Okay..so I am posting some a few weeks late...but I have been busy and had an exciting past two weeks so I want to re-live it!
The weekend before mid-terms I went to Volterra on Friday and Perugia (again) on Saturday. Just to point out that mid-terms were stressful…but not that stressful.
So anyway, my friend Chelsea and I met at 10:00 at the train/bus station to go to Volterra. Volterra is one of the Tuscan hill towns and is about 80 kilometers southwest of Florence (closer to Siena). It is a ninety minute drive or a two hour bus drive. We had no idea really what the bus schedule was like we just knew we had to go to Colle di Val d’Elsa and then change buses to go to Volterra. So we took the 10:30 bus to Seattle and got off at Colle di Val d’Elsa and checked the bus schedule to Siena…8:45, 9:45, 10:45, 14:45. Great. So we had about two and a half hours to kill in Colle di Val d’Elsa. But we were hungry and the town was kind of cool so we kept fully entertained!
The funniest/most interesting part of Colle di Val d’Elsa is when we had lunch. There are all these random people in Italy who sell the most random collection of stuff outside of grocery stores or sell trinkets and knick-knacks on the street. So this random guy, comes over to me and Chelsea while we are eating at a café outside and then just sits down and puts all his stuff down like he knows up. Then he lights up a cigarette and offers us coffee. And then he seemed pretty harmless so we just talk to him for like twenty minutes in mostly Italian with some English. I love practicing Italian with random people especially if Italian is their second language because they are much easier to understand! He was kind of strange but was telling us how he lives in Pisa and sells things there and in Bologna but he is going back to Senegal in Novemeber. Anyway, he gave me his number and made me promise to call him if I ever go to Pisa (not likely) and then he gave me one of the things he was selling haha. It is pictured below. Interesting interaction but that is my favorite part of traveling, meeting random people and hearing their stories!
My Present (Madre con bambino)
Colle di Val d’Elsa
At 2:45 we got on the bus to Volterra. The two euro bus ticket was one of the best purchases I have made to date on this trip. The bus ride through the tuscan hills was BEAUTIFUL! Everything looked like it was straight out of a movie or postcard. It reminded me of Walla Walla a little bit but pretter and with less people. The lands were so beautiful they seemed like they were landscaped to appear a certain way. I took many pictures from the bus that did not truly encapsulate the beauty. I already know I want to return and I asked Alti if he has been here and he says he loves it and asked me if I wanted to go some weekend! So I will definitely be coming again. Here are a few of those pictures:
Anyway, Volterra was absolutely beautiful and old (like EVERYWHERE in Italy). We were guided by Rick Steves’ excellent eight page guide of the city. But the real reason I went there was because it is the home to the ancient royal Vampire family the Volutri. No, I haven’t become a goth since I have been in Italy—I just have become a Twilight nerd. The Twilight series has filled the void in my heart left by Harry Potter. Chelsea is also a twilight nerd—hence our perfect travel compatibility on this outing. We took pictures next to the clock tower and the alleyway facing the clock tower (where the climax of the second book takes place—I won’t give anything away). So these pictures are for people who will appreciate them. I wore black on purpose and tried to look like a vampire. We also went to this strange, strange wine bar that Rick Steves suggested. Its run by these two guys and has a lot of great wine and is decorated with bras. There is also a dentist chair in the wine cellar. Oh Rick Steves.
The Clock Tower
The Alleyway Facing the Clock Tower
Boar is the Local Delicacy
Wine Bar
We took the bus back and we were the only TWO people on the huge charter bus. We sat in the front (I have been getting car sick so I always sit in the front now) and then talked to the driver for the most time. Also, the drive complemented my Italian!! He said I spoke Italian very well! And he didn’t speak any English so we had to speak Italian. He was from Volterra, of course. Italians always ask you where you are from and then when you ask them the same question it is whatever city you are in. Almost always. People don’t leave their hometowns here. I have met Italians in Volterra, Perugia, Lake Como, and Milan—and they are all from where I met them! And they answer you like oh well I am from Perugia, Certo (of course)! Just one cultural difference I noted.
Anyway, I was home in time for dinner. And then did not go out, but instead worked on my Architecture study guide (I am such a nerd).
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