Italy - Last Day in Cecina~

 Courtney & I were excited to tour Cecina.  We called the same taxi service & another driver appeared in minutes to pick us up.  We asked him to take us to the center of town.  Beautiful & low key - our first stop was a coffee shop with outside seating.

From in front of the church~

 Courtney ordered her coffee, I decided to try the fruit smoothie & my latest favorite, a chocolate croissant.  There was no yogurt in the smoothie, but it had a fresh, fruity taste.

Domenico Fountain~

 The town had such a nonchalant feel.  A lady was out in her robe hanging towels to dry right on the square.  A town with a more modern flare, yet with touches of it's ancient history & old world charm.

Store front~

We looked in several shops, I loved the depiction of two horses socializing over a bicycle.  I would have brought it home.

On our walk~

 Courtney had found an archeological dig that looked interesting to tour.  It was fun to walk through the neighborhoods & see the different housing styles, flowers & landscaping.  Pride of ownership was apparent & personal touches were everywhere.

A mail box cover~

 Notice a woman at the reins?  What a wonderful piece of art!  Crosswalks were sometimes in the middle of a block.  The intersections could be tricky with blind turns & underpasses.

Parco Archeologico

We arrived at our destination just before the opening time of 3 p.m.  Soon, the employees arrived & we paid three euros each as the entrance fee.  We were given a sheet with descriptions of the various locations on the property, where the archeologists were excavating the many different features.

Musical Instruments~

The latest of several imposing residences over many centuries, the Villa was probably the least prominent.  Built on a hill that originally overlooked the sea, there were views from the ancient pool.  The top floor open space was being set up for a child's birthday party.  Another source of revenue for the dig.

Back of the Villa~

We walked the entire grounds, such a feeling of history & of a time when the lifestyle here was opulent.

Unearthed plumbing for the ancient pool

As we continued our self-guided tour, we found an open area filled with aged olive trees.  Old, broken, split, cracked & twisted, they none-the-less were covered in olives!  The olive oil here is so very good & so different even from the best brand available at home.

Ripening Olives~

Again using Courtney's map program, we decided that we had time to walk back to the beach.  The goal was to arrive in time for sunset.  On our way, we passed a large old factory with an iron gate & the stone entry walls below.

To the right of the factory gate~

 There are big plans for the factory of weathered brick structures.  Courtney's map program wanted us to cut a block up, but I'd spotted a trail & wanted to see if we could get to it.  On our way - we again found the Terra Cotta factory that we'd passed on our way in yesterday.

Bitossi Terrecotte

The gates were still open & the selection of pottery was out of this world.  Absolutely, anything you could imagine, had to be here.  This business has been family owned & operated for over 100-years.

Acres of pottery~

 We took our time & looked through the yard before going inside.  Shipping anything would have been prohibitive, but I did find a running horse that came home with me.  Even though the shop owner didn't speak English, a picture of Farah told her what I was looking for :-)

From the bridge~

We had a long, straight stretch of road on our walk back.  After crossing the bridge, we came to a round-about where we took the street to the west.  In a short way, it became a trail leading to the trees.

Into the forest~

It was beautiful in the woods, a few trails broke off the main one.  We saw several families out walking & enjoying the warm, late afternoon.

The deep dark woods~

Soon, we turned west.  Taking a trail that lead to the beach - from there we would be able to get our bearings.  We came out just south of where we'd been the night before.

Sunset~

Tonight, there were more clouds & the colors seemed more varied.  The sound of the waves is deeper & of a lower tone than the Pacific.  Whether the salinity, or the warmth, the bubbles flowed in with the waves.

Bubbles~

 We couldn't identify the shore debris that was in spots down the beach.  It looked like chips of wood, with possibly some kind of palm tree bark mixed in.  The brushy material was definitely a plant of somekind.

On the Shore~

The incoming tide made it interesting to experiment with Courtney's crystal photo ball.

The crystal photo ball~

We had to watch that it didn't get washed away.  I loved the way it reflected the bubbles into a rainbow of colors.

Rainbow colors~

An incredible stunning sunset!  Reds & oranges over a blue/black sea.  

Sunset~

 We stood & watched our last sunset over the Tyrrhenian Sea~  Walking back to the little restaurant where we'd had dinner last evening, we were welcomed as old friends.  Dinner was again amazing!

Our route~

As we'd left in the morning, I hadn't turned on my Garmin until we were half-way to town.  At the museum I forgot to turn it back on until we'd crossed the bridge.  Even so, we walked several miles & enjoyed every minute.

Tomorrow, we'd be up early & taking the train back to Venice~