Villa Nencini Volterra

... for our walk through the walled village. There is a 14th century fort with make up part of the walls. Today it is used as a prison - your not supposed to take photos of it, but I snapped a couple off before I knew... luckily I was not spotted by the local polizi. The town was cute for sure but I'm not sure it deservered all the accolades given to it by other travellers we had met in Lucca. Having said that we did take more photos than usual.

Hello everyone,<br>We had such fun today!! The square had it's first ever market day or flea market. It was filled with cheeses which by the way Percino was our favorite and the fresh sliced procuitto was unbelievable. We just walked around all day. The first part of the day we did two loads of wash and dry which cost $18 us dollars. Then we had wine free and paid and had a great time. We then came back to ...

... him questions about taking pictures without flash. He said we could not and then started rewinding the tape to see what we were doing in the church. We left quickly. We then went to a meat market that was named in Rick Steve's book that has the original owners and is suppose to be really good. We went in and they had cheese on the top of the counter like Schnucks and stuff when they are giving samples so I reached for a piece and it was a womans in ...

... Once it is finished and the black screen appears again do not close out as now you can hit the white arrow and watch it without interruption because it is fully downloaded. So hit the arrow the first time and walk away then come back and when it is the black screen again hit the arrow and you won't have any interruptions.<br>Chow

... for a few weeks whilst i went back to work<br>Belgium to pick up batteries from my dad as the originals were shagged<br>Luxembourg<br>Swizterland<br >Italy<br>Lake Maggiore (most expensive)<br>Cremona<br>Cecina Tuscany where we parked up again whilst i worked

A short drive across the hilltops with vineyards along the way found us in Voltarre. The town looks as if it is a castle on the hilltop. The complete walls and turrets still standing. To enter the city you must go through one of the very, very large gates with wooden doors an amazing size. Voltarre was refreshing as it was not covered up with tourists, but with Italians emerging from their siesta. Perfectly preserved stone walls and buildings ...

... had stayed on board to read and write in her journal since she was tired of walking. Laney however had gone with us. She was great and a real trooper. She walked with us the whole way and did not complain at all. We walked through the small village which surprisingly again had many high-end shops as well and local shops. We avoided all the taxis since we had ditched the taxi driver and had not paid him, which was probably the right thing to do since it was clearly a racket-it was ...

... We finished the laundry and went out to explore. It was mainly a day of finding our bearings and doing simple walk-bys. We found the Santa Croce Church which is a 14th century church and also the home of Michelangelo's and Galileo's remains. The church also showcases work by Donatello. It was a very pretty inside but I must say both of us really liked the churches in Rome and we were going to be hard pressed to find one we liked better. After a gelato ...

... It's like thinking you're booking a room in New York, and you find the hotel in Newark. It's a run down little town, and I pull up to the place, and it is such a Hotel. No much charm, and a sterile room. Needless to say I'm disappointed. I don't know what to do, where to go, and how to begin. Can't really do a wine tasting, because of the car and we are miles from any of the tourist wineries. Don't know if I want to face parking in San Gimignano ...

My cousin, Jackie, had a great idea for this journal: She suggested that I put up some Italian words each day...I think it's a great idea, because it'll give everyone an idea of what our Italian experience is like! Only one change: I'm going to put up words of the week, a few each time, since we can't get ...