On our way to Rome we travelled through the hill towns of Italy.

We head to Volterra, land of  vampires……well, if there are vamps they are not interested in tourists from Texas.  Walking through Volterra, we stopped by the alabaster shops, visited the enormous baptismal domuo, and bought garlic bread sticks from a local pizzeria (maybe that’s why the vamps avoided us).

From Volterra we drove through gorgeous hills spotted with vineyards and farms before reaching Pienza.  Set atop a hill, Pienza is beautiful!  The streets look whimsical. Curvy roads, charming shops, lampposts, and huge baskets of flowers are everywhere.  Circling the town is a road which takes you to the hilltop of Pienza and gives you a magnificent view of the countryside.

Walking Pienza

Atop Pienza

For lunch we stopped at a local meat and cheese shop and ordered some loaded prosciutto and salami sandwiches.

Meat and Cheese shop

Lunch time

After eating we headed off to Assisi for the night.  We arrived at Assisi, the home of St. Francis,  just as the sun was setting.  St. Francis gifted us with the most amazing view as we circled uphill to the town. It was getting dark and we secured a campsite, parked the car in town, and walked to dinner.  Assisi becomes magical at night, like most Italian hill towns the roads are steep, windy, and lit by lampposts, which makes the streets especially charming. We found a restaurant called Locanda del Podesta, and the lamb chops were absolutely fantastic!

So good in fact, that we wanted to come back the next day…but they told us they would be closed. 😦