Viareggio Beach Day and Our Ode to Tuscany's Mosquitos
On Sunday of our third weekend in Pistoia, we took an hour train ride to the beach town of Viareggio to enjoy some sun and sand. We wanted to make sure the kids experience the warm waters of the Italian Riviera while the weather was still hot enough for swimming.
Viareggio is a beautiful town known for its clean broad beaches and its annual winter Carnival event that has been happening since the 1870s! We chose Viareggio because it is the closest beach town to where we are staying, it’s easy to get to via train and walking, and there are many lidos to choose from. In Italy, most of the coastline is covered by private beach clubs (“lidos” or “bagnos”). The beach is technically free, but it can be tricky to find access points that don’t involve going through a private club. We went to Bagno Nettuno since it’s only a 20 minute walk from the train station and has a pool (Avery insisted she would not swim in the ocean even though I told her it would be much easier to swim in than the Atlantic Ocean). The admission price of 16 euro gave us access to a spot on the beach, an umbrella, 2 chairs and 1 lounger. The lido also has facilities like bathrooms, changing rooms, playground, pool, and on-site restaurant. This is a pretty different concept than the Jersey shore!
Given that it is off-season now, there were very few people so we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. The water was very clear and calm with the teeniest of waves - bad for any sort of wave jumping we attempted to do, but good in that my kids didn’t get sucked in by waves as typically happens a few times when we go to the Jersey shore. Things that the kids found most surprising and enjoyable were the silky soft sand and the shallowness of the beach far out from the shoreline. They enjoyed swimming in the calm water… that is, until a giant fish started swimming towards our legs, showing no fear of being near humans. Avery jumped on my back and hollered for me to get back to shore — that pretty much ended swimming for the day. Despite not wanting to go at first, both kids gave the beach trip two thumbs up. They also learned a lesson that they shouldn’t assume all beaches are the same - they’ve seen so little of the world yet!
Back in town, the pesky Toscana mosquitos continue their daily attacks. Every evening, we turn on bright lights in bedrooms and try to catch any mosquitoes before going to bed. Since mosquitos have been such a big part of our experience so far in Tuscany, the kids wrote a whole journal entry and even created a song and dance about these annoying creatures. Despite our caution, the kids still get new bites each day from their school courtyard, the many excursions they take outdoors during the school day, and other random places. Since Austin is very allergic to mosquito bites, he’s had to deal with swollen legs and arms whenever he gets bites. Overall, Boundless school spends a lot more time outdoors than their school in the US. One excursion, for example, was going on a walking trip to taste water across the various fountains in town and seeing which one tastes the best. (Luckily, the fountain water is safe to drink in Italy and they did not end up getting a stomachache!)
Kids’ Journals
Photos
