Changes in Latitudes

We rented a VW California from a company called Indie Campers, which had vans of all sizes for a great and flexible road trip, the California being the smallest from their selection. We headed south from Livorno to an area called Castiglione della Pescaia. There were a lot of campgrounds, but we found out that they all closed down in mid-September; information that we did not find online. Still, we camped at a parking lot near one of the beaches and made it work. The van was equipped with some potable water, a propane stove, and the auxiliary battery was charged for us to have light and charge our phones. Plenty of light in the van. Tordelli and prosciutto for dinner When we woke up we took a look at the beach - the water was a bit too cold for a swim, but still warmer than Norwegian waters. So we drove into the town center where there was an open-air market selling clothes and some groceries. Then we decided to keep on moving and head towards some hot springs in Saturnia....

I was sent to Livorno, Italy for an aging workshop on horse mackerel. The goal of the workshop is to calibrate between countries and make sure we are all aging the fish the same way and express any difficulties. We are a total of nine countries: Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland and Norway (me). I arrived on Sunday afternoon after a 12 hour trip from Bergen, via Amsterdam and Florence, that started at 4:30AM using planes, trains and automobiles. The weather was a bit warmer and sunnier than in Bergen, so I was glad I had some time to walk around the city and enjoy the sun before the course started. The other participants said I must have been the one from Norway because I was wearing a t-shirt and sandals, but my name and skin tone confused them as well. The first night I had gnocchi with scampi at my hotel restaurant. It was delicious!! Last night I decide to try the risotto "with cuttlefish ink". It was very rich and I couldn't f...