Tuesday: Ancient Rome and a Roadtrip

We were told to be ready to check out of the hotel Tuesday after breakfast.  

With our receivers around our necks

We walked up the main drag to the piazza where our bus was waiting to take us to the Coliseum.  

The area had other ruins nearby including the Forum and a temple.  Our local guide filled us in on the buildings and certainly added to our experience.

We got to the area before most people did  so we had a pretty unobstructed view and easy walking.  We noted that it was kind of like visiting Walt Disney World--the easiest time to get the most done is early in the morning!

We were told to plan on a late lunch and to have a snack before we toured inside the Coliseum.  Luckily, our tickets even let us on the floor, which we were told many people's tickets do not.  Our guide told us a lot of stories and was even able to answer questions about women in the Coliseum (those who were there were generally practicing the oldest profession).  

Quite an edifice

After our tour of the Coliseum we bade our guide goodbye and headed a few blocks down the street where our tour bus could pick us up.  We were off to Tuscany!

A typical hill town as seen from the bus

Italian (actually EU) law does not allow bus drivers to go more than two hours without a stop, so we got a late lunch at the Italian version of Buc'ees or Stuckeys (actually I don't remember if they sold gas or not, but it was a restaurant/store on their version of the interstate which sold not only candy and soft drinks but toys, wine and books, and one even had a McDonalds).  I didn't have to speak Italian to know what that child was saying to Mom, the tone of voice (of both of them) said it all!  Our guide, Colleen, bought what appeared to be juice boxes and passed them around.  They were espresso!  She said you could only buy them in places like that--the grocery stores in town did not have them.  I ended up buying a bunch to take home for the crew at the office (law offices run on caffeine).  

Beautiful countryside

As we were driving through Tuscany, Colleen told us about the Guelphs and the Ghibellines--two opposing factions in Italian politics in the middle ages.  

Collen told us how to tell if this was a Guelph or a Ghibelline tower but I don't remember anymore

About 5:00 p.m. we pulled into our destination, the hill town of Volterra.  Busses were not allowed in the historic center, which is where we were staying, so we disembarked in a parking lot on the edge of town and gathered our luggage for a trip down main street to our hotel.  

After freshening up, the group walked to dinner where we ate, among other things, cinghiale which was a stew made with wild boar, served over pasta.  Like someone said, it was kind of like the Italian version of beef stroganoff.  Another thing we had was Tuscan bread, which is not made with salt--yes, it was as bland as it sounds.  

To burn off some of those calories we walked from one end of the main street to the other.  On one side we watched the sun set over the countryside  On the other we saw a recently unearthed Roman Amphitheater/Bath complex.

A Tuscan Sunset 

They are still exploring this site. 

Wednesday:  Volterra