On our way to Lucca, we stopped in the hilltown of Volterra, which had been one of the most important Etruscan cities more than 2000 years ago, and much larger than the town we see today. As is common with these hill towns, towers were important in their defense.

Another tower, this one on an old castle in the city.

We were on a more modern mission today, to learn how is gelato is made. One of the masters of the trade is mixing the ingredients for this batch of fresh strawberry gelato. He mixes it with an industrial mixer and then puts the ingredients in a machine

Ten minutes later, we have a fresh batch of strawberry gelato.

We were each given our choice of a gelato from their display case. It was so good that most of us came back later to have more.

It was a fascinating town to walk around in

Volterra is famous for its alabaster and has many shops selling it in various forms. In this shop window one can see how translucent it can be, especially in the dish in the upper right of the photo

Does anyone have other photos of alabaster?

Just outside the wall of Volterra are Roman ruins of about 10 BC. This is the arena.

This is a view of the Roman theater, with some remains of two levels of the stage wall. Behind and to the right there are remains of the Roman baths.

Some final views of the countryside from Volterra.

After an interesting morning in Volterra, we were scheduled to leave for Lucca.