Eutruscan Tombs

Today we visited the Eutruscan Tombs at Tarquinia - there are about 6000 tombs in the area but only 15-20 can be visited at any one time. The entrances have little shelters over them to protect the frescos from the weather and vandals.

The interior of a tomb with a second chamber leading off.

These tombs are from around 500bc - at 2,500 years old the pictures and colours are amazing!!

The door to hades - the after life

Monte Argent Ario

Today we drove South from Alberese with the intention of visiting Monte Argent Ario which is an island that's connected to mainland Italy by two causeways with a lagoon in the middle. First we drove to Porto Santo Stefano which is in the North of the island but the parking area was closed and we couldn't find anywhere to stop - the only real disadvantage of travelling in a motorhome is that it's difficult to find a 7m parking space! We then drove to Porto Ercol which is in the South of the island only to find that the entire town is closed to motorhomes. In disgust we decided to take out money elsewhere (who knows we may have bought an ice cream!) and drove on South until we came to an Ariee di Sosta in Montalto Marina where we decided to stay the night. We spent the afternoon on a rather scrubby beach enjoying yet another lovely sunny day.

Porto Santo Stefano - apparently this is where the rich and famous hang out. At the back of the town when we were looking for a parking place we saw lots of boatsheds with massive motor yachts (£1m+) in storage....

Two Foxy Ladies

During the afternoon the wind picked up on the beach so we moved back into the sand dunes. We spent a few hours here, had lunch and then read our books (Em was reading "The Beach" on the beach).

Suddenly Em looked up and said "there's a fox" - sure enough there was and it wasn't bothered by us at all, quite happy to pose for pictures.

After leaving the beach we cycled back along the cycle route and at a gate where you have to get off your bikes there was another fox waiting to ambush us! I took my rucksack off to get the camera out and he came over and demanded food, money and the clothes off our backs - only kidding, but it was obvious what he wanted ;-)

She (or he) was really unafraid - probably because he lives on a protected nature resurve.

Ok, ok just one more photo - this is my best side......

Another day on the beach

After spending a day on the beach yesterday we decided to kick back and do the same thing today - its hard work all this travelling you know.

The morning started out overcast, a breeze had picked up and the sea was quite rough. Undeterred (as we're Brits) we soon found a nice spot on the beach.

Em checked out the water.....

.... and I went for a swim

A day on the beach

It's a beautiful warm day, weren't very well prepared as we'd not expected to find a beach however as it was so nice and virtually deserted so we walked for miles and miles.

We passed a crocodile... mmmmm

Em checked out the water temperature

We walked all of the way to the far end of the beach which probably about 3 miles and hard going on soft sand.  At the end of the beach we went for a swim - the water was still warm enough and when we came out the sun soon dried us off.

Maremma

Today we drove a few km up the coast to Alberese which is on the edge of the Parco della Maremma (we love the name!) which is a national park and an area of unspoilt coastline.

We decided to do the 8.5km cycle route from Alberese to the Marina di Alberese around the Northern edge of the national park. We had enquired about walking in the park but at €6 or €9 each for entry we decided againt it!

The cycle route was really nice going through fields and then into pine woods.

We had expected to arrive at a town or village on the coast, instead we found miles and miles of pristine beaches backed by sand dunes.

Talamone

Today we had quite a long drive from Umbria, through Lazio and back into Tucany.
We are spending the night right on the beach at Talamone.

We went for a walk along the beach into the town. We both agreed it was a refreshing change to be back by the sea - this time though we're on the West coast of Italy.

The following morning looks like its going to be a nice day!!

Spoleto

Today we are in Spoleto. After a late start (well it is a Sunday) we drove to Spoleto and found the carpark that was recommended in our motorhome book.
After slogging uphill through the village to the information centre (which is nearly at the top) we discovered that there is a very impressive new system of six escalators and a lift from the carpark at the bottom all the way up to the castle. The lift had been cut into the rock below the castle and the escalators were very well disguised as the climbed their way up inside the city walls.

Spoleto was one of Italy's most important Roman colonies and as such has lots of Roman stuff.

The Roman Amphitheater - see I told you they had Roman stuff :-)

The Medieval (not Roman) castle

Rather an impressive Medieval aqueduct.

Stop.... grrrrrr!!

We liked this - Mr Angry traffic light

Montefalco

Today we are in Montefalco. Last night, after visiting Perugia and Assisi, we drove on to Spello where we stayed the night in a carpark on the outskirts of the village. We had intended to check out Spello but couldn't be bothered as we were both quite tired and having seen quite a few "pretty hilltop villages" in the last few days they are starting to loose their charm.... There was a parking meter in the carpark but we noticed that the Italians didn't bother to get tickets so we followed suit! We left the carpark early so as to avoid any parking attendants (the Italians were still asleep in their campers) and drove to Montefalco where we found a free Ariee di Sosta.

The Ariee di Sosta in Montefalco. Free to stay, free water - the water machine was broken - in our favour for a change ;-) and electric hookup for €1/hr.We decided to have a lazy day today so instead of moving on (which was our original plan) we wandered round the town - didn't take long, had lunch, caught up on email, FB and the blog, read our books had supper and then watched a dvd in the evening.

Montefalco - a tiny town supposedly the prettiest in the area....

Assisi

This afternoon we visited Assisi which is the birthplace of St Francis. When we eventually found a parking place (it seems they don't want motorhomes here) we climbed up the hill (and an escalator!) to visit the town.

The Basilica di Santa Chiara

Steep and pretty narrow steets

Perugia

This morning we visited Perugia and they had a chocolate festival on - the whole of the town was full of stalls selling it!!

The town piazza with the council house in the background. The crowd by the fountain are waiting for free samples of chocolate.

Perugia has a very strange underground medieval village - it made us think of London in the middle ages.

Lots of high brick arches

Pienza and Montepulciano

Today we visited Pienza and Montepulciano, both of which are typical Tuscan hilltop towns. Mostly walled, narrow streets, small piazza's.... oh and tourist shops!

The unusual clock tower in Montepulciano

Monteriggioni

Today we are in the medieval hilltop town of Monteriggioni which is completely encircled by heavily fortified high walls and 14 towers. The town itself is tiny and took us about 10 minutes to explore and 20 minutes to wall around the outside of the walls!

View of Monteriggioni from a distance

The walls are extremely well preserved

Olive trees - tick
Grape vines - tick
Rolling hills - tick

Oh this must be Tuscany then ;-)

San Ginignano

Today we are in San Ginignano which has 13 fortified towers - originally there were over 60 in what is quite a small town!

The prominent towers of San Ginignano's skyline

The city walls

One of the towers

Em perfecting her wall balancing skills