It’s Hot Hot Hot… Life’s A Beach!

So after 4 days of temperatures in the mid 90’s and dew points in the 70’s we decided it was time to venture to the beach. 
Armed with our research…1000 trip advisor reviews, we decided… Viareggio… Bagni Maurizio…and no doubt Stefano is your guy!

With  phrase book in hand and access to google we craft a text to the famous Stefano … #1 rockstar of all things beaches in Viareggio at least in the world of trip advisor. 

We send off our first text reserving two beach chairs and an umbrella for the day.  Our plan is to leave early, taking the train from Lucca to Viareggio. A beach day will be both relaxing and refreshing given the heat( even the locals have commented on the unusually high and humid temps). We are feeling very competent with our message in Italian… when Stefano responds… he sends photos of different types of beach chairs and asks for our preference… ahhh !!This requires a more sophisticated response. We craft a reply and offer an an explanation for any grammatical errors.. to which he graciously responds… you may use English!!

 

We leave early this am after a light breakfast of yogurt, cheese and meat… a collection favorite of breakfasts we have had here in Europe. We had purchased deli fare to make sandwiches and a bag of chips.  This is our first venture out of Lucca since arriving, we are curious about the ease or difficulty of training somewhere.

The trek with a backpack filled with a beachtowel and a sandwich was much easier than with a 50lb suitcase.

We board the train and arrive at our destination with little inconvenience.  We then walk the 15 mins to the beach. Viareggio is typical of many beach resorts.

The buildings are pink, melon and ivory colored.  The streets are lined with flowering trees and in this case two blocks of blooming orange trees.  There is one beach resort next to another next to another. Finally we arrive at Bagno Maurizio.  Now to  find Stefano.

Stefano is everything and more that he is made out to be. 

A genuinely affable and friendly person, he is welcoming and engaging.  He is a fit and trim, with surfer tanned skin and wide smile.  It is hard not to be won over by his easy manner.  True to reputation he has our spot on the beach reserved… two lounge chairs with an umbrella in the second row from the shore.

A revelation of the day….there is no age limit to the bikini in Italy. Very young girls wear only the bottom and play freely in the water and on the beach.  The women of a certain age don  a bikini no matter what their shape or size.  Hourglass, pear-shape, apple round, bare tummies prevail!  The speedo however was not the suit of the day for men.  The bathing trunk seemed universal across the bathers. 

We went to purchase sunscreen only to find spf6 was the common option. Finally we found a tube of spf50 – molto alta … after slathering on the lotion and settling in on our lounge chairs we enjoyed a beautiful hot day at the beach.  The water was inviting, a comfortable temperature, not too cold, but still refreshing. The sand though hot was fine like sugar and soft underfoot.  The umbrellas were spaced to afford ample room yet efficient use of the beach.  Stefano had given us a cold bottle of sparkling water when we checked in and we had brought a small lunch so we were quite content.

The spf50 molto alta proved to be true to its claims.  After swimming for hours it still did not wash off.  We discovered we looked a little like the nose of a lifeguard covered in zinc oxide, but we were sunburn free!

There are still moments when we cross our fingers and hope we understood the Italian. As we hopped on the earlier train from Viareggio headed to

Florence our certainty that it would actually stop in Lucca faded when the announcement spoke only of arrival in Firenze and thanked us for traveling Trentitalia… we played out what we would do if indeed this train continued passed our dear Lucca. As we began to near the town the almost imperceivable slowing of the train, our confidence grew. Ha! We did it.  Ventured away and made our way back very promptly.

As we walked from the train station back to the wall, we recounted the beauty of the day and wondered how we would ever get the spf50 off.