We left Podere Ciona a bit after 10am for Poggibonsi. We made it to our hotel only to be really bummed out. It was not at all what we expected! In fact, our two rooms smelled really bad from the air conditioners. We all laughed and said it was only one night but Antonio is no longer allowed to make us hotel reservations, ha ha. We then jumped in the car and headed to Volterra to kill some time before the show. It is a beautiful city that is walled and very very old. It has the oldest etruscan ruins in Italy. We had lunch and hung out a few hours before heading back to our hotel. When we made it back, our rooms still smelled so I went down and had them move us. Our new rooms were much nicer.
We left for the show in two Mercedes Vans at 6 and arrived an hour later. Our driver, Simona, got us as close as she could but we, and everyone else numbering in the thousands, had to walk a good mile or more to get in. The show started at 9:30pm instead of 8:15. The theme was obviously the circus but it was an Italian opera. Circus performers ran through the crowd to begin the show and then they had everything from horses to elephants on stage in the middle of the Tuscan hills, late at night. The lights and effects were amazing in the Italian night. Andrea rode in one of his majestic horses as it was one of the ones Ty was petting at his house the other day. Lori and I and the boys, along with Allan and Ally from Las Vegas, left a little before it was done to avoid the crowds when the show would end. We made it back by midnight but the rest of our group arrived at 3am!  It was really smart of me to leave early I’d say!
We woke up a little after 7 and headed for Rome. We’re now in the Rome Hilton Airport relaxing debating whether or not to go int0 the city. The kids want to swim, watch movies and order room service. We might just let them do this as we’ve done a lot in two weeks. We’re kind of burned out and are looking forward to getting home to Mojo and our own beds. Part of the charm of Italy is the simple life but there are definitely things you miss about America. It’s great to visit but I do love the good old U.S.A. We’ll take off at 2am Colorado time and be in New Jersey 9 hours later, and then Denver soon after that. Hope everyone is well, GB.