Castiglione della Pescaia and Cala Violino in April
We are staying a week in Piombino in April and the plan for Thursday is ambitious. The destination, new, is Castiglione della Pescaia, which has been tempting me for ages when I look at a map but is nearly an hour from our accommodation in Piombino. But it’s a pleasant drive through the spring-green countryside and there isn’t much traffic. It’s quite easy to find free parking just outside the centre and we walk up. Castiglione is more simple to navigate than Massa Marritima – the historical centre is in the higher part of the village and at the top of that there’s the castle and the main church. The warm-coloured stone houses and five zigzagging streets are uphill but not very steep and we are soon at the church at the top. It’s all nice, but perhaps not as much as I imagined. Bosa , in Sardinia, for example is prettier. The church of San Giovanni Battista is empty. There’s a painting behind the altar which is good, but a little depressing, Christ being taken down from the cross,...
