Monterosso
We left the lovely hill town of Volterra, down a very twisty road and on our way to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre. On the way we stopped at Lucca, an ancient walled city, home to Puccini and Paganini. The former moat is now a wide grassy area and the top of the wall is an elevated park filled with cyclists and hikers enjoying the many varieties of trees. We wandered the narrow streets and sampled the local version of ravioli.
We continued to Monterosso, one of the Cinque Terre (five lands), formerly independent states each with their own castle to defend against pirates. Now they are quaint villages clinging to the cliffs above the Ligurian Sea (part of the Mediterranean) and connected by boat, train and, for the intrepid, hiking trails.