by Tessa Boase

The Italians do not do solitude. They will happily spend the entire summer laid out cheek by jowl on the country's beaches. On Italy's east coast, at Pescara, you pay €10 (£7) a day for a sun lounger and parasol, and don't stir for a fortnight.

It's a noisy, congested, sybaritic ritual that is part of the national identity. Being uptight and British, we turned our backs on the limpid sea and forced the children into a hire car. Just 35 miles inland lies a great chunk of untamed wilderness I'd only the haziest idea about.

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/