The potential of Pisa (16 July)
This morning felt a bit flat as we were back to just the 5 of us again. We set out to explore the Roman ships being restored in a Pisa museum (only open Fridays and Saturdays) that have been dug up recently out of the former Pisa harbor. After much exploration and frustration the museum could not be found. The maps we had only showed a vague reference to its location and a lack of any quality signs didn’t help. We walked the streets for almost an hour trying to find these illusive boats but without success; much to Caleb’s disappointment. Our morning pretty much summed up our Pisa experience. It is a city that has so much history outside of the leaning tower, but doesn’t quite deliver on its full potential. The sites are poorly sign posted, the information available is limited and sometimes inconsistent and what you expect to find isn’t quite what you might get. Perhaps they suffer from too much rich heritage to consider things like Galileo’s achievements or Roman remains important. My report card for Pisa reads something like “shows much potential but could try harder”.
After a visit to CarreFour to replenish our stocks we headed for Florence. Having assessed the numerous camp site options on the way we elected for the one recommended to us (via blog) by a family who have been traveling through Europe for a few years. The camp site is about 30km from Florence and a similar distance from Sienna so it should be a good base to explore some of the better parts of Tuscany. As we pulled up to register a tractor train towing multiple trailers full of swimwear-clad patrons heading off to the pool drove by. This should have been an indication as to what was to come. This is a camp site like none other and we’ve never seen anything quite like it. It is simply amazing and breathtaking when you consider the size, scope and services available. It has 900 pitches, 4 pools, waterslides, rapid rides, tennis courts, restaurants (I counted 5 today), soccer pitches, shops, gym, tour office, kids program and just about anything else you could imagine. The place is so large that you need the tractor train to transport you from one pool to the other. It’s definitely not for the camper wanting a quant little Tuscan farm camp site. It is however built on an old winery and farm with much of its history still visible. We are surrounded by farms and Tuscan hills so it does have some charm to it if you ignore the thousands of people here and the noise of families having a great time.
We are parked in Dutch street as I (Tim) liked to call it. The street is full of mostly Dutch people and we’re wondering if there is anyone left in the Netherlands. We’ve seen so many Dutch travelers on our trip that there can’t be many people left at home. The Dutch definitely love their camping; perhaps almost as much as Australians.
We spent all afternoon at the pool until 7PM riding the rapids and playing in the pool. The kids had an amazing time and anything else after this will seem a little bland. They will love this place even if it’s not quite what Karen and I had in mind when we planned our Tuscan getaway. We’re here for 4 nights and we’ve organized a bus trip to Florence tomorrow.
