We picked up a friend who’d be staying with us for a few days from Pisa Airport. This was a detail I had unfortunately left out in the last blog. I honestly had forgotten, and the photos I took gave me absolutely no clue. I strongly suspect it was in the late afternoon, after we had eaten in Porgi l’Altra Pancia. We must have picked her up, and then I spared her my documenting every moment of life in Italy, and we just spent a chill evening at home. In fact, now that I have some recollection – she was quite tired and not up for doing much, so we chilled along with her.

The reason why I am now drawing this conclusion is that the day I’m now blogging begins with a walk to the Etruscan tombs north of Volterra. There’s simply no way we would have picked someone up that early in Pisa and then gone on a walk. We definitely made this trip in the early morning, in an effort to avoid overheating ourselves on the very uphill walk back.

So that’s what we did. I had been there a couple of times before, but not with anyone – so this would be a bit of fun. Our friend had recently signed on for a Celtic history course, and while the Etruscans weren’t Celts exactly, her interest in the ancient was piqued enough to join me. What sealed the deal was a chance at a distant sneak preview of the archaeological dig site of a Roman Amphitheatre just opposite the town’s modern cemetery. The cemetery itself is also worth a visit.

We had a few peeps of the of the amphitheatre from above and near eye-level and wished that the digsite would open soon for tours! We continued down the road towards the tombs, passing fully by the cemetery and through Porta Diana – the Etruscan gateway which is missing its arch, and finally around the sharp bend which led outside the town boundary. There was a new sign on the corner which seemed to point into someone’s private field, labelled “Volterra Urban Trekking”. We didn’t take that, but continued down the road towards the tombs – shooting the lovely countryside on the way.

When we got to our destination, I had planned on taking her into both tombs, but the path to one of them was horribly overgrown, and we gave it a skip, given our bare arms. Last year, it had recently been strimmed (weed-whacked), but no such luck this year. So, we went to the other one, had a look about and a read of the information on a the small nearby sign.

It was fun and interesting and is to be recommended – but a word of warning here about the walk back to town, which is entirely uphill for a couple of kilometers, if your destination in Volterra is the main piazza. We took pics of the town at a distance and finally poor Porta Diana, which so few visitors ever see. Shame – the whole area is quite lovely.

We huffed and puffed our way back (especially me), and chilled for the rest of the morning. Then lunchtime came. Our friend had nipped out earlier to do a little touring and bag-shopping, so to whet our appetite we had small walk about, looking for a decent place to eat for just ourselves. Some of the following shots are wonderfully dramatic, but indicative of what was to follow!

We hit Osteria Fornelli again and I made a pig of myself by having two courses: zuppa alla Volterrana and pici cacio e pepe (with truffle). Niamh had penne alla pomarola. Thankfully, the cacio e pepe wasn’t as rich and cloying as last time and it was so yum.

After lunch, we had a peep out over the Val di Cecina. Piazzetta Fornelli has one of the best 180 degree views of the valley below – and on a clear day you can make out Sardinia. Today, however, the more we looked on, the closer rain clouds moved towards the town. We’d have to find our friend, and fast!

We gave her a call, and agreed we’d go to Palazzo Viti. She’d been here before and bought a Volterra Card, but because Palazzo Viti is privately owned, it wasn’t covered (the card is great value otherwise!). The Palazzo, which is only open seasonally, was begun to be built towards the end of the 1600’s and is still owned by the Viti family today! The family made a lot of their wealth in the alabaster trade, and the rooms convey the level of prominence of the family. If you’re here in-season, and are fascinated by stately homes and palaces, it’s a must-visit! We met our friend, who was carrying some shopping bags, and went in.

I would be saying hello to these two guys again later on after our tour.

It’s so well-kept and beautiful! We continued through the rooms.

About halfway through the tour, we heard the heavens open. And it hadn’t stopped by the time we’d finished our tour of the house. Once again, it was absolutely pelting rain in Volterra. We waited in the hallway entrance for 10-15 minutes, waiting for the torrents to cease. I tried to strike up a couple of conversations, with varying degrees of success.

The rain didn’t stop, but abated enough for us to make a run for it to our apartment entrance. We got moderately wet, as the rain was falling vertically. Otherwise, we might have been able to creep beside buildings to avoid the drops. Anyway, none of us actually died, so all was well.

We chilled until the evening, went for an aperitivo in L’Incontro and, strangely, went to Don Beta for dinner. I say ‘strangely’, as Don Beta is one of those types of restaurants we would avoid elsewhere – a touristic one, where the menu is vast. On the plus side, if you can’t decide whether you want pasta or pizza, then Don Beta is one of the places to go if are with a group who want a mix of these things. You’ll find something for everyone here. There are times that we are looking for something light, and I love the veg soup here, and it is now also the only place I know in town that does a simple spaghetti all’aglio olio and peperoncino (garlic, oil, chilli). And that’s just what I had!

I pick my days to go there, but I always enjoy what I order and the service is really fast and friendly.

I was well and truly stuffed by this point and so it was just time to go back to the apartment. I took one more final shot from our Terrace, then it was wine and bed (yes, in that order!).

Thanks for getting all the way to the end of this blog or our busy day. Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions about life in this area of Tuscany.