It seems cliché to speak of reawakening after a long Winter, but with the amount of rain we got this year, putting England to shame, even a slight glimpse of Spring is extremely welcome. Easter came early this year and for a few hours on Sunday morning here in Maremma, the skies cleared, the sun came out, and I found myself inhaling the fresh air and hungrily looking at all the trees in bloom, the super green landscape and the happy clouds. This was the perfect opportunity to test out my new toys, I mean tools of my profession: an iPhone 5 (finally) and an external 3-in-one lens called an Olloclip. I set out to point them anything that would stand still.

The view from our town of Sticciano in Maremma!

Spring is also, conveniently, the topic of April’s Italy Blogging Roundtable.

Nothing kicks off the summer season like a trip to the beach, which for us means Castiglione della Pescaia. Just three weeks ago we were happily snowboarding at Abetone, but now we feel quite ready to bring out the windsurfs (a sport we took up 2 summers ago just so I could report it for the Italy Roundtable, but we’ve been too lazy to do since… I swear we will again soon). The beach has yet to be combed of its winter debris, and the tide is too high to walk for long…

A stop in the medieval town of Castiglione is de riguer. We’re far from the only ones walking up to the top of town for a view of the port and beautiful ocean.

With every wildflower in bloom I can’t resist getting up close and testing the macro function of my Olloclip, with which I am seriously impressed. The only challenge is finding things that aren’t moving or being blown by the sea wind… I did manage to catch a bug in a rosemary plant…

We also stop for a photo of the canal and bridge at a nearby natural reserve.

Back up in Sticciano I snap a few shots from our piazza that overlooks the whole upper Maremma valley before heading in for lunch; I know it will rain again in an hour or so and I can’t let these clouds go unrecorded.

Italy Roundtable

The knights of the Italy Blogging Roundtable have knighted another female member, Kate Bailward of Driving like a Maniac. Elected for her spunky sense of humour, we hope you’ll take the time to read her thoughts, as well as the others’, on the topic of Spring.

 

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