Our tour turned north toward our final destination, Lucca. We stopped in another Tuscan hilltop town, Volterra, which is a 2000 year old Etruscan city.. Here we visited an alabaster showroom and workshop. We watched a craftsman turn a block of alabaster into a thin wall bowl. We were able to make a short visit to their Etruscan Museum which is filled with rare Etruscan artifacts. It was founded in 1732! Roman theater ruins have been discovered and the site excavated here.

Lucca is unique in that it is a well preserved old city with a perfectly intact original city wall that encloses the old part. About 10% of the population lives within the city walls.

From Lucca we bused a short distance to Borgo a Mozzano to see a small museum about the WW II German occupation of the area. Part of the museum is a visit to an original German bunker.

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