The Tuscany Tour

Apologies for the delay in our posts, been a rather manic few days!

Having left Elba, our first night in Italy was spent in a lovely Marina called Cala di Medici, just south of Livorno. Very peaceful, turquoise waters in the marina, great for recharging our batteries.

As we ventured out of the Marina for a bite to eat out on our first night, we soon realized that turning right, we ventured into an area that could only be called “pikeyville”, not somewhere you would want to be walking late at night on your own, but turning left brought you (after a 2km hike) into a very cutesy old village,  Castiglioncello, with a few restaurants, and some madly hectic beaches.

Sadly having walked all the way there, we were advised that all the restaurants had been booked for a particular Italian celebration and unless we had pre-booked tickets we weren’t going to eat there, which left us in a bit of a quandary as the  boat had been exhausted of all food, not surprising with 2 strapping lads on board. Fortunately we did manage to find a pizza place on our way home, just before we were devoid of energy!

Thursday we picked up our hire car, a Qasquai, so home from home, saw the departure of Sam. Before dropping him off at Pisa Airport, we visited the town and saw the tower, still leaning, with lots of people positioning themselves in all sorts of awkward positions, trying to look as if they were holding the tower up, all for the sake of a photo-shoot!!

Pisa

With some time to spare, we took a drive up the coast to a very strange seaside town call Villareggio, all set up for thousands and I mean thousands of sun worshippers along its miles and miles of sandy beaches….. but very few takers,  then summer has only just arrived, jumping from low 20’s to high 30’s overnight, thankfully bringing warmer sea temps and barmy evenings with it!

Sam on his way back to the UK, we wound our way back to the boat, via the lively marina bar, need we say anymore!

Friday morning, we jumped in the car again, this time heading for Florence. David and I have been there before but it was a first time for Steven and he loved it!

Florence

Having visited all the top spots, Steven said he wanted to buy a leather bag for his mum for her birthday and for the 2^nd trip running, David found himself visiting more leather and handbag shops in Florence that he cares to remember! 8 hours of walking around this beautiful city, we finally jumped back into the car to head back to the boat, once again via the marina bar!

Saturday, still scorching hot, 46 degrees on the car thermometer, not that we were complaining, we winged our way to Siena, taking the scenic route through Tuscana, amidst vineyards, sunfower fields and Tuscan Mansions.

Having got a wee bit lost around the city, which meant getting caught in a residents only zone, we finally managed to park up and walk into the old part. Wow, is all I can say, none of us had been there before and the old town, with the Piazza del Campo, where they hold a bi-annual horserace, in front of literally thousands of spectators, and all the tiny windy streets leading of it and the Cathedral (Duomo), musicians, even on grand pianos, echoing around the citadel. Luckily for David, very few handbag shops were in sight!

Sienna

We then headed home, via a detour (ha ha ha, 70kms out of our way) south to Grosseto, another lovely, much much smaller but still quaint town, with a citadel and its old buildings, cathedral and streets, for dinner, not at the local “Kebap” shop mind you!.

Grosseto

Sunday, day of departure, aiming to head over to the Island of Capraia. However we had a job to do. There had clearly been an issue with the aft heads (toilet to the non-seamen of you). We had booked a time to have the holding tanks emptied, hoping that that would eliminate the problem. 2 hours later, no joy and the guys gave up, saying that they thought we should just open all the stopcocks out at sea (they were rather particular about their turquoise water in the marina, then who could blame them!) We left in the hope that that would work, heading for Capraia, which I might add is part of a nature reserve, access only being granted if you had holding tanks fitted to the boat!

After numerous attempts to clear the system, all of which failed, we aborted our trip to Capraia and headed southwards to another Marina, Marina di San Vicenzo, in search for help. Having attempted to remove the waste pipe and sort out what was now clearly a blockage, and failed, we did secure the help of 2 rather unwitting gentlemen, who did manage to get the pipe off. A few seconds went by, nothing happened so we thought that a block was not the issue, when all of a sudden… all I can say is… projectile shit storm, sadly inside the cupboard that led under the heads floor and into the bilges.  I couldn’t get out of the boat quick enough… trying very hard not to vomit over the decks David had just cleaned!! Luckily for Steven and his pile of clothes left on his cabin floor, the projectile narrowing missed a hole through to his cabin!!!   I wish I can say that is the end of the story but 4 days later we are still flushing it through….. Each time, the water is a little cleaner, thankfully! and we have practically bought the local store out of air fresheners. I swore 10 years ago, never again and always nagged everyone to pump the toilet at least 15 times…now it is more like 50!!!!

We finally left Marina di San Vicenzo 2 days later, running out of time before we have to get to Rome and say goodbye to Steven, we headed back to Elba, passing a beautiful pirate ship with all her 10 sails out,  to sail around the side of the Island we didn’t get to before…..

First stop was Porto Ferraira. We stopped on anchor and took the dinghy in, which meant crossing the lane the ferries took, and for one dicey moment  David contemplated playing chicken and thankfully decided against it, so we waited patiently for it to pass us by only to be hit by its wake, we docked, needless to say, a little wet!

Porto Ferraira is a beautiful and yes, quaint old town, worth the soaking…

We even climbed the steps up to see Napoleon’s residence…

and had a chuckle as clearly Bridget Jones was here for the weekend!!

After a night on anchor, we headed along the north coast to a bay called Gulfo di Vittolo. Gorgeous as they all are and after another cleaning session under the floorboards, Steven and I thought the best way to clean off was to jump in and go for a swim. Someway out but heading back, Steven heard me squeal in pain and as soon as he twigged I has been stung by a jellyfish, he became the next Michael Phelps, swimming back to the boat yelling to David, get me out, get me out… I guess chivalry and jellyfish clearly don’t go hand in hand. Thankfully David was ready with the vinegar, antihistamines and wine and after an hour or so of feeling like I had run my hand through a field of stinging nettles, it all settled down…..sadly as the swell picked up resulting in a restless night for us all.

7am this morning, David and I gave up, upped anchor and popped across the bay to Marina Marciana for a quick provisioning, coffee and croissant stop,

Mooring did not go without a hitch mind you, nor without a right old giggle at my expense….. when mooring up, one stern line on, David doing the bowline and me on the second stern line… much to David’s, the marinello and the 2 boats either side of us, my bikini top completely pinged off and there is me, one arm on the rope the other trying to cover my modesty!. 2 hours later, bikini top back in place, we then winged our way around the tip and are now settled in for the night in a bay on the south west tip of the Island.