converted into private houses. By the way, it was monks from this monastery who ‘handled’ the body of Henry VII of Luxembourg, whom I mentioned earlier in this blog.

There’s also some interesting street art in this area but I cannot tell you anything about these pieces.

I’ve just realised how much I’ve written about Suvereto and I haven’t got around to mentioning the area’s red wine with it’s DOCG label. I’ll leave it at that except to say that we were so pleased to have visited this village. It’s a pocket of wholly authentic rural life (I read that description somewhere and/but it really does suit). There is also a real lived-in feel about the place and we highly recommended it as somewhere to visit.

It was late afternoon when we left Sanremo and I was pleased I didn’t have to drive too far to our next stop, Camping Bella Vista, just 40 miles east near Alabenga in Liguria. We’d stay there just the one night and then head down through Tuscany to Torre del Lago Puccini. The weather forecasts for the north of Italy looked unsettled for the next couple of days but were more promising further south. As it happened, the weather in both Liguria and Tuscany proved awful over the following days and we very much missed out on Albenga and, even more disappointing, Torre del Lago Puccini.

A quick note regarding Camping Bella Vista: It’s in the countryside just a short drive from Albenga. It is a welcoming and tidy little campsite. The couple who run it (a friendly local chap and his Dutch girlfriend) employ a small army of Dutch students to help out and all speak very good English (which makes life so much easier in Italy). The site would have been included in my list of recommended campsites had there been a restaurant or foodstore either on site or in the immediate area but there’s nothing within walking distance (as yet). The bar was okay and, while we were there, I was introduced to a couple of the local wines (from the ‘La Vecchia Cantina’ winery) but, man cannot live on alcohol alone. I was tempted to stop off the next morning to buy a couple of bottles of the winery’s Scuvea Rossese red wine but La Vecchia Cantina is inaccessible to anything other than a small Fiat and, anyway, we really wanted to get on to warmer weather.

The next morning we drove south into Tuscany and paused on the Versilia Coast at Torre del Lago Puccini. I was really excited at the prospect of going to Torre del Lago Puccini. The town was originally named Torre del Lago (after the tower which once stood on Lake Massaciuccoli) but; in 1938 the town changed it’s name to Torre del Lago Puccini in honour of the great Giacomo Puccini (one of my favourite composers – La Boheme, Tosca, Madam Butterfly, Turandot, etc) who lived there from 1891 until his death in 1924. The tower is long gone. It is said Puccini built his house (Villa Puccini) on the site of the old tower but no one knows for sure. What is certain is that when settling in the area, Puccini described it as a “real paradise on earth” and; he lived there for the rest of his life and; he wrote almost all of his great works there. Villa Puccini is now a museum dedicated to Puccini and his works and he’s buried there (together, I think, with his wife and son).

Every summer Torre del Lago holds a Puccini Festival in a specially built open-air theatre (the Gran Teatro all’Aperto Giacomo Puccini) which was built alongside his villa overlooking Lake Massaciuccoli. It holds just 3,300 people but wouldn’t that be an event to attend?!?

Unfortunately, it rained almost the whole time we were in Torre del Lago Puccini and we got to see next to nothing of the area but, keep your fingers crossed, the weather forecast just a little to the east is excellent. Figline Valdarno here we come.