There is a cantina inside the walls of Volterra that Niamh and I occasionally (ahem!) visit to top up on our stock of red and white. It’s called Santa Lucia, and the vineyard responsible for producing the wine is located near a town called Gambassi Terme. We thought we’d head there. The vineyard was most likely closed in these Covid times, but at least we could stroll around the town.
It’s a nice drive there, and we passed an amazing looking restaurant on the way. One day, Osteria del Castagno, we will say hello!
Anyway, onwards to Gambassi Terme, which turned out to not only be lovelier than we guessed, but also held another surprise.
Some Via Francigena pilgrims, resting
It was stinking hot. That’s hardly a surprise, but what was a surprise to me, is that Gambassi is on the Via Francigena – the pilgrim’s route from Canterbury to Rome. We saw a bunch of people geared for hiking and eventually put 2 and 2 together.
We decided to stop over for lunch at a nice and simple restaurant. We had pasta ‘n’ meat! Wasn’t bad, especially considering the price.
One done with Gambassi, we had to go food-shopping. We noticed that there was a CoOp in Montaione, and it was on my list of towns to visit. It was also only 10-12 minutes away, so off we went.
We finished our shopping, and had a stroll around the older part of town. It was still stinking hot, and very, very quiet. Montaione is also either on or very near the Via Francigena, but was much quieter! Maybe because it was post-lunch and people were inside, resting.
Anyway, it was a pleasant enough place, but we didn’t spend too long there because…well… heat! We went back to the car – I had to stop off for fruit at the CoOp again – and went home.
That evening we had a stroll around Volterra. We didn’t notice it at the time, but some of the streets were beginning to become a little busier.
Our Man In Volterra 