Since leaving Porto Venere we have been staying at an incredible new marina called Cala de Medici at the town of Rosignano, south of Livorno and it is huge with berths for 650 boats, many of them sailing yachts. We are so far from the marina office that it would take us more than half an hour to walk the distance so we use the dinghy for that and we also hired a car. Facilities galore there, including a bar, a restaurant, a yacht club with another restaurant and bar, an ice cream shop that does a roaring trade, several shops, and a spa with facilities for massage, sauna, manicure and pedicure (taken advantage of by yours truly).
Last Saturday we drove about 30 km inland to Volterra, a town that has existed since the Etruscans lived there in the first century. It is one of the fabulous hilltop towns of Tuscany, at 500 metres, and the views of the surrounding countryside are magnificent - typical Tuscany. What we liked about the town is that it's still a place where people live rather than just being a tourist stop. When wandering the back streets you wouldn't think there was another tourist anywhere nearby. There is also a Roman theatre on the edge of the town that is still complete enough to be used as an open air theatre now. Quite extraordinary those Romans. Wish we were going to be here next week for some classical concerts.
On Monday we drove to Lucca, another stunning Tuscan town near Pisa, although much larger than usual, but with their original wall totally intact. It was really too hot to be wandering around like that. We haven't learned yet that we need to start early in the morning and have siesta in the hottest part of the day.
It's been very hot and sunny since June 20, as though someone turned on the summer switch. The nights are perfect, but in the daytime we really either need to be swimming or be in the boat with the airconditioning on.
Yesterday we drove to Rome to stay for a couple of days and Pat booked us into a great hotel b/n Spanish Steps and Via Veneto. The restaurant is on the top floor so we had dinner there last night - great views of course. Breakfast is served there too so that will be a pleasant way to start the day. I love this city and would like to have a pensione for a few weeks to really explore all of the areas, but not in summer - it was about 35 here yesterday.
Today the 30 degree temperature made it difficult to walk too much again even though Rome is a great city to walk around. We thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the art museum housed in the stunning Villa Borghese in the Borghese Gardens. The Villa is about 300 years old and every aspect of the decor is superb art, let alone the huge collection of sculptures and paintings from the past 20 centuries that are housed there.
Back to the boat tomorrow.