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.
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| Plenty of light in the van. |
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| 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. The vistas along the route were nice and the windy roads were fun to drive with the van.
The hot springs were free to visit, we only spent money on a shower and a pizza. The pizza came out of a vending machine and for the price it was a horrible pizza - but it was still fun to try. The hot springs were crowded with people and we were struggling to find a good spot as well as not step on anyone.
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| The back seat can be pulled forward and folded down into a bed, there is a second bed attached to the top, making room for up to four people. |
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| Castiglione della Pescaia |
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| Got some kitty cuddles at the fortress |
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| Saturnia hot springs |
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| The pizza vending machine...would be very practical at university campuses |
From there we drove to Pitigliano - probably one of my favorite highlights from the trip! The city is very medieval and perched on a cliff and looks spectacular all lit up at night. There was an old man roasting chestnuts over a huge bonfire stand and they were setting up for a wine and olive oil festival. I bought some local olive oil and wine as a souvenir. We were starving by the time it was 7PM, but most if not all Italians eat dinner after 8PM, so we were the only ones in the pizzeria having dinner that night. The portions are pretty big, so I was amazed when I was told that the average person orders one pizza for themselves.
That night we also struggled to find a campground, so we parked at the parking lot belonging to an open air museum that was closed. In the morning we hiked some old paths that lead down in the valley and we were accompanied by a cat. Then we walked around Pitigliano a little more and visited the castle before our next stop - more hot springs.
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| A couple of cats found a good spot to take their nap. |
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| Wild boar is hunted in this area and there were a lot of funny displays like this one in shop windows. |
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| Pitigliano by night |
These hot springs were my favorite of the two we visited. It is called Bagni San Filippo and it looks more natural. Idar had bought a cigar to take a picture and send to his friend, we ended up having fun with it while giving our best "Godfather" impressions. After about an hour there, we hopped back in the van and drove towards Siena.
When we arrived to Siena it was dark and we had yet to find a spot to set up camp. Still no luck with finding a campground. So we did not get a shower after the Bagni San Filippo hot springs. We parked the van in a parking garage and there was a set of escalators that take you up into the city. That was pretty different! We walked around a bit and decided we were getting too hungry to wait for Italian dinner time, so we stopped at a bar in the main square (Piazza del Campo) for paninis and looking at our pictures from our trip so far.
We found a parking lot that was for RVs and supposedly had a bathroom, but we must have arrived too late because the bathrooms were locked. We stayed there until just before 8AM to avoid having to pay for the day (parking from 8PM - 8AM was free). We cooked up some ravioli and drank a bottle of local wine before turning in since we had to be up early. We got into the city again just after 8AM because Idar had to finish an assignment, so he set up at a cafe while I walked around some more. When he finished we walked up the tower that overlooks the whole city of Siena as well as some views of the countryside.
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| Val d'Orcia |
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| The cathedral in Siena |
"Locked and loaded!" That was what we had to say before driving...if everything wasn't locked down there could be a mess. We didn't check that at one point because we saw a carton of red wine had leaked in the trunk! Then we were very aware. After Siena we drove to Florence (Firenze). At the Piazzale Michelangelo we were given a great view over the city. And finally we found a campground that was open! HALLELUJAH! The campground had great facilities; shower, dishwashing room, little grocery store, even a restaurant and pool (but we didn't take advantage of these things with our limited time).
A shuttle bus provided by the campground dropped us off near the city and we walked around before finally getting dinner. The statues were massive and the gelato was tasty. I definitely preferred the small, medieval cities over Florence, but perhaps we needed more time in Florence to get more out of it.
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| View of Florence (Firenze) from Piazzale Michelangelo |
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| Ponte Vecchio - looks like houses painted on the walls, but they actually are buildings hanging over the river- |
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| Florence by night |
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| Statue of David |
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| Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore |
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