A few days before we left Italy, we drove 45 minutes west to the Tuscan Riviera to have a play day at the beach. Rather than multistory condos or residential developments, most of the beachfront property there is claimed by businesses that rent out umbrellas, chairs and changing cabanas. Since each art deco styled business uses a different color, you can see a rainbow kaleidoscope when you stand at the water and look down the beach.
The quarries of Massa and Carrara are visible in the mountains above the beaches, so I imagine the beautiful stone used to make the boardwalk didn't have to travel far.
We, of course, stuck out like sore thumbs. I was one of only a handful who had blonde(ish) hair. Then there was Owen who, in his exuberance for the waves, kept screaming out in English. And that was very bewildering to the nearby Italian children, who, along with their stunning parents, had beautiful olive skin. (If you had to compare our skin tone to a food, it would be more like pâté.)
And finally there's the matter of our overdressing. Rash guards like Owen is wearing in the photo above are probably not big sellers there. And I knew going in that my 50s-inspired one-piece would be a ship's sail compared to the other women's bathing suits, but I felt like an absolute Puritan when an 80-year-old woman (who leaned on A CANE as she padded through the surf) passed by confidently in her string bikini.
2 comments:
Looks like a beautiful place. The one thing I think about right away when I see the sun and beach is the pain and stitches in my head right now due to having the skin tumor removed from spending so much time in the sun when I coached and how fair skinned I am. I would love to have been there to enjoy the beauty of the "ground floor" with all of you. Your mother and I will be with all of you in less than 3 weeks. I do not know how often you read these so it is difficult to count the days when I write things.
Good reminder Dad. We were wearing SPF 50 - so much of it that it made the sand stick to us! Hope your head feels better soon. Less than two weeks to Philly now!
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