The Grand Tour of Tuscany September/October 2024 Week Five

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Sunday 29th September 

Today, we were away by 0800 after settling our bill and paying 86 euros. So, for four nights a total of 93 euros – with ACSI card. Including taxes that was 23.25 euros per night. Well worth it.

First stop, up the road, the ancient Etruscan city of Vetulonia. SP158, SP3, SP43. The last road was steep and twisty but manageable. The little archaeological museum was amazing. What a surprise discovery. Stunning variety of exhibits from the ancient city and necropolis/tomb excavations. Etruscan history, 600 BC when Vetulonia was part of the Etruscan league of twelve cities. Probably then known as Etruria. Mentioned in writings by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy. Famous for its goldsmiths.

One thousand tombs, one ancient city.

I studied Classics for O Level all those years ago. The Iliad. The Odyssey. The Aeneid. Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Homer, Virgil, Aeschylus. I adored that course. Devoured the lot several times over. More recently, Stephen Fry’s ‘Heros’, ‘Mythos’ and ‘Troy’.

This museum was fantastic. Small but with a big punch. Burial chambers, funerary urns, gold work so exquisite. Bronze work of stunning design and restoration/conservation. Absolute masters of bronze work were the Etruscans. Some of their pieces engraved and polished to such extraordinary standards of craftsmanship. Pottery of such design. Burnished and unglazed terracotta rendered black in a reducing kiln to deprive it of oxygen. And vase painting! Richly decorated pots and vases with black figure painting of animal friezes, mythological motifs, and figures; followed by red figure painting! Much of this exported to Malta, Carthage, Rome.

For an hour, we were blissfully captivated by such exhibits and their historical significance, value and elegance. And by having to grapple with Google Translate Camera app as all the labels and explanations are in Italian. Sadly!

After a wander around the town and some ruins, we are back on the road, calling in at Conrad in Massa Marittima for a big food shop.

The museum of geothermal steam at MUBIA, brilliant interactive displays in English and Italian about geology of Biancane area. Clever, simple and informative videos about local geological conditions that have given rise to boron industry, geothermal vents, fumaroles, mud pots and solfataras.  A lovely, steepish trail up the hill to see some of these features for real. A small landscape reminiscent of some of the landscapes we visited in Iceland and then Death Valley in the USA two years ago.

Intending to stay at the free Sosta down the hill in Monterotondo Marittimo, we  found it completely full of cars. Not a single space. A football tournament taking place in the sport pitches alongside.  And so that is how we ended up 20 minutes away at Sassa Pisano. In the lower car park down from the thermal spring baths and the official Sosta, which was full of long term motorhomers. A new car park, flat and clean with no signs saying you couldn’t overnight there!

Services available for small fee 100 metres back up the narrow access road.

The lower car park was well lit and we were sharing with two other vans.  A few locals walking the boardwalk into the woods next to us. Apparently there is a hot bathing pool at the end.

And then, ‘dusk' fell with the sound of barking dogs. Their barks and howls echoed across the hillsides and throughout the small valley and were reciprocated from afar. The howls! ……….........

‘Twilight Saga’? 

Possibly. It has vampires and wolves in it. ‘A discovery of Witches’? The one where a witch and a vampire marry and then fend off vampires, witches, and various demonic creatures? Um! Nope not that one.

 ‘Van Helsing’? Yep that’s the one. The film where they entered the castle and village high up on the hill and discovered the mirror/portal that allowed them to enter the ‘hidden world’.

And mix it up with Disney’s ‘Beauty and the beast’ alongside Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’.

Vampires and wolf packs; witches and demons. Irate and terrified locals with pitch forks. Throw in a ‘dementor’ or two as well whilst you are at it!

We are spending the night in a car park at the foot of a cliff. It’s vertical; about 80m high. Perched on it, a small town. There is the curved end of a foreboding church with a single circular stain glass window high in its wall; the bell tower next to it, tall, grey, with ornate bronze bells. Either side, long high walls; the rear of tall town houses with small shuttered windows.

There is a narrow bush and pine tree lined path that hugs this cliff, winding its way up it in a series of steep switch backs. Lit by a solitary lamp post; a diamond shaped glass affair with a neon orange dull light bulb.

A dark, stormy cloud sky above; almost thundery looking. There are no stars; the moon is hiding.

Dusk fell with the sound of barking dogs. Their barks and howls echoed across the hillsides and throughout the small valley. Reciprocated from afar. The Biacane hills were alive to the sound of canine calls; ancient DNA activated, from guard dogs in amongst the flocks to domestic pooches on the laps of owners. All terribly wolverine like!  The dogs were gathering! Picture them, leaping brooks and streams, loping rapidly through forests, eyes alert, tongues hanging; the pack following their leader.

Tendrils of rising steam floated through the dense woodland below the car park. Illuminated by faintest of waning moons, as clouds broke up, these rising wisps, like grey wraiths or dementors, floated across the tree tops; circling, watching, vengeful. Accompanied by that faint odour of hydrogen sulphide. One of the Devil’s concoctions!

A single window light in the towering walls above. The vampires and witches assembling. Their liaising council in session. Ancient families represented, deference paid, familial loyalties demanded.

Watching from their windows, and waiting. Watching and waiting for the car park lights to extinguish at just past midnight! Just after the clock tower bells chime 12. Not a sound. No owls hooting; no chirping crickets or whining mosquitos. Nothing except the whizzing hiss of distant high pressure fumaroles; gateways to Dante’s inferno.

So, one of us ended up sleeping very soundly this night with not a care in the world. Blissfully in the land of nod all night. Meanwhile, I had developed an acute sense of paranoia and an over active imagination. I got bog all sleep! 

Monday 30th September

Route SR 439, SR 68, Volterra, sp15, Sp45 via Gambassi Terme,

You will have noticed that I have lost track of our mileage a few days ago and it will take me time to rework it out! Sorry!

Last night passed peacefully at Sasso Pisiano. No vampires or citizens with pitch forks coming to burn us. Owls did hoot in the early hours; chirping crickets eventually stopped around 3 am ish. Cold night, clearing skies. The church bells rang out chimes on the hour. Every hour! I know, I heard them all! And the dogs started around 0430.

A lazy start. The ‘Guvnor’ refused to get out of bed until she’d heard the 0900 chimes. Outrageous behaviour. Half the day gone just like that! I’m clearly not being ‘firm enough’ in my expectations!

Due in Florence tomorrow, we decide to cut the distance we have to drive then and so head for Certaldo. The idea is to do some cycling in the hills to the east.

Stupid plan really.

A fascinating drive across the hills and basin though. The geology of the area is highly thermic. At Pomarance, we came to a halt in a viewpoint layby. The scenery was truly mesmerising. Huge power station cooling towers, several sets and silver pipes crisscrossing the hills and valleys. Geothermal energy infrastructure. We were actually stopped beneath a huge curved silver pipe carrying hot water over the road we were on.  Tuscany gets 40% of its energy from this area. Green energy remember. Small power stations, big cooling towers, hidden in trees and on all the surrounding hillsides, rising above woodland canopies, steam escaping from fumaroles and solfataras.

Well with a geographer/geologist and biologist/geographer in the motorhome, of course we were going to stop and ogle!

 

Nearly came a cropper outside Volterra though. The SR 439 is a long and windy road! A great work out for reactions, arm muscles and foot dexterity. Desperate for a coffee stop, Mag found the ‘T’ Bar on google maps, just at the foot of the Voterran ramparts; at the top of a wicked looking set of rising hairpin bends and switch backs.  As we passed it, the entrance appeared within metres and so, without due thought or sensible hesitation, I immediately pulled in, shot through the tiny car park and came to a stop facing downwards against a wall.

A rash manoeuvre, in retrospect!

A four-tonne motorhome, fully laden, nose against a wall, facing downwards on a 1 in 5 slope in a small but crowded car park.

Time for a coffee! Or two!

Did we get out of the predicament?

Of course we did. Just!

Reversing into a space just over the length of the motorhome and bike rack uphill on a 1 in 5 slope with only 2' between you and the wall in front is no mean feat especially as impatient pedestrians and drivers zipped about in the narrowing gap behind you. Some fancy clutch work and instructions from the ‘banks-lady’ and we managed to extract ourselves without incident. But only just – some wheel slippage!

Impatience! It seems a national trait on Italian roads. As you try to exit a parking bay someone is already pulling into it as soon as they have sufficient gap irrespective of whether you have cleared or not.

Certaldo proves delightful. It took us longer to reach than we anticipated but the upper city, the medieval quarter, was relatively empty. The sun was shining, the view was good. We browsed the Palazzo museum. Some fantastic frescos, interesting history, lovely video about their annual international arts festival and an exhibition of art by Carla Benici. Interesting genre, not quite my cup of tea but some really clever artwork and very thought provoking.

4 euros each to this and it included a visit to Giovanni Baccaccia's house. Eminent medieval writer, poet and cartographer. Lived most of his life here in Certaldo. The museum was interesting but sadly all of the displays were in Italian. Despite the best efforts of Google translate camera, not all the display boards would do so.  So, we left none the wiser except via Wikipedia on the internet. Smartphone technology being useful, for a change.

An ice cream in the main street. And stroll back down to the Sosta.

It had been full when we arrived, so we had parked in the car park alongside. Couldn't find any signs that said you couldn't and two other motorhomes in there. Found a bay where the rack could overhang a little used pavement area. Beneath trees so the solar panels out of action but best we could do. There are only five spaces in the Sosta and motorhomes were crammed in. Access to it was easy. Biggest fit in there was 8m but tight turn and with cars opposite, a difficult manoeuvre getting into bay.

No places were forthcoming. So, we waited in the car park, sitting in the dark as dusk fell. Hoping not to annoy the locals. No one left the Sosta. We decided to sit tight with all the shutters up and only a torch for illumination.

 

The car park is free and a ten-minute walk up the hill to old city or 7-minute walk to a little funicular. We walked the pathway; the exercise did us good. Too many coffee and pastry stops.

Costs: 4 euros each for two museums. Fuel top up 70 euros.

 

Tuesday 1st October

Starting mileage: no idea, lost the plot!

Finishing mileage: 22346

Distance travelled:

Certaldo proved to be a quiet night. Some teenagers were hanging around a van for a while around 2230 but they seemed easy going and weren’t noisy. Just strange!  One person using the car park in the evening was annoyed to see three motorhomes in car spaces and at one point I thought she was going to come across but she had a toddler and thought the better of it and drove off in a huff.

Away by 0810 so as not to annoy people. The car park is next to a medical centre. The motorhome next to us did the same thing. He headed out first.

Our exit from Certaldo was fraught. Google maps took us down a country lane worthy of the deepest recesses of Cornwall and Bodmin moor. Impossible and a commuter rat run. Locals zipping around narrow corners at high speed. We saw some priclessless facial expressions this morning when they came face to face with a 4-tonne motorhome! We executed a 360 turn on a sloping, pine needle covered, drive way and returned to Certaldo to take the longer way around via Poggibonsi; which proved quicker in the end.

So, our route was SR 429 then RA 3, E35 and Ss 67 and the journey into Florence was interesting!

Traffic is a nightmare, queuing on autostrada into Florence; throw in road works, dual carriageway reduced to single ones, drivers cutting in on the queue; but we have got here thanks to excellent navigation by Mag. Only one missed turning and it so happened it worked to our advantage as we had to go up to next roundabout 3 km away and come back on ourselves but this time the slip road put us well ahead of the two-mile-long traffic queue we’d have been in if we hadn't missed the turning. Result!

A very efficient check-in at ‘hu Firenze’ but they charged us more than our initial online booking quote. They quoted 160 euros but charged us 188. Apparently, tourist taxes weren’t included on the online quote! So, with taxes, 47 euros a night (four nights).  On average we've been paying around 20 euros a night on any campsite stays, so this is double. Supply and demand, I guess!

Huge site. Massive! Very busy but we have a good pitch, 20m to toilet, 10m to recycling and rubbish. 20m to chemical waste disposal. Very clean. Excellent facilities. Bus for 3 euros return to south of river and then a 25-minute walk to the Duomo area. But, the first shuttle bus goes at 0830 and if there is then a 25-minute walk on top, you can’t do the early booking slots on the attractions.

We have opted to use the train. Trains from 0730. A twenty-minute walk to the train station; 20 minutes’ walk to the duomo area from the station. All bookable on Trainline app.

Now here for the next four nights.  And it's miserable ... grey, cold, raining. So wet! We haven't seen much rain for four weeks. Ho hum. The price we pay for having to head north. But, we are on a comfort pitch. Tight fit but doable. Up on ramps and have found the electric box by crawling under and past the rear end of a large German motorhome which had reversed his rear end and bike rack physically against the electric box so no one else could access it. Seriously. I mean who does that kind of thing? Seriously? I mean wow!

We’ve walked the route to the local railway station; topped up water tanks and emptied grey waste (which has to be done on the way in by the way because that is where the motorhome service centre is).

Over the next three days we will do all the sights except the upper duomo dome and the Accademia. Couldn't get tickets for those. Booked out for months in advance! So be it.

Where we go next come Saturday will be weather dependent.  Options are Cinque Terre villages, along with a marble quarry tour.  Or Bologna. Or Verona and Lake Garda. Could do Cote d'Azur but probably not our scene really.  Grenoble and Lyon? Lake Annecy?  Maybe. Weather dependent of course!

We will have 18 days to get back to Caen.

 

Florence Day one  Wednesday 2^nd October

Our first day in Florence! We catch the 0820 train from the local station, a twenty minute walk away from the Hu campsite and we are in Florence by 0900. Fun journey, all booked on the Trainline app. It’s then a twenty minute walk to the Uffizi gallery, where we queue outside for fifteen minutes. Be aware that they have airport style bag and body scanners on entry.

Traumatized dos not describe how we felt during the first twenty minutes inside the Ufizzi. It was without doubt a horrible experience. Our tickets were 0945 entry and the place was already heaving and I mean seriously overcrowded. You couldn’t get near exhibits in the first set of gallery rooms because of the tour groups. The tour guides deliberately stand in front of the exhibits and so your route to seeing them is then completely blocked by all those in the tour group. We didn’t get to see Venus. The queue for that stretched down one entire side of the gallery and it didn’t ease throughout the day.  Basically, it was shocking and disappointing and a very poor way to manage crowds.

So here is our tip!

Firstly, go all the way to the end of the second floor gallery, on the opposite side and work backwards. That way the tour groups haven’t reached that far and you get at least half of the second floor uncrowded. By the time you reach the first part of the second floor, the tour groups have moved on and crowds have thinned slightly.

Is it worth going to the Ufizzi? Yes, definitely and if you can get very early entry tickets, even better.

Tip two – download the free map guide before you arrive – you will need it. It is a rabbit warren!

Third tip – target the things you want to see and get to them first.

The self-portraits gallery was brilliant and our own man, Sir Joshua Reynolds, local boy to where we live, his self portrait was there. Anthony Gormley’s self portrait? Rather blocky and angular! As you might expect!!

Spent the rest of the day wandering the streets. Went to queue for free entry to the Dumo. A two hour queue that stretched virtually all the way down one side of the cathedral. Bonkers!

First impressions? Crowded streets, bonkers prices, insane queues! Found the Ponte Vecchio disappointing. It’s been rebuilt after some floods in 1966 and is just little jewellery shops.  Walked the Arno banks, that was fun. Went book shopping and in total walked 7.5 miles.

Florence Day two Thursday 3^rd October

Caught the earlier 0808 train which was jam packed because the two front coaches were out of operation! Torrential rain and puddles everywhere! Florence today, is lacking glamour!  Urgent need for coffee and pastries. Wait for it – 22 euros. Maggie called an ambulance whilst kind passer by tried to resuscitate me after that shock. 22 euros! Fleeced? Well and truly!

First stop is 0945 entry to Santa Crocere and what a stunning cathedral that is. Beautiful frescos being restored. Not often you see a lady in a white lab coat up a steel scaffold gantry with a Dyson vac.  The cathedral was beautiful, the frescos stunning.

Next coffee stop 7 euros for two coffees and pastries. Much better. Feet were soaked despite waterproof walking boots! It really was very wet!

1330 tickets to the Galileo museum but they let us in early. Best museum EVER! Fantastic and we lost 2 hours in there. Not surprising after all one of us is a geography/geology specialist and amateur astronomer and the other is a biologist/geographer and closeted science geek. Telescopes, globes, clocks, machines, navigation instruments, chemistry and alchemy bureaus. Anything scientific and from the renaissance period onwards. All exhibit boards in Italian and English. Small museum, punches way above its size. And best exhibit? Wait for it! The mummified remains of Galileo’s middle finder raised upwards. Seriously! Was it his final act of defiance to the Roman Catholic church and all their haranguing of him? I really do hope so!

Later that afternoon, we get back to motorhome and switch on the heating to dry everything out. My waterproof boots are wet and foul smelling! Where is the Febreze?

We discover there is an army commando base next door. It explains the 0630 trumpet reverie call to arms. Ditto the 1800 and then again, the 2230 musical interludes as well! Routines. Military precision. Used to it coming from Plymouth. 

We’ve started the planning for our last phase of this trip. A Carrara marble tour and then a big leap along the French riviera to Nice and then down to towards Perpignan in south of France to find some sunshine

 

Florence day three: Friday 4^th October

Caught the train this time we stop for a coffee and pastry at the little café on the way to the station. An early breakfast!

The Bargello Museum was superb. Everything from sculptures to artworks, carpets and Islamic, metal work and exquisite enamel panels. Ancient helmets and archers’ quivers, a beautiful archers beaded jacket from the 1400’s.

We spent two and a half hours here. The ivory diptych carvings were astonishing in their detail, craftsmanship and artistry. The building itself is also stunning. Well worth visiting.

Another stop at a bar just behind the duomo for coffee and we didn't get ripped off this time either.

We wandered the old market, plenty of cheap food stalls on first floor, browsed outside the leather goods stalls. And then we headed home.

We will visit Florence again. Next trip we will book so far in advance that we get early morning tickets for the Accademia and the Duomo and dome tour as well. We’ll also do some of the other places like the Pritti Palace as well.

Saturday 6th October

It isn’t often that we make mistakes but because the weather is getting so bad we decide to make the jump to the riviera today and so we drive 330 miles past Genoa all the way to San Lorenzo al Mare. From here we can catch trains to Nice and Monaco.

It took us 8 hours to make this jump. Never have I driven through so many tunnels on one road. I lost count after forty. It was disorientating driving to say the least!

We have ended up at a site called Campeggio Il Pozzo. Twenty euros for electric and a gravel pitch hemmed in between two other vans. The turning into this place is very tight, almost a right angled turn back on yourself!

Our neighbours are not happy when they arrive back and there are lots of protests to the campsite warden about squeezing us between them. She sooths them by saying we are only staying one night but our Italian neighbours make their feelings very clear. We of course ignore them diplomatically. Afterall, the warden put us there!

And then, looking at the changing weather, we decide we have had enough. It is time to head for home. We have run out of steam.