Volterra, Italy

 

Volterra was just a fifteen minute drive from our Villa.  The kids were shocked with the short drive.  “What?  We’re here?” We parked just outside the city wall and walked in under a huge arch to a quiet side street.  The doors and archways, and door knockers were just cool.  I loved them all.

      

 

When we got down closer to the center of town we realized something. We were the only tourists. All of the other people filling the streets were locals going about their Saturday morning activities. The coolest thing was how many people were just standing in circles talking to each other at every turn. It was ‘authentic small Tuscan town’ at it’s best –where everyone knows everyone -- and we were enamored by it.

   

Roman Theater Ruins

At the edge of town we found a playground for the kids to play on while Del, Shelley and I checked out this old amphitheater which was built in 10 BC and considered to have the best acoustics of its kind.  It was eventually buried and rediscovered in the 1950s.  The stage wall was standard Roman design – with three levels from which actors would appear: one for humans, one for heroes, and the top one for gods.    In the fourth century AD the town decided to abandon the theater and use its stones to build fancy baths instead,  exactly behind the theater.

Only part of two of the three level stage survives.

 

I don’t have a picture of us with our hot pizza’s because we were too busy devouring them.  I think maybe my favorite pizza of the whole trip!  Man alive was it good.

Saturday morning was market day so the squares by the churches were crammed with market vendors – really it seemed like a small Italian department store had showed up section by section in different old vans to sell basics… undershirts, shoes, coats, bras.  Below… the food market in front of the church was just shutting down.  By noon the streets were pretty empty. Just a family of 8 + 2 grandparents.

Emily and Grandpa…