The summer solstice has passed and around Petraia that’s when things really start to grow. We’re busier than ever keeping up with the weeds, the vegetable garden, the vineyards and the many wonderful guests who have come for a wine tasting or to take a class. There hasn’t been a whole lot of time to kick back and relax yet this summer. And its hot. But we’re not complaining, Petraia is gorgeous at the moment. This period along with the fall harvest season is the loveliest time of the year and we feel privileged to be able to experience it.
It’s always nice, after a long hot day working outside, to drive out to the coast in the late afternoon in our camper van for a dip in the Mediterranean. Its a beautiful drive through the heart of both Chianti and the Maremma to the Monte Argentario area. Here miles of lovely secluded beaches await. We’re always discovering a new one. The bonus is that on almost every beach there is usually a fish shack or sometimes even a starred restaurant for a lovely seafood dinner. We like to arrive in the early evening just in time for a swim and then have a sunset dinner on the beach. We spend the night a few steps from the beach in our camper and the next morning we get an morning dip in before brekfast at the beach bar. Then we drive back to Petraia to be there before our first staff clock in for the day.
Most of the tourists who visit Tuscany come to see Florence, Siena and maybe Chianti. Some will get to Pisa, Montalcino, San Giminginano and Arezzo. But few bother with Tuscany’s coast. And that’s a pity (or maybe not). This region boasts one of the most unspoiled coastlines we’ve ever seen in Italy, or the Mediterannean for that matter.
On summer weekends, and all through July and August, these beaches are busy with Italian holiday makers. But on a weekday afternoon in June you’ll just have to share your view with only a few. This is the sweet time and we love to take advantage of it. Here’s a few pictures we took in and around Ansedonia late yesterday afternoon, on our first coastal escape of the season….
- For at least two thousand years, the area has been known as a place to get good fish. “Archeologists have puzzled over the purpose of ancient tanks found there,” wrote Waverly Root in The Food of Italy, “but the generally accepted theory now is that they were fish traps into which were lured, and stored for the tables of the Roman Emperors, the delicate grey mullets on which they doted.” The Roman system of entrapment is not dissimilar to the one used in the lagoon today. But in modern times fishermen here have had to reinvent themselves in order to protect a livelihood passed from father to son for generations.
- This area has been famous for fish farms and thermal baths for as far back as the Romans
- Ansedonia’s tower fortress
- A long and winding road to the beach
- Sunflowers
- this way to the beach!
- Maremanna cattle grazing in a field near the beach
- The road to the beach
- This has got to be the biggest fig tree I’ve ever seen
- There goes Michael….
- So refreshing…
- If you want to get fancy you can rent an umbrella and a chair
- I love this path to the water
- A nice little restaurant for dinner at the end of the beach
- Beautiful swell this evening
- A nice fixer upper right on the beach anyone?
- fields for grazing horses and cattle just behind the dunes
oh boy…envious of your beach days…lovely photos and description of swimming solitude!!
Thanks Daph!