Sunday, October 2, 2022
We were up relatively early, ready for another round of adventure. Our goal was a visit to the Tuscan hilltop town of Volterra, about a 90 minute drive southwest of Florence.
Of course we had to find a spot in Florence for our now traditional Italian breakfast of cappuccino and a sweet brioche.
We needed to find a suitable café.
First we ran into this building
by chance just around the corner
from our Air BnB
Calcio Storico Fiorentino is definitely
on my Bucket List of things to do
Maybe on Monday, if they are open, I can get more information on this blood sport. You can click on this link to see this traditional Florentine sport: https://youtu.be/AEbJSFD8Q48
I love those uniforms!
Our search for breakfast continued . . .
Sellers were setting up for the
still sleeping Sunday crowds
A typical Florentine street lamp
Pork sandwiches ready to be made
Two more random Florentine luminaries
Another sighting of
Florence's lucky hog
Laurie on the Ponte Vecchio
spanning the Arno River
The Ponte Vecchio was crowded
at this early hour with these green
shirted runners from today's road race
On to Volterra . . .
The view of Florence as we drove away
No, this is not our rental car
We made it after passing through
some amazing Tuscan vistas
Our first view of Tuscany from
hilltop Volterra
Our Band of Explorers
Volterra has an overall population of 11,000 souls with 6,000 of them living inside the ancient city walls.
This beautiful city was first inhabited by the mysterious Etruscan civilization in the 4th-century B.C.
As usual, shopping was our top priority
Volterra is famous for its alabaster products which this store had on sale along with various wood products and local wines.
This proved to be a great spot for lunch
We were a happy couple dining
with friends in a Tuscan setting
It was a quaint trattoria
Anti-fascist pasta for peace?
A powerful building in the
Piazza dei Priori
Volterra's City Hall, the Palazzo del Priori,
looks a lot like Florence's Palazzo Vecchio
What are those markings on
the Palazzo dei Priori?
A closer look was demanded
Interesting . . .
The Piazza dei Priori is quite
the power structure
Lions are always a symbol of
strength an power in these parts
The ladies gleefully about to enter
Volterra's Saphora store
On constant Guard Duty
Tuscany is indeed the
Home of Chianti wine
This establishment is a lively
dining spot, I just liked their sign
This place concerned me a bit
One of many Volterra's
charming little walking streets
Good wine sounds GREAT to us
Only Brian had the required bona fides
to eat at this hangout for poets
Revered but I'm not sure why
The taller tower on the right
has no staircase from the
ground (first) floor to the second floor
This tower was meant for use should Volterra come under attack. That narrow doorway about 15 feet above the ground was the only means of entry into this defense structure.
A rope was lowered for allies to climb up to the narrow door without being able to climb with heavy armor or with large weapons.
Goofy looking fellow atop the
Church of St. Michael
Fierce door knocker
Random art . . .
. . . abounds in Volterra
Volterra's Roman Theater
dates from the 1st-century A.D.
We are standing on a 13th-century
wall that divided the theater from
the town center
From this vantage point, the theater became the city's town dump. Over time the theater was filled in with garbage and was then forgotten.
It was rediscovered in the 1950s and excavated.
As we continued our stroll we came upon a home with these two little statues above the entry door.
What is he doing?
YIKES!
We decided not to knock on the door to ask for directions back to our parking garage.
Now that is some good looking ham
And another contestant in the
town's Door Knocker of the Year contest
Voilterra's Neighborhood Watch
Program was on High Alert
during our visit
One of Tolkien's Hobbits?
Most likely, yes
Honoring all of the Volterra
war victims of the last 2,400 years
Sunday is laundry day in Volterra
That reminds me, we have to do some laundry of our own on Monday.
Laurie loves these torture museums
scattered all over Europe
This torture chair would
definitely leave a mark
Time for another wine break at
this spot run by Bruno and Luccio,
the Enoteca La Vena di Vino Bar
It was a cozy and fun spot
How Bruno and Luccio have gotten ladies to give up their bras seen hanging here was a mystery.
Luccio told us it was all Bruno's doing.
Bruno was not here to defend himself on this lazy Sunday afternoon. Had he been, I guessed that he would have shifted the blame to Luccio.
Either way, our ladies did leave the bar with all of their foundation garments still in place.
Laurie in an old train bench
complete with the luggage rack above
The Enoteca's ancient espresso machine
When we queried Luccio about it he responded first with an old Tuscan proverb, "Old chickens make the best broth."
The macchiato that he made me as the team's designated driver proved that to be true.
He further stated that when Bruno and he took over this enoteca in 2001, this espresso machine was already in place from the previous owner and looked ancient even then.
Brian and our
gregarious host Luccio
Nice gin bar
We both loved all of the Tuscan
views afforded to us by Volterra
It was not overly crowded
today which was a plus
A weaver works here?
Indeed she does as she works
the magical loom to perfection
We needed some sustenance
for the trip back to Florence
Those eyes!
Laurie eats gelato as
slowly as possible
Volterra's Senior Citizens enjoying
the late afternoon Sun
Such amazing . . .
. . . Tuscan . . .
. . . views . . .
. . . everywhere we looked as we
walked back to our car
The trip back to Florence just
became a tad longer
This single car accident happened long before we got to this spot on this small Tuscan mountain road.
Fortunately, no one was hurt seriously.
Unfortunately for us, the Carabinieri at the scene stopped all traffic in both directions to allow the yellow tow truck seen here do its work to clear the roadway. We missed getting through by seconds.
After a 20 minute delay, we were on our way again.
The Ponte Vecchio at night
Most of the Ponte Vecchio's
high end jewelry stores were
locked up for the night
Even the Ponte Vecchio's
protective enclosures look high end
The Arno River was captured
beautifully in this photo that
Brian FitzGerald took
Another solid day of physical fitness
What a GREAT day to be alive!
Lastly, I got a Facebook message from Varese Skorpions Linebacker Stefano "Lusu" Lusuriello, asking me to post two things up on this blog from the Skorpion Family about last Thursday night's surprise dinner.
So I am.
This was above and beyond
Our entrance to the surprise
party was caught on video
I know I've said it before, but it was so emotional to see all of these good friends and teammates again.
GRAZIE for sharing this photo and video, Lusu. I hope that your blog fans enjoyed this video as much as we did.
On Monday, we'll be heading to both Pisa and Lucca, stay tuned . . .
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