November 12 & 13 - Continued adventures in the rental car - Volterra

Saturday 12th: this morning we got a later start than I had hoped. Our destination was Volterra and while we had that famous Herts NeverLost GPS, we did not have maps of where we were going. Carol did her best, but maps were really needed.   We made it to Voltera around 12:30 with only a few incorrect turns.  I will say - Tucany has alot of roundabouts, more than i think I have ever seen my entire life in just a day or two. 

Found a parking spot outside the walls that we feared was an apartment complex and we would be towed... But it worked. We walked first to St. Lino's church that was a sort of hole in the wall, but in keeping with all Italian churchs was of course was beautiful. I love the ceilings.

Then we walked toward the Duomo, where there was a street sale occurring. I bought some cheese from a vendor to bring back to the apartment. We wandered around a bit longer and then I bought some alabastar. Carol bought a present for one of her grandsons and a tee shirt for a relative. Inside the Duomo was pretty and the words Vigilantia in the ceiling, which at first I thought was the family name, before seeing its ending.  Volterra is a place evidently shown in the newly released Twlight movie - so I will now have to see the movie, which I think is released this week. Carol then went to find a museum (which turned out to be closed) while I wandered and took pictures of the buildings and ramparts.  Even of Canoli in a chocolate shop. The town square with the clock tower had many magistrate signs on it.

Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Volterra is a known territory for the presence of the alabaster – the only translucent stone existing in nature, historically used in windows and lampshades, before glass arrived from the Orient. Volterra is full of alabastar shops. Sights in Volterra are:

• St Lino Church, St Lino was the first pope after apostle Paul.
• Roman Theatre (1st century BC), excavated in the 1950s.
• Piazza dei Priori where ML took a number of pix. On the piazza is the 13th century Palazzo dei Priori, the oldest town hall in Tuscany. Also on the piazza are the 14th-century Palazzo Vescovile and the back of the cathedral.
• Palazzo dei Priori. Begun in 1208 and finished in 1257.
• Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The duomo, or cathedral, dates from 1120 when it was constructed on the site of a previous church. It has a Romanesque facade and an entrance added in the 13th century. The interior was modified in the late 16th century in Renaissance style and has a richly decorated ceiling and several chapels with frescoes or wood panels and a 12th century marble pulpit. The octagonal Baptistery dates from the 13th century although parts of it may be older. Its facade is decorated with green and white marble stripes and the dome dates from the 15th century.
• Side chapel where we took pictures of Miseracordia ech it showinf how people were transported when ill.
• The Etruscan walls, including the well-preserved Porta dell'Arco (3rd-2nd centuries BC) and Porta Diana gates.

We then had lunch (a salad and pasta with truffles for me - yum and pasta and soup for Carol). More walking around and then we headed out of Volterra. Got some nice pictures., tho' with the high walls, its a pretty dark place. 

When we left Volterra, thinking were were headed back to Lucca, we passed this field, where this red O was sitting all by itself.... very strange.  But a web search (Flickr) indicates that it was built by Italian artist Mauro Staccioli who does environmental art.  Dont know what the O signifies.

On the way back we got rather lost.... But arrived safely back in Lucca around 7pm. Parked the car in the same public lot that is south of the wall and our apartment. I was absolutely exhausted, as the roads were hair pin turns in many locations.

Carol's 7 yr old grandaughter Gianna (daughter of Carlo) was invited to fly from Pennsylvania to LA to play in a piano contest that was broadcast on the web at 11pm.... And it was all we could do to stay awake....Wow was she great; amazing for a 7 year old, and as good if not better than the teenagers.  Carol stayed awake to see the awards (around 1am), but I was asleep not long after Gianna played.

Sunday 13th... This morning we set a goal of geting on the road by 8:30.. And we almost made it. Our objective was to see Lucca di Bagno, a bridge, and then to do the northern route around Florence and to get to Friesole (which I really wanted to see, since I had not gone there several years ago). Again a mistake of not getting that local map and today, the NeverLost contributed to our being lost....  but saw some incredible mountainous sceens. Got to Lucca di Bagno... But did not find the hot springs for which it is famous.

We found the bridge (Maddalena's Bridge)... But the pix in the books do not show that it is next to a railroad tracks... So only only side was seen. Devil’s Bridge is a term applied to dozens of ancient bridges, found primarily in Europe. Most of these bridges are stone or masonry arch bridges and represent a significant technological achievement for their time. Each of the Devil's Bridges has a corresponding Devil-related myth or folktale. Here is the tail of this bridge.

The Devi's Bridge is on the river Serchio near the town of Borgo a Mozzano. The Maddalena's bridge or Devil's Bridge (ponte del diavolo) connect the two banks of the river Serchio at the height of Borgo a Mozzano. Its construction goes back to the era of the Countess Matilde di Canossa (1046-1115), that had large influence and power in this part of Tuscany, the "Garfagnana", but its current reputation is due to the reconstruction carried on by Sir Castruccio Castracani (1281-1328) of Lucca, in the early 14th century. The bridge is known as Devil's Bridge' by popular legend, reinforced from its strange shape: a master mason had begun its building but soon he noticed that it would not be successful to complete the work for the contracted day and taken from the fear of the possible consequences invoked to the Devil asking him aid. The Devil accepted to complete the bridge in a night in exchange for the spirit of the first that will cross it. The contract was signed but the constructor, full of remorse, confessed himself to a priest that advised him to invite the towns people but to let a pig cross the bridge first. So the Devil was defeated and he disappeared in the deepness of the river.

We headed to another city... But stumbled upon these huge Pinocchio statues, that turned out to be in the edge of Pescia. The author of Pinnochio is Carlo Lorenzini, better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi, was an Italian children's writer known for the world-renowned fairy tale novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio. Collodi was born in Florence. During the Wars of Independence in 1848 and 1860 Collodi served as a volunteer with the Tuscan army. Lorenzini died in Florence in 1890, unaware of the fame and popularity that awaited his work: as in the allegory of the story, Pinocchio eventually went on to lead his own independent life, distinct from that of the author. The "Collodi" of his pen name was the name of the Tuscan village where Lorenzini's mother was born. The village of Collodi is now the home of a Pinocchio theme park, and in Pescia there were several statues that we took pictures.

From here we got backon the autostrada and headed for Florence.... Once off the Autostrada at the exit before Florence, we headed for the hills. This was the most lost we became..and the roads were harrowing, with barely room for 1 car, much less a two way passage.. Along one road, we came across a huge deer with antheliers and tried to snap photos for Carol's husband Joseph.

We finally made it to Firenzuola at 2:30pm and were turned away from the first restaurant as they were closing. We then went to another and they took us hungry travelers, but was not happy as we were so late (sunday afternoons restaurants in small towns close around 2 or 3). We shared a pasta with mushrooms and I had a lamb chop and Carol had a pasta soup. With the roads, we debated on wine, and decided against just to be safe. We knew with all of the hair pin turns that we would not make it to my desired destination(Firesole)... So we backtracked and after several miss turns ended up on the Autostrada. The palms of my hands were raw from gripping the steering wheel for so long.

I love this pix with the shadow of the ramparts.

When we got back to Lucca and rather than pay to park the rental car, we took it back to Hertz... But needed gas. Carol paid for the gas...after stopping just about every person taht walked by to help us figure out these machines -- there was no attendant and you could not pay with credit card -- so you had to put in cash.... but we did not have small bills, so we started with $10, and then she put in a $50 (for diesel)... and not turning on the car to monitor the progress of filling the tank, we over paid.. So the machine owed her $30 euro...That was a bit unnerving, as we were not sure that she would get the $30e back, but we can try to collect when we take the car back in the AM.  I was absolutely exhausted, and was sound asleep by 10:30 (an unusually early time for me).