Awake very early due to the M6 (i.e. 6.30am)
and decide to go around the corner to steal some water from the communal
fountain. What we have realised about Italy as compared to France is that
facilities for Campers are few and far between. We are low on water so this
appears to be the best option. This process involves parking close by and
sneaking over with the solar shower bag, which holds approx. 10 litres, filling
it as casually as possible and emptying in the tank. When we get there there’s
quite a few folks milling about. Not ideal. Still, I go over for the first fill
which gets quizzical looks, not helped by a massively uncoordinated
bambi-legs-akimbo flip flop slip on the wet floor. Now everyone is looking.
Most people use it to have a quick drink and I’m filling a massive bladder like
object! I return for the second and all goes well. On the way back to the Van I
give all the onlookers a salute of jubilance and defiance. This, it turns out
is a mistake. When all is done I realise I’ve dropped the rope that is attached
to the handle of the shower (so you can hang it). It can only be next to the
fountain. So I have to endure an embarrassed walk back and low and behold it is
right there. I must have dropped it whilst I was attempting to stay upright
during the flip flop fail. I can feel the stares as I walk head stooped, back
to the Van.
Scene of fountain flip flop fail:
After a quick swim and another free shower
(yes, weird guy was there again, why???), we get some coffee down and decide to
make a break for Pisa. We’ve got somewhere all lined up, nice trip along the
coastal path and then some piney woods next to the sea in a pretty little
nature reserve. Once again, this does not go according to plan. The pretty
little coastal road turns out to resemble nothing so much as Delhi-on-Sea and
on a busy day. The traffic is madness, the weird beach resorts by the side of
the road are totally packed already (9.00am) and about a million people are
employing every single manner of transport in the most inconsiderate and
illegal ways possible. All in all it makes driving nigh on impossible and
incredibly tense. Every metre gained is a triumph of not crashing the van,
killing a mentalist on a scooter, flattening a mother and child on a bike or
simply stopping right then and there in the middle of the road and slowly
weeping. Prayers are sent to the gods that gave us our parking space in town,
being in this madness is unbearable. We bail off the coastal road and get a
zoom on towards the piney trees and beach please. Unfortunately this also
fails. We arrive to discover that camper vans aren’t allowed. Sigh. About turn.
Fortunately (at last!) we arrive at Marina di Pisa and find a camping car site,
albeit quite busy, but at least we’re allowed in and made to feel welcome and
normal by extremely helpful camper van reception man who is balm to our fraught
souls. As a bonus, for a mere €15 we can stay and have cold showers and (AND,
so excited!) empty the poo tank. Cherry
on the cake is that the beach is only a ten minute walk away, we can get a bus
into Pisa rather than take Onz and apparently there’s some slightly drunk
Italian office worker in the vicinity who (probably unbeknownst to him) leaves
his internet connection free for use!
All is right with the world again.
We wander into town to find the beach and
find that once again the place has a very un-Italian feel to it. It feels like
a deserted a film set crossed with a once prosperous Mexican beach resort. Old
faded, crumbling, once magnificent shuttered buildings line the beach road. Giant
slabs of rock and marble line the edge of the sea that create super giant
swimming pools. Perfect for a sheltered dip. The water was strangely super
saline, we floated along on our backs, or even hovering upright, like weird
human kelpy things. After basking on the rocks like a siren and her bewitched
sailor we head back to Onzo and the campsite for freezing cold showers and hot
spicey BBQ local sausages. Marina di Pisa so far is hitting the mark on all counts.
