Tag: casale marittimo

2023)

So blown away by the Val di Cornia last time we visited (only a few days previously), that we said we’d have to return as soon as possible. And that’s just what we did as soon as our half week of work was over. There was at least one town I wanted to return to – and that was Monteverdi Marittimo. Return to, the more observant of you may ask. Well, yes – sort of. Unfortunately, I failed to blog that we had driven through the town last time we were here. It looked really nice, and there were people out and about and sitting in the small piazza in benches, just taking in the magnificent views. I think it was in the accompanying video, but I’d forgotten about it in the blog. Anyway, it seemed so nice that we wanted to give it a go, and stop there.

Along the way, we’d stop at a nice village, and a further surprise awaited us in the form of a town we found so lovely, that we considered it might be a Casale Marittimo beater! There’s a video of our day near the bottom, so be sure to check that out.

But first – I had a wee walk that morning. Enjoy the photos.

Righto! It was time to go and explore. Of course, to explore one must load up on calories, so that’s what we did, courtesy of L’Isola del Gusto!

A little coffee milkshake to get me going!

We wanted to hit Monteverdi Marittimo for lunch and be hungry with it, so we had a little time to kill. On the way, therefore, we would stop off at the previously unexplored village of Canneto – the old portion of which is shaped like a dagger in its sheath. We parked here, so it was only a few steps from town. There was a bar nearby, along with signs to wine and oil-tasting.

It’s a small place, so we had a wander around it’s walls and then inside – and went to the church there too. The bells went off and kept on going at one stage, bless them. It had great views of the valley on the north side, and was just so peaceful. As well as the little bottega, there was a pizzeria there – seems to get good reviews on Google – but it wasn’t open when we were there, and we simply weren’t hungry enough.

It was warm and breezy, and although I can’t see us visiting again too soon during the day time – it might be a nice place to go to for an evening meal.

It was time to press on to our main target of the day: Monteverdi Marittimo. We travelled on roads that were fairly familiar to us from our trip a few days ago, but the weather was nicer, and the colour of the sky contrasted nicely with the forested hills. When we’d driven through the town last time, we saw that there was parking right next to the Carabinieri station. Across the street, the viewpoint overlooked a footie pitch, before the vista disappeared into distant haze.

It was a short walk into town (a couple of hundred meters. We had a patter about the central area of the town, and up a bit of a slope to a small area consisting of a couple of tiny piazzette and roads leading down to what looked like a residential area. In truth, at the time we were a little disappointed as the town seemed to promise more.

We thought we had explored a lot of the nice area of town, and were hungry by now. We had a choice between a place which had better reviews, but didn’t seem to have outside seating – and a place which had nice seating with views into the valley. We opted for the latter (Bar Sport). No lights were on in the place, so I had to wander in and ask if they were open. They must have been opening just then, because we got a friendly nod. A few other people started wandering in too – cyclists mostly, so that was a good sign. It was fairly blustery out by now, so we had to clip down our tablecloth. I went for a 2-course, double primi meal (both soups and pastas feature as first courses on Italian menus).

After the meal was done, we had thought to head out and spend the afternoon exploring at random. However, just below the dining area a little street ran parallel, and contained a couple of food-related shops, so we walked there and headed to the right. It was then that we realised, as we ambled along, looking down the lanes to the left that led to spectacular views, that we almost did Monteverdi Marittimo a disservice.

We spent the next 30 minutes exploring the truly gorgeous residential part of town. Here was where the real beauty lay in Monteverdi Marittimo. Pristine streets and steep lanes led downwards towards shallow walls where you could get some amazing views of the forested valleys.

We were well chuffed with ourselves for having taken that little tour (the fact that I accidentally stood on a cat’s tail notwithstanding). We walked back to the car, and took a look at the map to see where we could go next. I spotted the town of Sassetta which we had skipped last time out, so we made our way towards that. It was a little bit of a squiggly drive. Due to its location on a spur in a valley, there seems to be only three ways in/out of the town. We took one of them in, and I gasped as we passed by a knife-edge of land on which some houses lay, and behind it forest-covered hills. It gave us the perfect parallax effect – everything seemed so unreal-looking. The rest of the town could be seen in the background a ways to the right. We parked on the edge of the main town in a little triangle with having a drink in mind.

We stopped at a small bar/gelateria – the guy was clearly closing down for riposo, and apologised, but pointed out that there was bar in a small square not too far from where we were. We ordered and sat, and were amused by how some worker guys who were having pizza there were feeding the piazza’s resident cat.

A look ahead to the amenities side of town

Once we’d watered and bathroomed, we had a choice to keep on the main road to explore the main part, or be drawn instead to the archway which led to a more residential part. We decided upon the latter and what a series of view awaited us there. We were both entranced by the narrow steep lanes, each house a little different, each decorated with miniature sculptures or flowers and potted plants. The town was mostly made of grey stone, rather than the sandy tufa we’re more used to, but there was pink stone set into houses and steps. Not painted pink, but a natural pink – not much of it, but enough to make the place characterful.

Some of the houses were built on a knife-edge and afforded the owners spectacular view either onto the neighbouring forested hills or the adjoining hilly valleys. We were really taken in, and wondered what kind of prices property would attract here.

After 15-20 minutes of being slack-jawed – I don’t think the above photos do it justice – we climbed back up to the amenities side of town – and that had its merits too.

They have a butchers, grocers, post office, pharmacy… we spotted some walks leading from the village we hadn’t the time to check. But we did walk down about 200 meters to have a look at the vista at a large new building made to look like an old building… or was it vice-versa. There was a fab view over the tree-covered mountains.

We walked back to, and then beyond, the car – as we wanted to take more distant shots of the town, because the vistas really blew us away.

So is it a Casale Marittimo-beater? I think they’re equally lovely, but Casale has it beaten due to its relative ease of access, closeness to the sea and nearness to Cecina and all its amenities. Sassetta is probably better as a chill-zone – somewhere to bury yourself into another life. I’ve also been told that Sassetta has thermal pools and spas – so we might duck back for another look, as that might seriously be in its favour.

Here’s the video of our day out!

That evening, we had one of our infrequent visits to Il Sacco Fiorentino – we tried going there a few times, but frequently found it closed. Anyway, I had one of the most unusual things I’ve ever had in a Volterran restaurant: Curry noodles with chicken and veg. Hear me out – sometimes you just need a different type of flavour-set! These went down a treat… they weren’t hot, but the flavour was great. Nice to see someone trying something different during the tourist season. There is a Pokebowl place on our street, and some places do sushi during the winter months.

We polished off the day with a stroll about the town.

I hope you enjoyed the read – all 3 villages are worth the trip if you’re in the area!

Casale Marittimo Redux… Redux (30/08/2022)

Some places stay with you.

Casale Marittimo, as I’ve said before, is my favourite hilltop village. It’s is a mini-labyrinth, left and right, up and down. It’s infrequently visited by people, easy to find parking there and is impeccably arranged and clean.

I had just visited a week earlier with our previous guests, but as Niamh hadn’t been that time (she had to work) and my brother had never been at all we thought we’d give it a bash. We would also attempt to eat a proper lunch there for the first time! We’d been foiled time and again in our attempts to eat eating there, so we were overdue some luck.

We parked in our usual spot at lunchtime, and then survived the 4 minute walk into the village. Incidentally, the approach from the east (which is almost always the way we approach the place), offers the least interesting views. From the west, you will see some fleeting glimpses of the villages upper strata towering over you. If you can, approach from the south, where you get to see the place in all its glory, where you can see it all crowning its hilltop.

On the way to the central square, we stopped to take snaps, in particular at an old chapel I hadn’t seen before.

The first in a series of stairs that go up, up, UP!

Ok, now where to eat? I’d fancied the look of the Taverna via di Mezzo, but it was once again closed. There was a place open (Osteria L’Impronta). There are a couple of tables sitting outside on a small covered veranda. I had heard that there might be a small amount of seating within. The tables were full, so I didn’t hold out much hope. It turns out I was very wrong!

We were welcomed to lunch, then went up two short flights of stairs, past one dining room, then another higher up, which had a nice view out onto the main piazza. Then we were led up *again* and were shown to a table on a covered terrace with wonderful vistas over the hills and woods to the east and south of the village. The food was good, not award-winning, but honest and homemade. I enjoyed it. The surprise of the place itself may have added to the whole package. The staff were friendly, and yeah, I’d recommend it if you’re in Casale Marittimo of a lunchtime!

We had dessert there in the form of gelato after the meal – they serve some homemade flavours on the ground floor by the small bar. Then we had a wander around the town. I took Niamh and my brother on more or less the same route as I took our previous guests.

At one stage, we popped out at the southern entrance and had a long look over the coastal plains, noting the huge ferris wheel just south of Marina di Cecina. Google says it’s permanently closed, which is a shame if that’s the case.

We took a bunch of staircases and ramps to the upper section, passing through the main square again. I wanted to take the other two to the leather goods artisan. On the way, we spotted the car we often spot here and gave him a rub hello. Sadly the leather workshop was closed. After taking in a few more viewpoints, we went back to the car. We were pretty roasted by then, and so drove home.

We made a video! It’s a nice gentle post-lunch walk.

That evening, we went to La Mangiatoia for beer and pizza. I’d never had a Calzone before in my life, so after seeing several others have it here before I thought I’d give it a bash.

And I’ve been put off them for life. Not that it tasted bad. I could be churlish and say I liked the dough, and it *was* nice, but sadly there was little else to enjoy. There was just a smear of filling and I was crushed. Pity – the pizzas here are usually really nice, as evidenced by how much Niamh and my brother enjoyed theirs. I consoled myself with a house beer, which was lovely!

At the end of the night, it was home for screenwatching and bed!

I know this was shortish, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Please feel free to leave a comment or question!

A Tiny Market, Casale Marittimo and Querceto (23/08/2022)

It’s been a while coming. I have spent so much time editing a compilation video, that everything else (apart from my job!) has been put to one side. Sorry about that! But I’m back, and going to continue our August/September trip.

It was the last full day for our guests, and Niamh had to work and therefore couldn’t leave the apartment. They were keen on seeing an Italian-style market. They also didn’t want to drive halfway across the region to find one, understandably – they would have a day of travel ahead of the them tomorrow. I looked up Tuesday on this Market Days in Tuscany site – so useful if you’re looking for a market yourself, by the way! Peccioli was one of my suggestions, and it’s not an awful drive if it happened to be closed that day – it’s just that I didn’t know where it was in the town itself. San Miniato was perhaps too far away. Then, BOOM, at the end of the Pisa section they said that there was a market just 8km away in Saline di Volterra! We picked that, said our goodbyes to Niamh and headed out.

It can take a little while to drive 8km in Tuscany – more than you’d reckon. The road from Volterra to Saline begins with a large series of hairpins (switchbacks), and it can take about 20 minutes. Anyway – the scenery is fab and there were no complaints.

We arrived and parked, and I had to admit to being a little excited myself. It was going to be fun to show new people the buzz and clamour of an Italian market. Except, oh dear. Usually you would see people returning from a market with bags of produce and household goods, and you’d hear the excited calls of hawkers and customers as they exchanged. We saw one lady. When we turned the corner, I counted the stalls and just about ran out of fingers on one hand. It was incredibly quiet. I don’t know if it’s always like that, or if it was because that Saline is a genuine working town, and a lot of people (both stall-owners and customers) may have been on holidays during August, which is frequently the case in Italy.

I grimaced an apology to my guests. They had a quick look around, and gave me some kind words to placate my embarassment. We then had a debate about what to do. It was still early enough, so I played my 2 Aces: Casale Marittimo and Querceto. I definitely picked the right hand, but I definitely picked the wrong order to play them in.

We went first to Casale Marittimo, and parked in the free carpark there. We strolled to the central piazza, which has many lanes and ramps leading from it, promising an explorer’s dream. It is impeccably clean and as quiet as a funeral home.

A little fluffy cloud ruining an otherwise azure sky 😉

We had a wander from one side, to the other, up and down through multiple layers of the town and gave ourselves a decent workout in the heat.

It is, in my opinion, one of Tuscany’s most beautiful villages, and after having talked with our guests since, it certainly left a hugely positive impression – they were blown away by it.

Towards the end of the walk, we stopped off at a leatherworker’s shop. Inside we bought belts and masks. He fitted and worked the belts while we were there. I’m wearing the belt as I type this. Tuscan leather is saving me from public scandal! Here is the mask I bought – Niamh added it to her creepy collection.

The mask. RAWR! To the right, my worthless microphones.

We breezed past the church and realised we had a gently sloping walk back down to the carpark. Before heading there, we had a debate about what we’d do for food. It was just after lunch time, but we weren’t quite hungry yet. We agreed to heading to Querceto for an explore of that small hamlet, and then go for lunch there, as Niamh and I had done previously.

We got back in the car, and it took us 20 minutes on a very narrow, winding road to get to Querceto. We parked here, just before the road into town. As we hit the place, we say one of the places you could book a degustation was locking up for riposo. Damn. They wouldn’t be back for a few hours. Anyway, I trotted to Locanda del Sole and found it shut too. Noooooo! We consoled ourselves with a look around the place anyway.

I love Querceto, but after Casale Marittimo and the disappoinment of lunch, I don’t think the guests were quite as enamoured of it was I am. The clock was pushing 14:00. I don’t think we’d get a table at Casale Marittimo if we flew back, so I googled places that were opened.

On the plus side, I got to drive some back roads I hadn’t driven on before, looking for a place to eat. I almost jammed on the brakes when I saw a place on a bend, but wasn’t too sure if it was just an agritourismo with food for its guests. When I look at it now (it’s Locanda Le Giunche), I’m a bit annoyed I didn’t bite the bullet and stop there. We drove to another place, and when I put saw it I didn’t at first recognise its name or the area where it was located.

It was La Baracchina, and Niamh and I had driven past it a ton of times on the way to/from Cecina and other towns on the coast. Parking was handy, made even more so by the availability of shade on a hot day. We approached the restaurant, and saw that it was not a table-service place. It wasn’t buffet either – they had tons of salumi for sandwiches and tasting plates, and a menu of pasta and meat from which you order at the till, take your number and wait for your order to be cooked, so you can bus it back to your table. Hand enough arrangement, and what followed was simple enough fare. I thought my pasta was ok, and the roast chicken was said to have a good flavour, even if it was a little dry. It was fine for lunch – not a meal to remember, but fine. And reasonably inexpensive!

Once done we headed back to Volterra, but we had a stop at the Veronika and Fabrizio’s art gallery (as Niamh and I had done on a few occasions). I ended up buying another of Veronika’s pieces, and the guests came close to buying something of Fabrizio’s but relented at the last minute.

Then home for a rest. We were a little boiled by the time we got home, and Niamh was finishing up in work too. As it was our guests’ last night, and the lunch we had earlier notwithstanding, we headed out for a little walk and ended up in La Vecchia Lira to make pigs of ourselves once more.

A little aperitivo at Osteria Fornelli first (which was otherwise full)

Then the meal:

I have no memory of what occurred afterwards, other than I must have drifted into a food coma. It was a fun day, but sadly our guests would be leaving tomorrow.

To the Beach and Casale Marittimo! (12/08/2021)

Well, we screwed this one up big-time.

Pro-tip 1: if you ever want to go to one of the free beaches in August in Tuscany, then you *must* get up and leave for it at sparrowfart. We didn’t. We headed towards the Gulf of Baratti, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t get there until about 12:30.

It took well over 90 minutes. This was my fault, as I wanted to travel a route more scenic than the motorway. Anyway, we go there, and although were cars parked everywhere – I mean for *kilometers*, we managed to get a parking spot by queuing for only 15 or so minutes.

Pro-tip 2: set your expectations for ‘sand’ a little differently. Few beaches in Tuscany have smooth sand. The Gulf of Baratti at first appearance looks like it does, until you try walking on it – especially near the shore. It’s a lovely looking area, though – but come with flip-flops, or somewhat calloused feet. We walked along the shore for maybe 10-15 minutes before giving up. I wanted to walk onwards towards the marina below Populonia, but the ladies didn’t.

The sand may look normal, but it’s very ‘quartzy’, and harsh on the feet… not to mention baking hot!

Pro-tip 3: At least take a towel with you! The girls spent some time sitting, after draping throws of some description on the sand. I was tempted to try the bar instead, but it looked too crowded (plus I was like a walking lighthouse, I was that pale), and so hung out in the area between the beach and the road, and was comfortably shaded by the beautiful pines you can find everywhere in Tuscan coastal regions.

Pro-tip 4: For the love of baby Jesus, take something to eat and drink with you. We didn’t. And we arrived there when it was time for lunch. In hindsight, this was such a mind-numbingly stupid thing to do, but heigh-ho; life is for learning. The ladies spent maybe another 20 minutes sitting on the beach, and then we got back to the car (giving our spot to a nice elderly couple), and headed towards Populonia, the town on top of the cliff. This wasn’t so much stupid as ignorant. We really had no idea how busy it would be. There was no parking anywhere; not in the actual carparks, not along the side of the road.

Dejected, we headed back north up the coast, marvelling at literally kilometers upon kilometers of road on which cars were parked on both sides. I’d never seen anything like it. The Italians really enjoy their beaches!

We chickened out at stopping at some of the more touristy looking coastal restaurants, and although we drove through San Vicenzo, we failed to stop there too. Instead, we headed inland, and tried to look for random restaurants or agritourismi that would feed our faces. We breezed past Bibbona (nothing seemed to be open at that time), and about 20km of countryside, before I suggested Casale Marittimo. This place is my favourite hilltop village. I have been here a bunch of times. I took a few more snaps for fun.

There were 3 restaurants still open! Yipee! It was 14:30, and if you know Italy at all, you’d know that restaurants generally close after lunch at around 15:00, and re-open around 19:30 for dinner, so I thought we were cutting it fine. We weren’t. I had the humiliation of walking into 3 places and being rejected for food each time.

If you know me, you will know that ‘food disappointments’ send me into a brooding, nay, narky spiral, so I was not good company for our brief visit and journey home. I can’t remember what I ate, it probably tasted like bitter ashes in my mouth. Casale Marittimo, you broke my heart…. temporarily; I still have mad love for you!

Things got better that night, with dinner in Quo Vadis (the Ombra della Sera pizzeria was closed, and I was all-set to rejoin the fine residents of Narkytown). But with at least one decent place open, plus these views throughout dinner, it wasn’t the worst end to the day.

Sadly, I can’t remember what I had there! But I remember having this afterwards:

L’Isola del Gusto to the rescue as always!

Thanks for reading this. Please leave a like and a comment, if you have any questions regarding the area. I’d love to hear from you.

Casale Marittimo – 17/08/2020

If Siena is my favourite hilltop city, and Volterra is my favourite hilltop town, then Casale Marittimo is my favourite hilltop village. (Incidentally, Quercerto is my favourite hilltop hamlet!).

We’ve been here a few times before, most notably on May 1st, 2019 – Labour Day in Italy, when the whole village was out celebrating with a fava bean harvest. They were playing some sort of bingo, with numbers being shouted over the main square. Here are some photos taken back then!

However, I was acutely aware that we hadn’t done a full explore of the place. We would rectify that this time around. But first thing’s first: I went on a walk that morning, by myself (up yours, anxiety!), but by the time I reached the part of the road overlooking Chiesa di Sant’Alessandro, I began to earworm Springsteen’s ‘My Home Town’, and had to fight of tears for much of the rest of the walk – I really didn’t want to leave, but we had to soon. I still managed the full circumnavigation of the town’s walls, though – so I won in the end!

Back to doing something happier! We decided to go to lunch in one of the Chinese restaurants closest to us: La Grande Cina in Marina di Cecina (40+km away!). We’d always found it passable before… this time, it was a little different. It was stinking hot, and was absolutely freaking mobbed, so that we had to wait a good 20 minutes for a table. The food we had there was so-so in the end, so we were disappointed.

We countered that by going to Casale Marittimo afterwards and grabbing a gelato there (it was about a .6 on the Isola del Gusto scale, so still yummy!).

The place is crawling with hidden lanes and stairways, and we explored most of what we previously hadn’t.

Not much else was done, and if I recall correctly, this was our last day-trip of this stay in Volterra. That evening I think we had to begin to use what was left in the fridge, and so ate in. Still, it didn’t stop me taking a couple of snaps of Volterra that evening.

Bibbona, Bolgheri and Prepping for the Medieval Festival

Erratum: Volterra has 8 contrade, not 6. Always double-checks facts using multiple sites. *Sigh*

We took the Lancia POS southwest along the SR68 (and its many hairpin turns immediately after Volterra), and cut off after Casino di Terra towards Bibbona. We passed tantilisingly close to Casale Marittimo, my favourite hilltop village, passed some nice scenery, until we found handy parking, just outside the town’s Zona Traffica Limita (or ZTL – the area which, if you pass its boundaries without licensed permission, will ensure you are fined a three figure sum).

It was a sleepy, pleasant place – probably affected by the August holiday, as we arrived there around 12:15. We wandered around the old part of town, which is almost all residential and took some snaps.

It was a cloudier day yesterday, with high humidity, and so it was draining to be out in for a good length of time.

We were hungry, but the only place open in Bibbona was a family pizza place, so we took off for Bolgheri. It’s only about a 6km drive, and I’d sussed out where to park, so it should be a cinch, right? Oy… We got there and found car-parks rammed. We had to drive the guts of a kilometer around the town, and park in an overgrown sports field, just beside the town cemetary. I couldn’t believe it. Bolgheri has a beautiful looking frontage – an arched entrance, which forms part of a well-kept castle. I knew it was famous for its wine, and Niamh knew about Acqua di Bolgheri, an eau de toilette linked with the town. But was I missing anything else? Well, we’d see. But first – food!

We strolled past the first restaurant and headed down the street until we hit Enoteca Tognoni. I stuck my head in and saw that it, too, was jam-packed. A group of four got a table ahead of us, and so we thought we’d try our luck. We got in! They put us at a table with 6 other people. They had used low-dividers to split out large tables for multiple smaller parties. And it really worked! They had no printed menu, and so brought the blackboard in from outside. Niamh opted for ravioli and I went for tagliolini with wild pigeon sauce. With a tourist-driven place like this, they probably could have thrown out any sub-par crap on the table, but they didn’t. Both our dishes were superb – so it’s a high recommendation from me, should you wish to brave the parking!

Lunch complete, we set about exploring the town. And this is where my puzzlement came to the fore. Sure, it’s a pretty enough place – but it’s a small, more or less unwalled village, of three parallel, short asphalt streets. If it weren’t for the castle frontage, or the many cute arts & crafts stores and eatieries you would wonder how it gets the number of tourists it does. The stores were pretty, and the quality of products very high (which was reflected in the prices!) – so maybe that was it. Dolly-up your shops to get the visitors. Maybe the real heros of the piece are the people who make the products, and the people who market the town! I don’t wish to belittle it – and it’s definitely worth a visit… but I feel that’s because it’s so close to other towns in the area (Bibbona, Casale Marittimo), which are sufficient to make it a fun day out. Just go early in the morning, late in the evening, or maybe an hour after lunch. Arriving in time for lunch was a mistake on our part.

One other good reason to visit: Bolgheri Ti Amo/Caffe della Posta – a café and gelateria. The gelato here was fantastic – take a bow, guys!

Here are some snaps of Bolgheri.

One of the highlights (see photo directly above) of Bolgheri is a 4km of perfectly straight, cypress-lined road. It’s impressive. We drove back and I took some distance-shots of Casale Marittimo and Volterra. We’ll go to Casale when we have guests with us.

As we approached Volterra, it began to spit rain – but it didn’t last long. We chilled and Niamh cooked what was left of the mushrooms, panchetta and cream with bucatini. I ran out to get some peas, so we’d have some freshness to cut through the richness of the other ingredients. The result was better than the previous dish – it was really lovely!

We stayed at home all evening – sorry!

I got up this morning, and decided to keep my walk about town, specifically to check out the preparations that were being made for the medieval festival held this and the next weekends. Some props were out and looked impressive. I also took snaps of what I think are some of the contrada flags. A contrada is a district within Italian towns.

You might have heard of the Palio of Siena – the twice-annual horserace? Well Siena is split into 17 contrade (plural of contrada). 10 of these contrade are represented in the horserace, but the representative of the contrada is actually the horse, not the horse and rider together. There is a fab documentary on Il Palio – check it out. Anyway, the horse wins it – whether it is riderless or not – and the winning contrada goes a bit mad in celebration.

Volterra has a similar competition between the contrade, of which it has 8 (there used to be 12 or so 800 years ago). It’s not a horserace – although it has its own Palio in October (racing a cheese-wheel through an obstacle course down one of Volterra’s many sloped streets). We’ll sadly miss this – might have been a laugh.

Instead, there are flag waving/tossing and crossbow competitions to decide the winning contrada. In addition, many of the townsfolk dress up in medieval gear and there are stalls featuring medieval skills (e.g. blacksmithing) and food & drink. You have to change your Euros for a special currency upon arrival. We have limited experience of what happens, as it’s our first time here, but we’re excited to check it out!

You can see in some of the lower pics that they are putting together some of the props to give the town even more of a middle-ages feel to it. Exciting 🙂

As I concentrated on the town, I didn’t check out what natural marvels were awaiting outside. Niamh fortunately did, and captured Volterra on the edge of a layer of cloud. Pretty spectacular!