From Tarot to Testudos

Having smiled ourselves silly at the amazing Giardino dei Tarocchi we decided to try our luck and venture to the Italian Med again in search of sun and sea. We could even see the sea glinting in the afternoon sun as we headed down towards the coast. It looked promising – a long stretch of beach adjacent to the Lago di Burano near Capalbio – famous for bird watching and away from the overdeveloped coast further north. Instead, we found no access for vehicles until an enormous ‘beach club’ that marked the end of the reserve and the beginning of a very narrow stretch of black sand beach just up-stream of a power station that wasn’t on our map. It’s a pretty sunset in the following pic but the sand didn’t get any less black in the daylight and the power station was in the other direction up the coast!

Undeterred, we had a go at using our Italian Aires de Camping Car book (Aree di Sosta) to find somewhere by the beach anyway. As this uses grid references on the assumption you own a sat nav (we don’t) it took a while…. But eventually we found one and the friendly owners were keen to show us round in the now almost obligatory golf cart used to take punters round campsites! At 14 Euros a night, plus 3 for electric and a Euro each for a hot shower, this was looking more like campsite fees minus the facilities! And the beach, whilst reasonably clean in the section run by the owners of the Sosta, was ankle-deep in junk and detritus either side. This seems to be the Italian way so far – clean beaches where there is a private concession – not so elsewhere… There must be a clean beach somewhere with public access – so we’ll keep hunting!

After a very quiet night’s sleep with just the glow of the power station in the distance, we headed off in search of a campsite close to Rome where I could act out all my Roman soldier fantasies and see the Forum, the Colosseum and some other ancient bits and bobs. Mrs B suggested we look inland for a site and we fetched upon a very pretty and tranquil site at Lago Bracciano, north west of Rome.

This lake is Rome’s water supply but it doesn’t stop people from having a good time here, whether by sailboat, canoe, or the ferry that visits the three main towns. Motor-boats and jet skis are banned, but the local sea plane from the Italian Air Force base on the lake practises collecting and dropping water on a regular basis!

I’m increasingly of the view that so far, inland Italy is winning hands down over the coast when it comes to the sort of expectations we had for this trip (some beaching, some of the interior, some antiquities and culture, some campsites/ sostas, some free-camping – all with lashings of wine and food of course!). The lake here and surrounding countryside are really beautiful. We’ve enjoyed our stay here at Camping Porticciolo – a peaceful woodland setting (plenty of jays, blackbirds and what we think are hooded carrion crows) with its own beach and swimming in the lake – which was really fun! We even managed to get a bike ride in as well and went from the campsite to Anguillara across the bay.

It may only have been 10 miles, but on our folding bikes and their little wheels it was a long slog up some of the inclines and a hairy time being grazed by speedy Italian drivers! It was worth it though and after a lazy lake-side lunch at a pizzeria, we headed back – you can see Bracciano town above Mrs B’s head in the next picture!

Roma – well, after a technical blunder that meant we missed our early train and were delayed by 30 minutes (OK – I jammed the validation machine by insisting my ticket went in sideways… oops! And the only person with a key was busy collecting litter off the track…) we decided to walk from the Stazione Ostiense up to the Forum, the Colosseum, the other Roman ruins nearby and then (Mrs B’s late addition to the itinerary) the Trevi Fountain. If you like your ruins on a grand scale then this visit delivered. (Unfortunately for Mrs B, the Trevi fountain was empty of water and swathed in netting for some major restoration….)

I’m glad we went to Rome but think I’ll sate my fascination with Roman history with less busy stuff in the future. Apart from the undeniable joys of walking in the footsteps of some of the famous peeps I’ve read about, (and doing it in authentic gladiator style sandals of course!) I was left feeling that it was a bit of a bucket-list ‘tick’ rather than a truly instructive and enjoyable day out. A lesson for future itinerary planning for sure!

Still, the approach to Italian railway health and safety soon had me smiling on our return to Bracciano!

From Bracciano we are planning our next steps as we head south. There’s stormy weather forecast for a few days so we may just bite the bullet and get down Sicily way until the rain has passed…searching for some public access beaches en route of course!

S.