Costa degli Etruschi May 2021 - Mazzanta

We set off on a grey Thursday morning at the end of April four days after Italy opened up enough to allow people to travel freely between yellow regions. We stop in Brescia to fill up with petrol. In the next bay there's a motorhome with a middle-aged couple. Right up between them there's a dog, paws on the dashboard, tongue hanging out, with a 'lets go' expression that captures my feelings entirely.

The kilometres fly by. It's quiet on the motorway, little traffic apart from lorries. It's just good to be behind the steering wheel again, heading for the sea.

We get off the motorway at Marina di Massa with the foolish idea of finding a car park with a sea view for our picnic lunch. Not something which exists on this stretch of coast where the 'lungomare' is an endless line of bathing establishments, pizzerias and restaurants which block out all sign of the sea.

We stop in a car park in Forte dei Marmi. The sea is a grey line at the end of pedestrian access to the beach and it has started to rain. The lunch bag is on the back seat. We munch sandwiches and watch the rain sliding down the windscreen. Even this is a novelty after 6 months at home. After lunch we make good time to the apartment, taking the ordinary roads instead of the motorway.

The studio apartment, a converted garage, has everything required and we're not complaining. It was really difficult to find anywhere open or prepared to take guests in our medium low price range. Our host is pleasant and helpful and the apartment has a large patio overlooking the countryside with sun loungers and a table for dining. We settle in, we'll be staying for ten nights so it's worth spending time unpacking and getting organized.

After a snack of scones we venture out to do some basic shopping. This takes us to Rosignano, famous for the white beaches and the large factory producing bicarbonate of soda built in 1912 together with a large urban area based on garden city architecture for the various categories of workers. The town is pleasant, with the tidy brick built villas surrounded by green areas.

I put two large sea beams in the oven with potatoes and we venture out. Mazzanta, part of the municipality of Vada, is a narrow strip of holiday homes between the main road and the pinewood. The vast majority are uninhabited, it's the very end of April and the season wouldn't have started normally, even without the contribution of a pandemic.

The pinewood is pleasant and the beach beyond still hasn't been sorted out after the winter. There are big heaps of seaweed and sand piled up to protect the few beach bars and facilities. It's getting on for seven thirty, time to check on the supper in the oven. We get back just in time. In thirty minutes it was nearly burnt, not just cooked......fast food and a good dinner.