>>The Codagan Guide they had was of Italy. It described Volterra as gray and gloomy. To me that is a negative. Perhaps I read from a different guide from what you have<<

You did. I have both guides - "all Italy" and "Tuscany & Umbria" also. The descriptions in the two guides are different. The "Italy" description would seem a little more negative. I think the writer got a little too caught up in describing history - "The city itself seems taciturn and grey, brooding on its ancient history". The description in the Tuscany guide is a lot longer, and has no mention of brooding, grey, taciturn, or anything like that. I was once there on a very bleek day, and another time on a spectacularily sunny day when everyone was dining outside for lunch (been there a couple of other times too). I enjoyed it every time.

Stu Dudley