Day 113: Etruscan Coast

The next location was only an hour drive so we took our time driving along the Etruscan coast. We grabbed delicious sandwiches and hit the road.

We drove to Spiaggia Beach, which actually turned out to be a black sand beach! Kieran had never seen one so it was a very exciting moment, especially because this sand contain a granite/quartz like material that sparkled in the sun. We drove up the Populonia hill and hiked down to Buca delle Fate which was an amazing cliff side overlooking the ocean. It was only us for 40 minutes and we sat there watching the waves crash against the rocks with storm clouds in the distance.

When we hiked back to the car, we could clearly hear fighter jets practicing maneuvers and Mary got sad we couldn’t see them over the cliffs.

We drove on to our next hotel and made our way up an extremely steep hill. As we climbed higher and higher, the full view of the valley lay in front of us. We realize that the hotel is at the peak and the town is very small/locals only.

We park our car temporarily and walk into the hotel. As we check in, the hostess comments, “I’m so sorry, you booked our traditional room with no view or balcony” and we were like, “no problem, we like to book on the cheaper side ($60 a night)” Well she upgrades us for free to a room with a balcony/view and asks if we need parking. Gives us a gate controlled fob to park down the road.

The view and room was fucking incredible. $60 a night at Hotel Vatluna is the best hidden gem we’ve come across on our travels (except for the whole country of Armenia). Yes the town only has one restaurant and a bar, but we were so lucky to stay in very small village with no tourists and only locals. We visited the town bar for wine and beer to play cards adjacent to old Italian men playing their cards. And then we ended the night at a tiny restaurant for 9:00pm dinner and received a free procescco.

Hotel: Vatluna

Restaurants:
Vinaio di San Gimignano
Il Ritrovo di Bes
La Vecchia Cantina Vetulonia

Food:
Pork Loin with Orange
Sliced Beef with Rocket
Taramissu

Spots:
Spiaggia Beach
Populonia
Buca delle Fate
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