Lindsey is leaving today, hopefully.  The plan is to do a bit of a Tuscany tour and then head to Pongobongo for her to catch the train back into Florence.  She has a hotel booked there so she can catch her flight tomorrow morning.  She and I head out to the property to make a Stu deposit in this place.  He was really looking forward to this section of our trip as well.  In the original version of this itinerary, this would be the first time we were hooking up with Greg and Leslie.  These people were the reason he was so looking forward to this villa and Chianti and Tuscany.  There is a beautiful swimming pool here with views out to the rolling hills of this area.  As he loved hanging at a pool and obviously stunning views, we choose this place to leave him, under an olive tree.  It is a very grey morning, but I have confidence that he will often be soaking up the sunshine along with the views.

We head off in the car.  The destination is Volterra.  This also is a medieval fortified hill town.  On the way we take some photos, some from the car, others we stop at a viewpoint for some better views.  The storm clouds are roiling in the distance.  We can see the rain heading towards us.  As we get back into the car the rain just comes pounding down.  It is so hard we can only laugh.

We arrive in Volterra, which is know for it’s alabaster.  It is time for lunch and we find a little brewpub-ish type establishment.  Not long after we sit and order, the clouds open up again!!  We are under a large umbrella, so feel happy to have a covered spot before the deluge hits.  Not long after the seams between two umbrellas spring a leak and lots of water is pouring onto our table.  We move the table away from the little waterfall, but it is cold and wet.  We have ordered food, but it has not been delivered yet, so we make a break for the indoor seating.  A nice dry spot at the back of the restaurant is just what we need just now.  Our food is delivered.  We have ordered burgers here.  They tell us that they are cooked for a very long time at a low heat.  They tell us that the inside may look pink, but not to worry, it is definitely cooked.  This apparently prevents the meat from becoming chewy.

I missed food photos.  I guess we were too hungry.  The weather is very crazy!!  The sun comes out, the rain comes out, repeat, repeat, repeat!!

We are soaked after not seeing too much of Volterra so we start the journey to Pongobongo (Poggibonsi) so that Lindsey can catch the train.  We still drive through unsettled weather, but get her to the train on time.  Safely on the correct platform we leave Lindsey for her trip to Florence and eventually back home.  The cancelled flight messed up plans, but she was able to see this beautiful part of Italy, which she would otherwise have missed.

Back to our villa, we are making a dinner of leftovers with a beautiful fresh crunchy soft loaf of fresh bread.  Can’t beat that!  YUM!!