We woke up to dark skies in Rome and were elated as we were leaving the bad weather and also that we had awesome travel weather… Cool, little breeze and no chance of sunburn.
Craig and I were tired of the taxi drivers taking advantage, so we jotted down the directions from the ever-trustful google maps, and decided that we would walk the 2km to our hotel.
We arrived in Cortona and passed all the taxi drivers (giving my ‘best leave me alone’ stink eyes) as we started walking. After about 500m the rain started drizzling and before we knew it we stopped at a coffee stop/petrol station for shelter until it cleared, even just a little.
20 minutes later we took the gap and attempted the next 1.5km. After 200m the rain became harder and we had no option but to ‘leg’ it and find our hotel.
We reached the hotel after a few wrong turns, as usual, me all drenched and miserable from the experience, it was going to take A LOT for me to be impressed with my first taste of Tuscany.
Alas impressed cant begin to describe waking up to the cheerful yellow sun, blue skies and fields of green, gold and sheer excellence of Tuscany
A later start than expected as Craig struggled to sleep the night before, apparently its from drinking beer at night (we should all remember this one), and with 30 minutes left before the breakfast patio would close, I woke Craig so that we could scurry to grab some brekkie for the day.
Tummies full, but hungry with eagerness to see this little gem, we walked to the nearest bus station and waited for the hourly bus which would take us up the mountain to Cortona.
Ah, Cortona….. Sounds like something out of a movie, doesn’t it.
In fact, this little town is the setting for the famous movie, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ and the reason Craig brought me here. I was a little apprehensive coming here because of a movie (you know how they exaggerate and play with visuals) but the honest truth is that there is so much more to this place that the movie didn’t even touch on.
The bus climbed the narrow road passing beautiful fields and cathedrals before dropping us off at the main square and inserting new energy in us to explore. We ambled through the little alleys; under the Tuscan flags strung from the windows and balconies above and walked into the little art exhibitions where we could see a ‘free art exhibition’ sign.
Craig screened the menus of the cafes as we strolled by and even made friends with 2 Bassett Hound pups slobbering with the aromas’ of oregano, pizza, pasta, garlic and fresh bakeries.
We sat on the steps observing the people and smacking a lemon and apple snack.
As we continued to ‘feast our eyes’ on the scenery, we walked to a big Church at the end of a small street lined with huge trees. We followed the path and were spoiled with a view of note. Its in times like this that I realize that there is no chance that I will be able to take the camera out of Craig’s hands as he sets off to capture what he can of the incredible scene.
Italians have a very different work ethic to anywhere that we have experienced. ALL stores, cafes and restaurants close their doors at 2pm sharp and only open again some hours later, so at 13:50 we snuck into a little spot and managed to get the last meal out before their kitchen closed. Tired of Pizza, we decided to try the pasta at a more reasonable price. What a great idea it was.
A bowl of pasta pockets filled with meat and cream cheese covered in creamy sauce. No need for any salt or pepper, the flavours were to die for and we used the bread to lap up all the remaining sauce in the bowl.
FYI: Craig guzzled it down with a beer, no thought of whether he would sleep that night or not.
Unfortunately we had to race back to the bus to catch the last one as like everything Italian, the buses don’t run until 19h00 that night. We got on the bus and got off a few stops early in an attempt to find a DVD store and rent “Under the Tuscan Sun’. After an hour wait for the DVD store to reopen we left unsuccessful as we spoke no Italian and he spoke no English.
Today we woke up and went for a very much-needed jog, threw back some muesli, croissants and yoghurt and scampered around town in search for a Laundromat. 1.5 hours and 15 Euro later, Craig was thrilled with his bag of freshly smelling, clean clothes and we hopped onto the train, and Florence bound.
Its going to be a hectic couple of days with so many things to see and not sure if we can manage it all, but we are going to ‘give it horns’ and try to see as much as possible. So we literally arrived in Florence central station, got onto our connecting train taking us back out into the ‘Bundus’ to our hotel to drop bags off and straight back to Florence.
We arrived back in Florence at about 16h45 where we roamed aimlessly, not knowing what to see or a map to follow. Craig and I headed towards the bustle of people and ran into beautiful cathedrals made of marble, piazza’s packed with people loving the decadent gelatos and a river with men and boys rowing and preparing for what looks like a regatta. With the sun slowly setting in the distance, we kept walking and after taking a couple of pictures of the statue of David, we made our way to the famous bridge of expensive jewelry where we took a stroll grabbed a pizza and soaked up as much of Florence as we could before heading back to Monte Catino to catch up with the dashing Mr Clint Armour who is travelling these parts too
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