Since it can prove to be difficult to travel to the small hill towns in Tuscany using public transportation, we rented a car and took several drives into the surrounding hills and down the coast.
Chiani
Our first stop was Chiani. It is a very small town with little to no tourists (at least when we were there). Holly had seen an ad for an apartment there and although we thought the town might be too small, we thought we would take a look while we were in the area. The apartment was a very nice place in the corner of town with a magnificent view of the Tuscan countryside and plenty of space, but as we suspected, the town was just too small for us to want to stay put there for any length of time.
Volterra
Like many of the places we have visited, the history of Volterra goes back thousands of years. There are the remains of the Etruscan acropolis on top of the hill and the Roman theater on the side of the hill. During the time of the Medici, the place was fought over for the alum deposits nearby. There are traces of all of that and more in this spectacular hilltop city.
San Gimignano
If you are looking for great medieval architecture in a small Tuscan city, this just might be the place for you. It is stunningly preserved and you can easily imagine yourself wandering these streets 600 year ago (well except for the occasional car that passes you at a speed that always seems too fast). The fun part of this place is that during the middle ages, the families that lived here got into a “my tower is bigger than your tower” match. The result of this competition was that at one time there were as many as 72 tower houses distributed around the city. The city fathers finally put an end to the whole thing by putting a limit on the height of any new tower. While many of the towers are gone, there are still 14 to bemuse your spirit and as in all of the hill towns in this region, there are great views in every direction.
The Tuscan Coast
With all of the attention that the Tuscan hills get, it is good to remember that Tuscany has a beautiful coast line and it can be a very rewarding experience to spend some time there.
We are currently in Porto, Portugal. This is a stop over on our way back to Seattle. Not to worry, we are only coming back to sell our house and return to Italy as soon as we have taken care of the sale and the business that follows. I am determined to finish at least most of the posts that I meant to write over that last few months, so be prepared for the onslaught. Hopefully, that will be a good thing for most of you.