From Forte dei Marmi (near Pisa) - Edited!!

Monday, we traveled by train from Rome to Pisa and then on to this little town on the beach in the Tuscany region. The town is called Forte dei Marmi. Its a very quaint little beach town. But it has some ODD things about it. We arrived last night and were escorted to our room. The hotel is a very nice hotel, but as we walked around the grounds, we felt like we had checked into a rehab of some kind. People sit on small groups of wicker chairs and play cards or visit and look almost trapped or bored. That was odd. Then, we hit the thing that made us really nervous. We walked to the beach which is 300 meters away. As we arrived, EVERYONE was leaving (it was about 7pm). A storm was blowing in, so we blamed it on that. We continued though. When we arrived on the beach it was LINED, in endless rows and perfectly organized with little changing houses - all the same look, style but they'd be in groups of one color (10-15 of blue, then 10-15 of green, and another 6 blue or red etc). The boardwalks down to the water were like white vinyl - and very nice. Then we noticed the perfect rows of chairs and umbrellas. They were grouped in similar ways. Two lounge chairs, under an umbrella with one "bed" all exactly the same and in rows. Another row might be pavilions with retractable fabric ceilings, with 4 chairs, 2 beds and a small table - again all exactly the same, in perfectly spaced rows. As we walked down the beach, we realized the ENTIRE beach was that way. The lifeguards were moving the rows closest to the water up, cleaning off things (hosing down sandy chairs, stacking and organizing, and even sweeping the boardwalks). My favorite was they were LITERALLY raking their area of the beach front ... between umbrellas/chairs they raked it all semi-smooth (not getting rid of all footprints but any holes, or high traffic areas). As we left the beach, I stepped under a shower head to rinse my feet and got told I couldn't use it! We found out the beach is all private. Each section is owned and maintained by a company who rents these pavilions/umbrellas etc. And get this 45-50 Euro for just two chairs, one bed and an umbrella. If you don't know what that equates to, imagine spending $90 for a SPOT on the beach! Its crazy. And when the day is over, the beach closes, just like store. Steve calls it OC beach - obsessive compulsive! Honestly, you can't even IMAGINE how bizarre it is. We walked on it today and were amazed at the mass amounts who actually do this ... but I guess you do what you know.

So, after we experience this OC beach, we head to dinner at our hotel. We have "part board" which means we get breakfast and either lunch or dinner. So last night we chose dinner. We go into the dining room and everyone is dressed to the 9's. Not formal, but very dressy and ritzy. Me, jean shorts and a t-shirt with flip flops, Steve, khaki shorts and an Aeropastle t-shirt with his sandals. Feeling a little out of place at this point. We felt like we had truly been sent to another time or planet. It reminded me of being assimiliated into the borg. Steve compared it to the people in the movie Wall-E ... just oblivious to what the rest of the world is like. Its a very upscale area evidently with lots f RICH people coming here who live the RICH, PAMPERED lifestyle. The few teenagers here look bored beyond belief - like they live life that bored though. The younger kids are often with nannys.

It was so disturbing we honestly looked into canceling the rest of our time here and flying over to Barcelona for a few days so we could enjoy the beach. But our hotel doesn't allow cancellations or changes to your trip within 20 days of your travel without charging your full price. Steve wanted to cry and it literally made him sick to his stomach that we were stuck here. He couldn't even sleep. This is supposed to be our nice relaxing part of the trip and he was feeling like we were trapped in some stuffy, miserable place.

Today, is going much better. We ate lunch in the dining room and it was much more casual. We also found the public beach, a stretch of beach about 200 yards long compared to about 10 miles of private beaches. The beach front isn't as nice either - very steep compared to a gradual slope in the private beaches. We plan to buy some cheap towels and head to the public beach to relax on Wed. We just can't pay $80-90 to hang out on the beach!! Can you imagine Santa Monica or Wilmington going PRIVATE? There would be a serious uproar. Go figure.

We also rented bikes for our stay and rode all over town. They have normal life outside our hotel, so we're staying. : ) We didn't have the cameras with us last night or today while we were out so I don't have any pictures yet, but we'll definitely take some before we leave so check back. Headed out now for dinner in town at one of the restaurants in their shopping district. It should be nice!

Added Note:
We went back to the private beach to take pictures (as you see above). We also took this one of me ... sitting on their "private" chairs. I even laid on one of the beds and OH NO, walked in part of their raked sand leaving 2 footprints!! : )