My Italy Diary: Viareggio

We left Rome this morning; renting a Smart car to drive to Viareggio and then on to Florence tomorrow. On the way we planned to stop at the Etruscan Necropolis in Cerveteri. It was amazing walking around the old burial grounds—or cities, as they were built specifically for the dead. We spent a good deal of time wandering around, with only a couple of other tourists sharing the site with us. It was nice to get away from the crowds of Rome and be surrounded by quiet.
I underestimated how much time would be needed to make all the stops along the way that I wanted to make. In Santa Maria Severa we stopped to see the castle but it is under restoration so we were unable to view it.

As it was getting late in the day and beginning to rain, we decided to bypass our other stops and headed straight for Viareggio. As David was fatigued, I took over driving while he napped and drove us on the Autostrade, in the rain, in a car with a manuel transmission, at night. At one point we were driving up the coast with the sea churning and these huge waves crashing up against the rocks. It was awesome.