Volterra, whoa whoa.....Contare.....whoa whoa whoa whoa
...
Up and down the winding hills, round and round the curves and turns, past the fields of sunflowers, past the mowed down wheat, through the rows of vines and to Volterra we go. The name makes Terry and I sing Bobby Darien's (??) rendition of Volare on and off during the drive, but always totally off key since we both are 100% tone deaf according to our spousi.
Volterra is a bit less crowded than most of the hills towns we visited, but famous for its alabaster, a surprise to us. The lanes (yes, within arched Etruscan walls) were filled with shops selling not only modern versions of the Acapulco chess sets of the 60's that our parents all lugged back from their first foray to Mexico, but beautiful delicate plates and vases, eggs and jewelry. We bought alabaster rings meant for the eggs to rest on, but to be repurposed as napkins rings and a chunky interesting necklace. 
We saw the Duomo outside and in, along with the Baptistry and hiked as high as we could for a view, that on the clearest of days, would open all the way to the sea and Corsica (but not for us).
Town flags were flying, people were walking and eating gelato as usual-just a typical Tuscan hill town, except for.....
The old Medici fortress within the walls that has been turned into a very small prison for 100 special inmates- so special that Steve spied cases of water and cases of wine being delivered for these prisoners......members of the Mafia, no lie. Although it was visiting day, we didn't know anyone in particular, so we simply enjoyed the irony of drinking chianti in prison and moved on, back to Pancole, to our place, to pack and have one last dinner and one last bottle of wine before an early alarm sounded and beckoned us back to Pisa.
......Mum, Pulpo App.....delish....
As we say goodbye to Italy, and enjoying meeting friends for a change of pace, I cannot believe we only have two countries left to visit over the next five weeks. It seems like we spent six months or more planning and planning and now it is almost gone. It feels like day eight of a ten day vacation but we are heading to Croatia, a place I have wanted to visit for years. Then on to Turkey for an exotic end. But, before we get there, a pit stop in Rome for one night, mostly to iron, repack, and have time for a pedicure, I hope, before we hit the beaches of Croatia. Stayed tuned.
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