Narrowboatboy’s Big, Bad Blog...Narrowboat & Travel blog based on Lancaster Canal

Taking our seats in the upstairs section of the very modern 12 o clock train, we left Grosseto and had a great elevated view of the coastline as we made the 2 hour ride back up through Cecina and Livorno back to Pisa. We had wanted to do the whole trip by public transport this time and it had not let us down, a great relaxing and comfortable way to see this area of Italy. Now, with a handy place to stay within 5 minutes walk to the airport for the morning, we had the last chance to have a look around the town before we said 'Arrivederci' to Pisa and flew over the leaning tower and then over the snowy Alps back to Blighty. Last track of the trip from Jeff Buckley.

Up and packed to catch the 8'o'clock bus outside the B&B. We headed back down the now familiar twisting SS74 through Marsiliana, Albinia and returned to Grosetto. The return journey turned out to be a lot cheaper as we hadn't got a ticket, the driver didn't seem to want to sell us one and on arriving at Grosseto, no-one asked for one! ...'Gratuito'.... Now familiar with place, we checked back into the same Hotel San Lorenzo that we had enjoyed a few days earlier and then immediately left to grab a Panini and return back to the train station for a 20 minute ride up the coast to Follonica. The reason...Follonica Aqua Park! In soaring temperatures we spent a wet and wild afternoon climbing hundreds of steps to go shooting down twisting pipes and 50 metre death slides with names like Kamikaze and Anaconda providing frequent but compulsory bouts of colonic irrigation! Plunging into pools on rubber dinghies and battling through icy waterfalls, t...

Sunday Parking the Lancia at the top of Via Cava Della Madonna Delle Grazie we descended by foot down and along the strange old twisting Etruscan passageways that had been hand carved out of the Tofu rock centuries earlier. A network of these mysterious roads are abundant in this area and a few can be linked up which is what we planned to do.  Like medieval trolls entering a strange magical kingdom in a land that time forgot we followed the tunnel like lanes that were wick with darting lizards and linked up with the road that led to Via Cava Di San Giuseppe and followed this up to La Fontana Dell' Olmo, a natural spring before returning back to the town Pitigliamo....a strange but pleasantly satisfying stroll. Back in the Lancia it was 42C so we needed a breezy drive around the twisting hairpin bends to cool off and on to visit two smaller nearby towns of Sovana and Sorano. Both pretty but just too hot to walk around them much....back to the poo...

Saturday The first half of the day was spent wandering around the hilltop Etruscan settlement and impressive ancient citadel of Pitigliano, with its tiny narrow streets and curious old shops with hanging hams selling cured wild boar they are commonly abundant within the nearby forests. It all looks and feels prehistoric. Narrow streets and old winding stone steps. The town sits on top of vulcanic rock with dark chambers and hobbit holes carved out underneath for storing sausages, barrels of vino and probably dead bodies... For some reason the ancient Jewish synagogue was being protected by two armed guards.  This place is so OLD! History documents it from year 1000 but some of it dates back to B.C.(B4 J.C.) It's still so old that there is no Wifi to be found for miles around...   With fresh sea bass and calamari purchased for barbecuing  later we left the Bronze Age and headed out next to the local  vineyard of Villa Corano for an ...

Friday  We left Grosseto by bus the following morning, a journey of about 2 hrs heading down to the coast and then in to the hills. We were the only passengers left by the halfway point so it would seem that the aspiring F1 driver wanted to give us a hair-raising taste of how to pilot a modern turbo-charged bus at breakneck speed around mountain chicanes while one-handedly having a chat with his mate about the footie on the mobile. Like a white knuckle ride of death we eventually screeched to a halt on reaching our destination. The doors flew open and across the road was the B&B, Maremma Nel Tufo, a huge converted farmhouse 2km from Pitigliano. This deserted Tuscan style 'Casa' had hardly any guests either, so on  arrival we were immediately upgraded and given a first floor apartment with a kitchen and a terrace facing the pool. On realising we had 'come on the bus', he also arranged for us to use Dad's Lancia for a few days so we could bob about t...

Thursday We are the pigs... Grosseto was a gastronomic delight from start to finish.  The entire time was spent giving support to the local farmers who must toil endlessly, tending to vines and curing wild pigs flesh to provide the town with a delicious array of food and wine...the least we could do was to spend hours stuffing our faces in appreciation and swilling vast quantities of their robust grape juices. Bubbles was the first order of the day, a lovely Prosecco washed down dishes of green olives and nuts by an old Piazza just inside the Etruscan walled town. A hazy afternoon ensued around the corner and up the narrow street. Sitting at a table outside what only can be described as 'probably the best delicatessen in the world' we enjoyed more recommended local wine, accompanied with platters of strong cheeses, cured hams and various Italian breads....it was difficult to leave...but eventually, like old rigged ewes, we reared up and said 'Arrivederci' to ...

Heading for the Piazza del Duomo you can't help standing in amazement at the hugely impressive Cattedrale Di Santa Maria del Fiore, the largest in Florence and next to it the smaller Battistero di San Giovanni on the way to the train station for the morning train south out towards Sienna for today's destination, Grosseto. Already the area is crowded and folk wait in orderly queues at the entrances, frazzling gently in the hot sun to gain access to climb ancient stone steps to no doubt discover the elixir of eternal life within the sacred sanctuaries.  This is the only problem with Florence, far too many people...the winter months may be a better time to visit to be able to appreciate it all, it's been a snap-shot tour and now that my Cartier watch has been repaired, half a Charolais has been devoured and a couple of matching snakeskin Gucci handbags purveyed, it's time to head off to pastures new.... A change at Sienna gave just enough time for an express espres...