Wednesday 30th Spotorno

Again Spotorno looked quite a decent place .We've now visited about 8 towns along this stretch of coastline and our favourite has got to be Alassio. But here's Spotorno...

Wednesday 30th September.

A long day today. We left the site and walked to Ceriale station. Train West to Albenga and then east to Finale Ligure, another attractive town walk around making sure we had seen most of the sights. Coffee at 11s then lunch at 12.30. Intriguing stuff this. Later it started to dull over so we jumped a train to Spotorno.

Monday 28th September.

Another lovely day today. Left the site at 8.30 and walked 25 minutes to Ceriale station jumped the train and a 12 minute journey landed us in the beautiful Alassio. A town my parents stayed at in 1964 their first holiday abroad. This is one of the classier towns along this coastline with prices for coffee, beer and meals a little dearer. So how did my dad, a postman, manage to get to such a place. Like most people of his generation he worked hard and saved hard to get quality. I'm not saying Alassio is on a par with Monaco or Cannes, but it does seem to have a pride in itself. We found a good coffee bar in a square where sounds of the 70s seem to be the vogue, so we listened to amongst others Tracey Chapman, The Doobies and James Taylor as we sipped two delightful Cappuccino. Its been said that you'll never find a public beach here but we found plenty. The sea was crystal clear, warm and inviting so i was soon in its calm waters.Quite a few in the water,all of a generation to appreciate the sounds of the 70s.

Saturday 26th

Campsite has become a bit liveliar with the sounds of Italian children and their parents arriving for the weekend. Still ok ,behaviours seem within acceptable limits. After two nights we still couldnt come to any firm conclusions about this site and its location so we jumped on the bikes and with the morning sun beating down on us we headed to the beaches of Ceriale. Everything looked more positive in the warm sunshine as we sat with our morning cappuccino just people watching. There was a beach volleyball contest on the beach and as most of the private beach clubs were closing and packing up there was a greater sense of space. Feeling more positive about the place we put together a plan...Saturday and Sunday mornings on beach and swimming, Monday train to Alassio, Tuesday to Spotorno. Plan decided so I went for a nice swim.

Thursday 24th September

We left Diano Marina and took a short 18 mile drive to Ceriale and Camping Baciccia. A decent Acsi site with good facilities and a nice pool. Acsi pitches ok but we took up the offer of paying an additional 7 euros for a bigger more private pitch. 2on arrival we jumped on our bikes and had a coffee along the seafront in Ceriale and then biked it down to Albenga where we discovered an attractive older part of the town.

Tuesday 22nd September.

Had a lovely swim yesterday. Sea about 2 minute walk from site. What made it so pleasant was the water temperature which is close to 27c ,about 4c above the norm for this year. Barbara still thinking about it. Today we cycled west towards Imperia the cycle path supposedly ended here but we just carried on, getting close to San Lorenzo. Turned around back to Imperia which we didn't find that inspiring. Some big yachts parked in the Marina opposite expensive restaurants. Eventually headed back to site after clocking 16 miles.

Monday 21st September

San Bartolomeo Al Mare Crossed over into Italy yesterday ,sunday Gave up on the uncertainty of campsites in Diano Marina and just booked us into Camping Rosa in San Bartolomeo Booked a 4 day stay and then Got a 6 day pitch booked in Albenga. Camping Rosa is where we stayed last year, it's a 35 minute walk into Diana but that might be quicker following the completion of the excellent new cycle trail built on the old railway lines. San Bartolomeo is nice but it would be too far to walk up to the new station where we had planned to take trains to resorts such as Alassio. This morning got the bikes out to try the cycle path that took us east to Andora, passing the beautiful Cervo.