Day 131 Hills of delight!

Monday 30/07/2018 Day (Day 44 SZ) Karma Borgo Di Colleoli Via Panoramica 20 56036 Palaia Colleoli (PI) Tuscany Italy

Today’s plan was to head to SAN Gimignano, recommended by a number of people including our Sales rep... so off we set driving past heaps a quaint little Italian villages centuries old... so many sitting right on the top of small mountains, others spilling over its edges into the valleys below... it’s just so breathtaking zipping by these unreal little communities, all with their own personality and all with their our agendas... our other plan is to go to Volterra and Forcoli to do some shopping... a big Day planned...you honestly could spend a month here and still never see all that it has to offer.....

So we wound our way around these narrow roads, dodging push bikers, mortorbikers and cars .....they absolutely fly around all the blind corners, pass where no passing is possible, many sliding into a tight spot between cars just as they are nearly taken out by the car coming in the opposite direction..l honestly I have my heart in my mouth more often than not... it takes me all my might to keep my mouth shut so as not to give John had harder time when he needs his concentration to avoid us being hit... sometimes it gets the better of me then I feel terrible afterwards for being such a pain... but driving here really is an education in itself...up and down the hills that make up this part of Tuscany.... views of the valleys below of rows and rowed of Grape Vines, and olive grove, after olive grove...Restaurants tucked here there and everywhere plus many wineries and Olive oil sales... we haven’t been to any of these at all as it’s not Johns thing... but they did look interesting if you were interested in checking them out...

We got to SAN Gimignano only to discover it was wall to wall cars and people, not a park in sight...so we just drove straight through and headed to Volterra...not realising this was such an unreal place to see..... like all of them it’s full of alleys, churches, cobblestone streets, Piazzas and Statues..... in saying this they still all have their own personality...like Cathedral’s they all have their own personality.... but most would say seen one seen them all... I still like to have a quick look...

We wandered around Volterra, after entering by one of its main gates... walking straight past the Castle which we said we will come back to, firstly let’s checkout the out the place and what’s to see......

Heaps of little shops, restaurants, people relaxing 😎. Alabaster must be mined close by because every 2nd shop is an alabaster shop..I got burnt by an alabaster shop in Egypt years ago..... It wasn’t the real thing and crumbled in my suitcase before we got home.. as lovely 😊 as it looks I won’t buy it again.... they were some beautiful pieces.... unreal old buildings, lots of nooks here and there... and steep paths to climb... the look on people’s faces when they took one look at the steep path we came across, especially if the had a pram.... some elderly and heaps of the young all back tracked when the realised it either back to where they come from or up the steep grade...

What we did discover after left was that there was a huge Roman Arena we missed... such a shame... we managed to have not to bad a lunch today a Kebab pretty good..then not realising there was more to Volterra we headed up the steep path and to a huge big park area....As I was taking pics here I took some of the castle and happen there notice glasses enclosed towers that looked like a prison... as we got closer to the Castle we quickly realised it is a prison....then the signs to say it is poped up... what a shame it’s an unreal building just so huge, to think it’s hold many at the governments request.. seems a waste of this unreal building. However when we have been through a lot of the old Castles most have had some sort of history as a prison, this one just happens to be still in our modern age...

So back to the car, next to where we parked was this amazing looking 3-4 offset levelled modern home that seemed to be abandoned... it was a big setup and looked really interesting just looked neglected 😩 and very sad... there are many abandoned buildings in Italy but this one seemed odd as it was modern and not that old....

Off to a Forcoli to do some shopping as we needed a few items for breaky and some lunch’s thatcan be done with no cooking required... as mentioned earlier the unit doesn’t have any cooking facilities in it... got our goodies and bonus a free bottle of wine from a broucher out of our room. A coffee at the coffee shop next door a good chance for the locals to check us out... then drove back...

Tonight we will eat in our room with cheese and nibbles..... another day down..En savoir plus