Livorno is also about the same distance from Tuscany, and the Emerald Princess had a shore excursion, "Tuscan Countryside, San Gimignano, and Volterra", which was appealing. It had been over 20 years since I had ridden through this beautiful part of Italy, and I was anxious to see how much it had changed. Fortunately, although there were many more tourists, the villages had not changed much.
On the way to Volterra, our bus drove the winding back roads through the countryside, and we marveled at the beautiful fields and quaint houses. We had a guided walking tour of the hilltop town of Volterra and loved the mixture of Etruscan and Roman architecture. Following the tour, we had a real surprise--a horrendous thunderstorm, complete with hail! It was raining so hard we hated to even venture to the nearest shop, so most of our group huddled under a portico and waited out the storm.
Next, we had family-style lunch at a working farm 3 miles from Volterra named Fattoria Lischeto. The farmhouse was set on a small hill amidst rolling hills, surrounded by fields of sheep. The food was fresh, excellent, and plentiful. We especially enjoyed the cheeses.
After lunch, we rode to the famous medieval fortified town of San Gimignano, with its thick walls and watchtowers. As expected, the village was bustling with tourists, but we had time for exploring the cobblestone streets and interesting shops.
The driver took a different scenic route from San Gimignano back to the ship. When asked about the winding road, he commented that our entire route had 960 turns! No wonder it looked like he was constantly turning the wheel.
We sailed from Livorno, sad to be leaving Italy.
