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.