Our first stop on Sunday was Volterra. While it wasn't raining, we saw a lot of flooding. Viltare dates to the 9th century BC. It is most noted for alabaster urns & other products. We went to a workshop for alabaster items & got to see the craftsman make a small urn. The village has the oldest Gothic town hall (Piazzo del Priori) in Tuscany, built between 1208 & 1257. There are still remnants of the medieval town walls. From the ramparts you can see the remains of the a Roman theater & baths. They date to the first century & are suppose to be among the best preserved in Italy.
Our second stop was at a Tuscan "rustic farmhouse" for lunch. While that was the description, it turned out to be a wine tasting with lunch & a few wine drinking lessons along the way. Delicious wine & food delivered with amusing stories & wine lessons from one of the owner's grandsons. The winery has been in the family for over 300 years. We had tradition Tuscan vegetable & bread soup followed by the best lasagna ever. They are to send the recipes to me...we will see if I get his great grandmama's recipes. Had a very interesting dessert of dipping a special biscotti in wine! We were all ready for naps but instead we headed to our next stop, San Gimignano also known as Medieval Manhattan.
As it was a holiday weekend (Liberation Day for WWII), the crowds were overtaking the town. San Gimignano is Tuscany's best preserved medieval town. The walled town once had more than 70 towers as part of its defense system (there are only 13 now). The towers were built in the 12th & 13th centuries when the town was on the main pilgrim route from northern Europe to Rome. The plague if 1348 led to its decline but aided in its preservation. The kitchens were on the top floor. We walked up the main street to the square to take pictures. Rain was threatening so we made our way back to meeting point. Wish I could say we made before the deluge but no such luck. Everyone slept on our way back to the ship & the chore of finishing up packing.
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