From Spain to Italy

On Monday 10th May we left our beach in Spain and headed for the port at Barcelona in order to collect our tickets and board the ferry to Genoa (Genova). I can tell you that it is easier written about than executed, but that is another story.

The ship was large, but only carried a small number of vehicles on this particular day as well as around 45 adults and around 450 vociferous 15/16 year old schoolchildren, who once on board acted like numerous flocks of starlings; wheeling, diving, forming and re-forming without any apparent purpose or intended direction. The adults took refuge on a sunny quarter deck and began to relax and read whilst sunbathing. All went well until we were discovered by our juvenile fellow passengers, who then landed without prior warning and as a consequence were able to observe middle aged Meldrewism at close quarters.

On a wet Tuesday morning we docked in Genova, Italy, and made our way on a fantastic motorway for around 100 miles through numerous tunnels and across dozens of high viaducts giving splendid views through the mist to the coast. We arrived at our site withing the village of Torre del Lago Puccini (named after its most famous inhabitant). The area is near to the seaside town of Viareggio and near to both Pisa and Lucca. Our village is blessed with a beautiful lake (see photos). There are ample opportunities for cycling and general sightseeing trips. Today we took a bus to Lucca, which we found to be a wonderful walled city (see photo).

We plan to stay in this area for a few days more and visit Pisa by train (10 minutes) and then take a sightseeing car trip into the local mountains known as Apuan Alps.