Typical hill town in the heart of beautiful Tuscany.

                                                 Villa Montrosa, Monteriggioni
Finding our hotel last night had been easy, but only thanks to our trusty GPS system that Angie  nicknamed "Lulu".  Unfortunately the hotel didn't have a restaurant, so we drove into the small town to buy some wine, bread and cheese, and I couldn't resist a large punnet of cherry tomatoes, the tomatoes here taste like candy.  Back in our room we sat on our little beds watching Italian television and eating our picnic. It hadn't been the evening we had anticipated for our first night in Italy, but we were both so travel weary it suited our needs well.

Day 1 contd...

Volterra was stunningly beautiful, we wandered the little cobbled streets, watched the crowds gathering for a bike race, and ate a delicious lunch at Ristorante Etruria in the main Piazza, before returning to the car and continuing on our journey on the S68, which turned out to be one of the most incredibly beautiful scenic drives.
We drove through Colle di Val d Elsa  in the province of Siena, which was another picturesque hill town originating from the 11th century.  The town is renowned for its production of crystal glassware and art, now produced mainly in the lower industrial area of Colle. We would have loved to stop and explore, but we both wanted to get to our destination before dark, and time was marching on.
Angie and I were already beginning to realize that 5 days was not going to be nearly long enough for us to explore these lovely historic towns and villages.
Monteriggioni was the next village on our route. The massive surrounding walls reinforced by fourteen square towers is a breathtaking sight.  The village is on the Via Francigena  pilgrimage route, and was originally a walled castle before becoming a free municipality.  Almost all of the buildings within the walls are original, with some slight alterations to accommodate gift shops, wine shops, hotels and restaurants, the village exists today almost entirely for tourists and pilgrims.  Visitors are not allowed to drive into the walled city, but there are ample parking areas outside the walls.

Without too much ado we found our hotel for the night, just outside Siena,  Villa Montarioso  which we were told was originally a Convent.  The rooms were very basic to say the least, but they were immaculately clean, and fitted with beautiful marble bathrooms.

                                           Angie and Heather outside the Villa Montarioso

Tuscany, day 1

Tuscany

On Tuesday 14^th September, my good friend Angie arrived from America, to join me on my tour of Tuscany.

Thursday 16^th September

We took the early morning flight from Bristol airport, arriving in Pisa at midday. Comfortably packed into our tiny little Fiat Panda, we headed out along the 206 South as far as Torretta, where we turned off the main road and joined a windy little back road that took us through Lorenzana, Santa Luce and Pomaia, where the road suddenly became a scenic route through Castellina Marittima and Riparbella.  This little medieval town sited on former marshland, is famous for its woodworking and bush land inhabited by numerous wild boar.  Riparbella is also well known for its cuisine based on wild game and local mushrooms, and would have been a great stop for lunch, had we both not been so keen to get to Volterra.

Our beautiful little windy road ended at the junction of the S68 where we turned left and headed in the direction of Volterra. 

The surrounding countryside was typically Tuscan, picture book perfect with its lovely medieval hilltop villages, sloping green hills, and field, after field, after field of sunflowers.

We decided upon a slight detour up to the small medieval hill town of Montecatini Val di Cecina, which sits happily on the Poggio La Croce hill overlooking the Cecina valley, and the larger hill town of Volterra in the distance.

The castle and Belforti tower, built by Filippo Belforti in the Middle Ages, dominate the little town.  The town is protected around the perimeter by high walls featuring cylindrical towers. A few small piazzas open up between the medieval houses and buildings.  Small walkways and streets wind romantically through the town, it’s easy to imagine you have suddenly stepped back into the 14^th century.

2010 Summer in Europe

For the last six weeks Daisy has been out on the hard in Curacao having her hull repainted, while Bob and I have been gallivanting all over Europe, well in truth, I’ve actually been doing most of the gallivanting, Bob was kept very busy with work. Although we did manage to snatch a few days vacation together in the South of France, followed by five fabulous days with our very dear friends Edi and Frieda, in Geneva.
I will write about our travels through Provence, the French Alps and Geneva later on.

My all too short time in England was spent mostly with my Mother in the West Country, touring the historical and picturesque little villages of Somerset and surrounding areas.