Beach Day and Saturnia

The girls wanted a beach day, but no one wanted to get up early, so we slept in. Bella and I walked down to the Carrefour grocery store and got eggs and grapes and potato chips and a big bottle of tea. After breakfast, we loaded up with towels and sunscreen and headed to the beach, an hour's drive.

At the beach, after a few harrowing traffic moments with a semi-truck in a roundabout and a car that was refusing to let me merge, we found a free beach access with free parking. We opted for renting an umbrella and two "beds" (lounge chairs) for €20. We spent a few hours at the beach.

We rinsed off our feet and loaded up, headed into the nearest town to check the Coop for suitcases. None. Our next best try was to drive north to Grosseto, where they have an Ipercoop. It was in a big air conditioned mall with an amazing wood-lined ceiling. But the Ipercoop only had medium-sized bags for €40. We wanted a bigger one. Before we searched for another place, we grabbed some focaccia pizza by the slice and ate it in the car.

The next choice for luggage was a store called Scarpamondo which had a luggage section comparable to a Ross. We found a good-sized (but not the biggest) bag that could hold a lot of stuff but Sofia could handle for €60, which Sofia paid for. She would make this her own suitcase for future traveling.

We headed to Saturnia, running a bit late, and just missed sunset. The view of the waters from the road, though, were still spectacular. The Terme di Saturnia are a group of springs located in the municipality of Manciano in Italy, a few kilometers from the village of Saturnia. The sulphurous spring water is at a temperature of around 37.5°C (99.5°F). The main thermal waterfalls are located at an old mill. We spent a few hours at the springs. The facilities were very nice, considering it was free to the public. And though I knew the water was going to be sulphurous, it wasn't too stinky.

Cristina was the last to get out

We got home very late, took showers, ate a dinner of tortellini and red sauce and caprese salads at nearly midnight, then went to bed for one last night with no air conditioning.