Wednesday May 20th 2009 - Sunday May 24th 2009

Molino a Fuoco, Vada/Livorno (ACSI2009-1593) N43.33206 E10.46021
Well, we must move on if we are going to have enough time on our way home to linger in France. So we continue north and arrive at Vada.

The site is good, although a bit on the large side for our taste.

Vada is a very pleasant town, and is only a short cycle ride away, mostly on a cycle track. One of our first tasks (as usual) is to cycle into town, locate the church, and determine mass times for Sunday. So mission accomplished, we find a suitable café and have a couple of beers as the world passes by.

As we drive in, we encounter another English couple (Jeremy and Hillary), relaxing in the sun. We spend a pleasant evening with them sampling their 1.5l bottle of red wine.

The coast here is an almost continuous beach of white sand stretching for several kilometres, back from the beach are cool pine woods, with numerous paths and cycle tracks. So we spend our days cycling, mostly along the coast as far south as Marina Bibona, but also inland to Ceccina.

We have Jeremy and Hillary round to our pitch for return match of red wine drinking and discover that Jeremy is a folk music fan. Out comes the guitar and an impromptu concert begins, Kathleen works through her repertoire of Peter, Paul and Mary, Everley Brothers etc and with Jeremy giving a very good rendition of “Wild Rover”. Our next door neighbours (a Dutch foursome, who spend most evenings playing cards) are the audience, and join in the fun with a few verses of “Tulips from Amsterdam”.