So one of our great days out on our Italian holiday was to Viareggio on the coast of the Med, only about half an hour from Lucca. My parents recommended it as a nice seaside town, and it was a lovely old seaside resort, even more charming since it was off-season I think. It had everything we could have wanted - a long seaside boardwalk with lots of shops, cafes and restaurants, and a huge beach with some good waves to jump. I think we also loved Viareggio because we found great parking almost immediately (a minor point you say? You obviously haven't tried finding parking in some of these Italian hill or coastal towns, good parking is a jewel beyond measure), and we serendipitously parked, not only beside the beach, but beside a fabulous cafe with terrace and gorgeous pastries, including the house speciality (local delicacy?), a kind of custardy rice pudding in pastry. And of course, I had my morning 'cappooch' (what the Italian barista called it, and my new favourite word).
Then it was off to the beach just behind us. We were the ONLY ones in the water of course (and by 'we', I mean the girls) - the Italians, all wrapped up in their woollen jumpers (cashmere, no doubt) and stylish padded jackets and scarves, thought we were crazy. One lady even stopped to check that we were in charge of the poor neglected girls in the water (and in charge of our faculties), as she huddled deeper into her down jacket and turned the collar up a little higher. To be honest, after PEI beaches in mid-July, a Mediterranean beach in November was positively BALMY.
We went to Viareggio on a Sunday, which is the time-honoured day for the 'parade' - there is an actual expression for this in Italian - an opportunity for everyone to dress up in their finest clothes and walk up and down the boardwalk, to see and be seen. I wish I'd had the courage to brazenly take pictures of some of the fabulous outfits we saw - mini-skirts! furs! five-inch heels! We were, of course, the scruffiest lot on the boardwalk, and it's a wonder we were let into a restaurant for lunch at all. I think it helped that the clocks had gone back the night before, completely unbeknownst to me and Toby, so we actually went for lunch at 11am, not 12pm, and wondered why we were the only ones in the restaurant. It took us two more days to actually twig that we were an hour out. Ah, holidays...
And what Italian day out would be complete without gelato?
Ah, Viareggio, we love you back.
Spent the morning last week-end with your Dad in a boat pulling in the docks at BDYC. I would like to trade Dad's is possible :)
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