We woke up & had a lovely breakfast and headed out of our darling hotel..on the coast! There comes the little Fiat Panda!!!
With the map in hand...we headed back south to La Spezia on the highway A12 (toll use) and continued south till we came to Cecina and then turned off at that point into the countryside of Tuscany! Oh my "AGAIN" it was lovely...lots of rolling hills....
....and old buildings ~
I expected the Tuscany area to be very green - but it was more dry surprisingly!
We kept stopping here and there taking lots of pictures! It was lovely surroundings and so fun to drive along these little villages and moving at a relaxing pace with many other tourists that too stopped here and there to see this well known area we have all heard about! And of course enjoyed a lovely glass of wine too!
Just a Note to share with you! When we were standing in line for the car rental one of the American couples was sharing with me that they were going on Sunday to Andrea Bocelli's home town where he would be singing in a coliseum there! Oh WOW how cool it was to hear that! Andrea Bocelli Lajatico (see site)
We were heading to the coast...plus surely you needed to book ahead to even hear him! But the area we are in now is where he is from! Lajatico is only about 25 km from where we were at!
But our plan was to head to Volterra and Boy oh Boy - are we glad we did! It was like a fort way up on this mountain...and we saw it already from a distance!
Oh gosh Nick look way up there!!!!!!
When we got there...we found a "P" for parking...we will tell you the rest in just a bit!
We wandered the streets of Volterra...so cool..walking into the walled city! It was busy...amazingly busy...people everywhere!
Volterra Click to Read ~
Lots of small corridors again...and alley ways!
In the Open Plaza's there is so often seating for a lunch or a drink!
We so enjoyed hanging out here & then it was time to head on...so we walked back to the car and found - yes a ticket! Oh darn...we had asked an Italian person about this parking - and he said it was free - no fee - yet we did see other cars with a sticker on it (possibly for the residence??) we thought so! Well NOT SO! The parking police arrived to say it was only for residence (that means a lot of people mostly foreigners will have a ticket today!) We were told to find a Post Office and that is where we would be able to pay for this ticket. Well surely not in this 'forted area' but in the town itself? So we left looking for a Post Office on the outskirts...but it was not so...it was right inside this forted area. We came back again...Nick got out and I stayed with the car and he walked about 40 minutes finding it...actually he said in a lot of the places we had already walked! The ticket was 50 Euro = $65,- ouch! But we were thankful to get it done...sure don't want that to catch up with us later on our credit card at the car rental place!
OK - so 2 hours LATER...we headed out of Volterra - ha!
We saw some really beautiful scenery! 
on the way to Siena
.....the town my son Jas had visited 3 years ago and said it was pretty cool!
Siena Really Neat! 
Jason you are right! 
Thankfully coming in a bit late again...we grabbed the first hotel we could find....Villa Piccola Siena and cute but tiny room...the shower was over the toilet...and right outside the window was a brick wall...talk about tight quarters! It was their last room and we were glad for it - and knew it was just the one evening - again...we adjust and we are glad!!
After a little rest we headed into town to see it (tomorrow morning we would be heading back to Florence early to return the car and find a train to take us to Venice!)
Turned a corner...from a tiny alley way...and look what you see!!!!!
Listen to this...we are walking into this town...and go down these steps...and all at once we come to this King Size plaza - so big!!!
LOOK what this alley opened up to.....!
Oh my so big and so cute - everyone sitting around,,,in this open plaza! It always surprises us that you can walk through this corridor and then it opens up to this open area! Do you notice that the plaza has a downward slant to it????
People are just sitting on this slanted plaza - talking & looking around~
Gosh isn't this a neat shot? Just look at that tower!!!
A beautiful place in the shop window.
Tammy & Vonna - I was thinking of your girl when I saw this in the shop!
Once a year they have this horse race through the corridors of Siena ~
Palio di Siena ~ Annual Horse Race
It was a lovely evening and there was so much to see again!
These people were sitting outside their hotel room...just chatting and looking unto the plaza...
Hey look at this Dixie!!! A shop with your name on it here in Siena Italy...neat huh??? Warm greetings to you and & Wayne!!!!
We ordered a pizza at the shop next door and this friendly "guy" was offering me a beer while I was waiting for the order!!!
Notice his glasses?! Cute huh!
A pretty pizza box for take-out!
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