We arrived in Livorno, Italy in the morning. After getting our room service breakfast, we made our way to the theater to await our excursion to be called. They called us, and we made it to the bus. Now, when we were trying to determine what we wanted to do. The port of Livorno is by Florence, Pisa, and the Tuscan countryside. I really wanted most to see the Tower of Pisa. I kind of wanted to go to Florence so I could see David, but I was flexible, and Mom would rather go to the Tuscan countryside. I'm glad we did!
Our shore excursion consisted of a drive to somewhere in the Tuscan countryside, lunch at a bed and breakfast, and then a visit to Pisa.
On our way to the Tuscan countryside, our tour host (not a tour guide) said we were on our way to Volterra. Now, for those who have read the Twilight series of books, Volterra is the home of the most ancient vampires that kind of run the show. So it's gotten a lot of attention because of that.
Volterra
She asked if any of us had seen New Moon yet, but since it just came out a couple of days before our cruise, nobody had. (I still haven't!_)
Our drive was just awesome! There's a reason that area is known for its beauty. It was absolutely fabulous. My camera needed a break from all the pictures I was taking.
Volterra was quiet. It was Sunday and a lot of shops were closed. I remember thinking that the city in New Moon was pretty large, but the main square was pretty small.
The main square. In New Moon, this is where Edward is about to reveal himself. Anyway, there was a tourist center in town, and they definitely had some Twilight swag. It was kind of fun.
It was just beautiful. Surrounded by all those Tuscan hills.
The main clock tower.
Their roads are so much cooler than ours.
Yep, I could live here.
I love this picture. So 'picturesque'
After spending about an hour and a half there, it was time to head out to lunch. I wasn't all that excited about this at the time. The way they described it, I didn't think it'd fill me up, and I'd rather just gone to Pisa. Again, glad I was wrong. This was an awesome stop!
It was very pretty there. Our tour host said that a lot of Europeans bought these old farms and turned them into bed and breakfast places, and had these lunches for tour groups.
Mom having fun before lunch.
There were all sorts of great meats and cheeses and some pasta. Awesome garlic bread and other treats. They also had wine to drink and water. So we had the water.
It was nice and warm in the room. We found out that one of the people at our table is from Benicia. So it was fun to meet some neighbors of mine.
The lunch was so great. They had a great biscotti type of dessert. They had a shop on the premises, besides their bed and breakfast. In the shop you can buy wine and olive oil. I bought some olive oil.
We got on the bus and headed to Pisa. More on that in my next post.
Posts
