A weekend in Tuscany: Volterra, San Gimignano, Siena

And here we are, setting off again: this time the destination of our getaway is Tuscany. It's lunchtime when we arrive in Volterra. We immediately find parking in a lot outside the walls. The day is splendid and we take the chance to have a nice picnic in a lovely equipped park just a stone's throw from the archaeological one. Matteo is overjoyed because he found the playground, and we struggle to convince him to come away. The first stop of our tour is the tourist information office, which gives us all the necessary information and a very useful map. Then we head to the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, one of the oldest museums in Europe and one of the most complete of its kind. Among the various exhibits, two works of notable value stand out: "The Shadow of the Evening" and the "Cover of the Spouses".

We like Volterra right away; there are so many things to see, but unfortunately the time at our disposal is short, so we limit ourselves to the main ones. It's late afternoon by the time we leave the museum. We're a little tired but we still have many things to see, so we decide to sit down in a characteristic bar for an aperitif and to let the little one have a snack. For anyone who has never tried it, I recommend the Vermentino di Bolgheri, which is truly excellent. We then head to Piazza dei Priori, the town's main square, overlooked by some very beautiful palazzi such as the Palazzo dei Priori, the Palazzo Pretorio and the Bishop's Palace, and not far away also the Duomo. Before returning to the car we visit the Roman amphitheatre, which is truly very beautiful and well preserved. As for the overnight stay, we opted for a campsite.

We found one right near the Balze, from which it also takes its name. Matteo is very excited; it's the first time he sleeps in a tent and he experiences it all like a game. After pitching the tent and getting changed, we take a beautiful walk at sunset along the panoramic Balze trail. They are truly spectacular and it's all very romantic. We round off the evening at a pizzeria in the historic centre of Volterra that we recommend to everyone, "La Mangiatoia", where we ate very well and spent very little. The next day we head to San Gimignano, the second stop of our "escape". If anyone decides to take a short holiday in this area, I recommend everyone use Volterra as a base for sleeping and eating, because it is much cheaper.

We noticed it right away from the cost of the parking just outside the town gates, which was "very expensive"; luckily a bit further away we found another one with more affordable prices that also offered a shuttle service, which we didn't use though. What can I say about San Gimignano... it's stunning. Here too there are so many things to see. The first thing we did was have breakfast in a bar right opposite the Duomo. The percentage of foreign tourists is truly impressive; there's a lot of movement. At the tourist information office they give us the usual map and a few tips. We begin the visit of the Duomo, or Collegiata, which is astonishing: inside there are some beautiful frescoes by Ghirlandaio. Once out, we visited the nearby Diocesan Museum. A visit to the Civic Museum would have been in order, but the little one is on holiday too, so we give it a miss.

We take a nice walk and do a bit of shopping through the historic centre, which is truly unique, and finally pay a visit to the Church of San Girolamo. As a souvenir we buy a few bottles of Vernaccia and Chianti, which we enjoyed back home. We leave San Gimignano truly pleased with everything we saw, but our short holiday isn't over yet: now Siena awaits us. Even though we had already visited it, we both wanted to show it to the little one, so after a nice drive through the beautiful Tuscan countryside, which is truly special, we arrive in Siena. Siena is truly beautiful. Guides abound with advice and suggestions, so I'll skip that part, also because with the short time available we took a walk through the city as far as Piazza del Campo and visited the Duomo, but to really visit it you'd need a few days, so I recommend everyone allow at least a full day just to visit this splendid city.

We get home tired late in the evening. We took lots of photos to remember these 2 wonderful days. Matteo got to know a bit of our beautiful Italy; who knows if he'll remember any of this when he's grown up!!!!