sestri levante again but nearer!

our last night in italy (always assuming we get started in the morning!) so a bit sad. we have eaten in the campsite restaurant as, although we are nearer the centre than the last time we stayed here, it is still a bit of a hike to the nearest restaurant. the drive from tarquinia was very easy, straight up the coast road which is dual carriageway all the way until it turns into the a12 autostrada past livorno and pisa. The scenery started as the salt marsh next to the sea with flocks of sheep with tiny lambs, “second sitting!” remarked lou when I suggested it was late for new lambs to be born. Then the fields gave way to groves of olive trees and umbrella palms. As we neared livorno the scenery began to be very tuscan in appearance as indeed it should have been as we were soon in tuscony! :) we looked but didn't catch sight of the leaning tower which was a surprise as when we were coming back from lucca in 2009 we could see the tower from a very long way away. has it fallen down? subsided some more? The tunnels soon started as we drove further into the cinque terre region and the scenery became wild, rugged and forested. Fabulous! The campsite description warned that you should not use the gps as there is a problem of a low tunnel so we dutifully followed the signs.

Not a very prepossessing arrival as the campsite is tucked up against the autostrada and you reach it via several gloomy underpasses. The actual space we are on is minuscule but we have electricity and clean loos. Close neighbours too! Dutch on both sides and germans opposite. There is a small british camper around a corner. Lou said he saw the owners going out for dinner all dressed up. I bet that will look odd as they walk through what lou has already dubbed the muggers tunnel...and he should know! :)

we did just that soon after arriving as we wanted to see what sestri levante is really like. We loved the campsite up the hill on our way south but were unable to explore the town as it was 5 km below where we were. So a long walk to the beach or, rather, promenade down the via nationale in which most of the shops were shut. A very elegant town when you get to the centre proper and a big public beach with views of the headland and the coast as far as genoa possibly. The chap in the office had given me a town map and said the bay of silence was very lovely and that was easy to find. We passed some elegantly dressed people near a church on a piazza and saw the bride and groom posing for photos. The bay of silence is clearly very popular and there was some kind of prize giving going on just as we arrived. Lou thinks it was for fishing.

The beach all around the bay was heaving with sunbathers but we were able to find a bar table snug up against the wall of the beach with a good view of the whole place....which means photo opportunities, bien sur! Very good sitting with a glass of bianco and some olives watching all the activity in and out of the water. As the shadows lengthened (it is september, lou reminded me) we walked along the beach, me paddling, until we found a paved alley into the old town behind the beach. Suddenly the place was alive. Shopping opportunities galore! I loved the clusters of older people sitting outside their doors chatting while the crowd passed to and fro. We did a bit of supply shopping and I picked up a beaded bracelet as a souvenir of the afternoon and it was the long walk back to camp. Too lazy to cook and mindful it is our last night in italy we ate in the restaurant.

Spaghetti with pesto for me and ravioli with ragu sauce for lou, then two naughty gelatas with coffee to follow. Sitting in the restaurant looking out at the terrace with fairy lights in the trees it was easy to forget the grim arrival route! Demain? Camping des mures at les pons des mures, a place I haven't visited since I was 17. the school trip that started my love affair with france and all things french: real coffee, baguette with unsalted butter and chunky apricot jam, real vanilla ice cream..........