A straightforward journey today east to the sea and then south along the coast to an aire at Senigallia. Just before the sea there was a site marked on both of our maps, Necropoli di Spina and we decided to take the short diversion to it. We drove a little further than we expected from the map but we then came to a tourist sign proudly displaying 'Necropoli di Spina' down a turning to the right. We expected the site to be very close but nothing was visible and eight kilometres later, with no further signs, we gave up and returned to the junction. We had another good look around but still couldn't see any sign of it. We did come across another minor archaeological site but that was closed.
However the route back to the main road did allow us to drive alongside Lake Spina. The whole area is a wetland with a mixture of land drained for agriculture and wetland in its natural state, very similar to our own Somerset Levels wetland. We had already seen egrets and were sure that there was plenty more interesting birds and wildlife in the marshy areas. When we reached the lake we saw three birdwatchers equipped with large binoculars and telephoto lenses on their cameras. We then came to an area where the road was lined with cars and over a hundred fishermen were fishing the waters of the wetlands. None were fishing the lake on the other side of the road, so it was obviously the wetlands that provided the best fish. This was proved when we watched an otter swimming across the open water just before we reached the fishermen. Just a few minute later, after we had passed most of the fishermen, we saw another otter swimming. In all of our years in Somerset and many walks on the Levels, we have never seen an otter although we know that they are there. Here we saw two within a few minutes and whilst driving past!
The rest of the journey was uneventful, passing resort after resort with occasional views of the sea. Arriving in Senigallia, we headed for the first of two aires shown in our book. This no longer existed and we found ourselves on the sea side of the railway separated from the main road by a series of low, too low for Henrietta, bridges. We eventually found an underpass and headed for the second aire, in a car park on the SS16. This was open and popular with seven motorhomes there when we arrived and more joining during the evening. With the main road next to the aire (fortunately no lorries) and the busy railway line (with express trains) just a few metres further away, it wasn't the quietest site but it was acceptable.
We had time for a long stroll along the promenade and watched the proprietors getting their private beach facilities ready for the season. One of the abiding memories of Italy in season is the private beaches with their regimented rows of sun umbrellas, a very unappealing sight.
Photos: The aire at Castelmassa with the Po in the background; The second photo shows what we saw of the Necropoli di Spina.
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