Fit for an emperor: Tuscanyy has some wonderful (and unappreciated) stretches of coastline'Dad! Don't be boring!' And with those four words went all hope of us spending our summer holiday in France, idling away the sunshine-filled days on a terrace with a good book, a bottle of local red, some pate and bread for lunch . . . I could go on but I'd probably become boring.
'We went there last year,' says ten-year-old Eleanor. 'Well, we did Disney one year,' I countered. 'Yes, but we went to France the year before. And the year before that,' said twin Daniel. 'And this year we want to go somewhere different.'
When their mum joined in, I knew all was lost.
'OK, so where DO you want to go?'
'Somewhere hot. With a nice beach. And where there'll be lots to do.'
'And where there's something to see that we've heard of. Not just random old stuff.'
'We could stop off in Paris and see the Eiffel Tower,' I suggested hopefully. Oh, for the undemanding days when going on holiday, anywhere, was enough to keep them happy.
However, after checking flights from our local airport and weighing up all the other important family requirements, my wife devised a way that she said would satisfy everyone.
And so it was that we found ourselves beside the turquoise waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, which were lapping gently against the sandy Tuscan coastline as we lay reading and soaking up the Italian sunshine. The children had been splashing about happily in the waves for longer than we'd dared hope, as we relaxed, feeling the pressures of life back home begin to lift.
'This was a good idea, wasn't it?' I murmured.
'Yes, but don't forget whose it was!' replied my wife.
We'd decided on an activity holiday - accessed by a low-cost flight to Pisa and travelling with Canvas Holidays, a company that had provided us with several successful family holidays in France in the past.
Arriving at Pisa's Galileo Galilei airport, we easily find our promised rental car, and before we know it we're on our way to the Park Albatros camp site at San Vincenzo. It's about 60 miles down the coast and we've chosen it because Canvas Holidays not only offers a daily club here for the kids but also has a new series of activities for the whole family called Family Extra.
Making a splash: The Herdman kids barely left the pool all weekUnlike its normal club, Hoopi's, which offers all kinds of intelligent fun for children up to the age of 12 and is usually run by its own staff, Family Extra is operated by a specialist outdoor activities company. It promises things such as snorkelling, canoe-racing and, intriguingly, 'water-walking'.
Accommodation is a spacious mobile with a large area of decking, complete with our own chairs and table with parasol outside. Inside, though, there's a big living area and well-equipped kitchen and three bedrooms. The main one has an en suite toilet and shower room, while there's another bathroom next to the two smaller bedrooms.
I am anxious to explore the area beyond our site but the children are completely sold on the Family Extra programme of events. When I say I can't wait to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the reply is: 'Well don't hold your breath, Dad, 'cos today we're learning to snorkel!' And that's precisely what we do on our first morning in Tuscany.
By the way, if you've ever wondered how you stop a snorkelling mask from steaming up, the answer is you spit into it and smear the lens with enzymes that prevent condensation. 'Ugh, gross!' say the children, revelling, nevertheless, in an official excuse to do something normally forbidden.
From here on in, as far as the twins are concerned, it's a constant round of Hoopi's and Family Extra activities. They're loving it and so are my wife and I. At Hoopi's they do mini-Olympics, winning medals for their efforts. They learn a bit about Italy, building models of the Leaning Tower, and they design, build and fly model gliders. When I ask them if they now know all about aerodynamics, Daniel replies: 'Dad, Hoopi's don't do boring!'
At Water Walking, even I've been induced to climb into a large transparent bubble and try to walk my way across the swimming pool. Needless to say, it's all rather more difficult than it looks. I find myself tumbling about inside the ball like a large drunken hamster. It does, however, succeed in entertaining a large number of campers who've gathered round the pool to laugh uproariously.
We manage to prise the children away from all this fun to take a ferry from nearby Piombino, an unsightly port that is the gateway to the isle of Elba. A short boat trip drops us at the main town, Portoferraio. It's a lovely old place with steep streets that tumble down to an old harbour.
Up above the town is the house where Napoleon lived when he was exiled here.
However, along with his barely used summer palace a short journey inland, it disappoints slightly through its lack of original contents. The stunning views from the terrace, though, make it difficult to understand why the diminutive emperor was so keen to leave.
After one trip away from their beloved swimming pool, the twins are reluctant to venture out again to see Pisa. But I tell them we really can't come here and not visit the region's famous World Heritage Site, the Leaning Tower. So off we head and, amazingly in such a busy place, manage to find somewhere to leave the car near our intended destination.
Although Pisa is by no means Italy's most beautiful city (large numbers of medieval buildings were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War), the Piazza dei Miracoli is impressive.
The Torre Pendente, to give it its Italian name, stands alongside a beautiful Romanesque cathedral and a baptistry. The buildings are sited in a row across the piazza and, in fact, all three of them lean. Work done ten years ago to stop the lovely, white, marble-clad tower from falling over altogether is said to have made it safe for the next 300 years.
Got it, dad: Daniel rescues the leaning tower of Pisa - and just in timeBut the twins aren't entirely convinced and, coupled with the fact that there's a five-hour wait if we want to climb the bell tower, we decide simply to enjoy it from the outside. Daniel contents himself with having his photograph taken, as most other tourists seem to be doing, looking as though he's attempting to stop the tower falling over.
Leaving Pisa, we head west again. I want to see if we can find any trace of the poet Shelley's connection with the nearby coastline. In 1822, he had been staying with his wife Mary, the creator of the Frankenstein myth, at Lerici on the Gulf of Spezia. But after visiting Livorno in his own sailing boat to see friends, Shelley - aged just 29 - and two crew members set off on the return voyage and disappeared in a squall.
Days later, his body was washed up on the beach of the seaside town of Viareggio.
'So who was this Shelby dude?' asks Daniel in a disgruntled tone. The twins want to get back to the pool.
'His name was Shelley! And he was a famous Romantic poet. "Hail to thee, blithe spirit!" That was one of his,' I offer in an attempt to raise their spirits.
'Dad, that doesn't sound very interesting,' says Eleanor. 'Can we go back now?'
We arrive back at our site in time to take part in a Family Extra session of aeroball. It's an intriguing combination of trampolining and basketball in a specially designed framework. Two players compete to put the ball through a hole while bouncing up and down opposite each other.
It's almost as entertaining to watch as to play and attracts an envious group of onlookers - unluckily not with our travel firm - wanting to try it out. The instructors say they're occasionally approached by people offering large sums of money to have a go, but they have to turn them down.
Our stay at Park Albatros flashes by all too quickly. The twins are quite upset at having to say goodbye to the guides, whom they've really grown to like through all the activities they've taken part in. We're sorry to be going, too.
We say our goodbyes after a musical show at the campsite. It's Moulin Rouge, and two of the team are performing in it - a multi-talented bunch indeed.
'So what do you think of this holiday compared with past ones?' We ask the twins.
New friends: The kids get to know the Hoopi's Club guidesThe answer's unhesitating. 'Great! Can we come back here next year?'
'Only if you promise to learn a poem by Shelley. What about the one that begins "I met a traveller from an antique land"?'
'Dad! Don't be...'
Travel FactsThe Herdman family stayed with Canvas Holidays at Park Albatros - San Vincenzo. Prices for arrivals on July 19, 2011, for seven nights for two adults and two children are from £727 in a Maxi tent and £969 in a two-bedroom mobile with air conditioning. For more information call 0845 268 0857 or visit
www.canvasholidays.co.uk.
Jet2.com offers a direct service to Pisa from Belfast, Leeds Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle. Flights start from £29.99pp one-way, including taxes.
EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) has return fares from Gatwick to Pisa starting at £52.65, including taxes. It also flies to Pisa from Luton and Bristol.
source: dailymail
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