eurobimbo's journey to enlightenment

Offer of the Candles to Saint Margherita of Cortona

Every year Cortona has a medieval reenactment detailing how Cortona celebrated Francesco Casali's marriage to Antonia Salimberi of Siena in 1397.  It also is the Feast of the patron saint of Cortona, Santa Margherita and the town celebrates in full costume in the Piazza Repubblica with drums, horns and presentations from the different families who make up the five sections of Cortona.  Visitors from all over the world come every year to see the thousand year old traditions that have been recreated through processions and ceremonies reenacted in authentic costume as well with musician and flag throwing.  The "Giostra Dell'Archidado", crossbow competition winds up these events that happen over the week long celebration.

Friday - April 29th, 2005

Friday night began the event with a ceremony called "Presentation of the Wax" (Colata Dei Ceri) and consisted of a procession with drums and horns and a vocal and musical performance. 

Since it was quite dark out I was only able to get a few photos showing the ceremonies.

The local families all take part in this event in medieval dress and represent the five sections of Cortona that come to present the wax for the celebration.

I was able to take some great video clips that really give you a feel for the ceremonies and all the drums.  This is a LONG video as I joined all the clips together for one big file, but if you are interested it is almost like being there :)

Click HERE to see the video.

Saturday - April 30th, 2005

Saturday was the "Offering of the Candles to St. Margaret and Benediction of the Archers and the Golden Arrow" again held in the Piazza della Repubblica.

It was quite a procession with many people representing the five sections of Cortona.  In the sunlight you could see the intricacy of the costumes and they were quite beautiful.

The young lady in light blue is our landlady Silvia!  We were quite surprised to see her but just about everyone we knew was involved in the procession, even the lady from our butcher!

There were some amazing flag ceremonies with very skilled people waving and tossing around the flags.

I took a ton of pictures of the entire ceremony and you can view all of them in the "Offering of the Candles" Photo Gallery. You can click on any picture to see the full size version.

The procession continued down Via Nazionale, past our apartment and up to the top of Cortona, to the Chiesa Santa Margherita.

Here we are walking behind the mayor of Cortona (who looks younger than me) a cardinal and the chief of police.  We sure know who to hang with!

Once inside Chiesa Santa Margherita, they painstakingly took the outer panels off the casket of Santa Margherita on the altar so that everyone could view her.  The casket is lined with solid silver and is from the 17th century, though Santa Margherita died in late 1200.

We stayed for a little while, but there was a lot of sitting down and standing up combined with repeated verses we just didn't understand. although there was a nun who sang several songs in the most beautifully clear voice. 

What an interesting day!  There are a few more events this week, including Exhibition of Falconry, Medieval Night and Games with Flags, A Medieval Tradition and then next weekend is the big marriage reenactment celebration and joust of the crossbow.

Keep checking back for updates!  I'm also still catching up my posting, so please click on a link to the left if it looks new!

Chianti Lunch & Epiphany Sunset

We decided to be wild and crazy and take a road trip to the Montepulciano/Pianza area, have lunch somewhere and then let the roads take us at will.  Normally we find if there is a set destination we aren't able to stop for all the interesting discoveries along the way.

We unfortunately kept driving a little too long without finding places to eat.  We soon were in the outskirts of Siena and just stopped at the first place we found which ended up being a buffet style lunch with all locals that wasn't half bad and quite reasonable.

We quickly finished our lunch and headed back to the countryside south of Siena, which is your typical beautiful rolling green hills with villas dotted throughout.

No matter where we go in the countryside, we are always spotting pheasants.  I think it is a crime that they hunt them as I could easily run out and grab one, these birds have no inclination to get out of your way.

Although I'll admit the mate to this one let out such a huge squawk when I got near, I nearly had a heart attack.  Maybe they do know how to fight back.  Keith certainly got a good laugh.

We passed over this tiny little bridge and then headed deep into the countryside.

I have to agree with Keith, it really does look like a windows desktop, except for the man on the horse, maybe it's a John Wayne theme.

We keep seeing fields of a strange plant that sort of grows like a bean plant would, but much thicker.  I sent Keith off for a closer look.

Unfortunately he still couldn't determine what it was, although the flower looks like that of a pea, but it's stalk is thick and it grows unaided.  A mystery for now.

Soon after, sighting number two of the local pheasant population.  This one didn't even try to run away.  You can see why it is a popular local dish.

We finished the drive with a stop at one of the wineries near Montelcino, Col D'Orcia, which has beautiful grounds.

Then, it was time for................

Epiphany Sunset w/Porter Dog!

We brought a bottle of champagne with us by Epiphany that we've been saving forever for a special moment.  We decided to bring it to Italy because the name meant a lot with our new change of life.  We've been so busy we really haven't stopped to take in sunsets from our balcony lately and just hadn't set aside time to enjoy our special wine.

Keith surprised me Friday night, made us a little cheese plate and we stood out on the rooftop terrace watching the golden colors as the sun slowly went down.

It was a gorgeous moment and the epitamy of our epiphany in Italy.  (O.k., so that totally rhymed and I wasn't even trying to!)

This was the color of the sky when we started.......

.....and this was the color when we finished........

We definitely enjoyed the wine and the sunset, Porter pooped out.

A Walk in The Park

I can always complain, but it's really hard when days are so lazy and lovely in Cortona.  I have to admit I almost feel guilty, but then I remember how hard we worked to get here and I don't feel that bad.

We decided to go for a walk by the park below us because Patricia of Pierle had told us that if you walk through the park and past the tennis courts you will see Francis Mayes house from Under the Tuscan Sun (the book, NOT the movie).  I absolutely fell in love with the book, I won't voice my opinion about the movie, but I've always been curious as to what her actual place looks like and if it matches the picture I have in my head after reading the book. It's funny because here everyone is so over her, she has made quite a bit of money on her books and now actually endorses people running for local government and the locals just wish she would quietly live her life.

Anyway, we didn't know the park went on too far, so we decided to check it out on Porter dog's daily walky poo.

We couldn't believe how far this path stretched out!  It literally goes to the east end of the hill Cortona is on.  We never even knew it was there!

The views were spectacular and there were stone benches all along the way with people sitting and enjoying the languid day.

This is one of my favorite little towers which I was able to view at a better vantage point from up above.

We did make it past the tennis courts but had to turn around soon thereafter to get Keith back in time for work.

What a nice surprise, a completely level long roadway in Cortona!

Patricia di Pierle

What a fun day!  I finally met Patricia who is restoring a house in Rocca di Pierle (see previous posts for pictures of the castle).  We met on www.expatsinitaly.com and have corresponded back and forth for a while, planning to meet when she came back to Italy.

After some phone calls back and forth, she decided to come in on the early morning school bus (kids often use the local city buses) and we would hang out, do lunch and then drive her back to Pierle and check out her "scary place desperately in need of restoration". (her words, not mine!)

We met up with Patricia Thursday morning in the Piazza Garibaldi and invited her over for a cafe macchiato from Keith's new Italian cafe machine of machines. (Photos to come soon).  We found Patricia to be a lovely warm lady with many interesting stories and details to share.  She was just as interested in our story as much as we were interested in what brought her to Italy and to buy a place to restore in Rocca di Pierle!

We decided to go down to Il Girasole which is owned by another member from the expatsinitaly website, Alessandra Federici.  Everyone, including Alessandra had been encouraging us to come by to see her, but she is only there in the mornings, which we constantly have a hard time getting out of the house before noon!

Alessandra is a vivacious Italian who speaks perfect (almost too perfect) English.  We were all excitedly talking and keeping her away from constant customers so we decided to all have lunch at our apartment and continue all of the conversations.

Lunch came together quickly and we sat and just blabbed!

Unfortunately this picture came out somewhat blurry, but I wanted to post it since it is the only one I had of this little get together!  We sat and talked and laughed, well Alessandra talked the most :) , for 4 hours!   At the end of it all, Alessandra and I were convinced we had been separated at birth and we all were absolutely stuffed!

Alessandra had to get back to her children and we needed to run Patricia home so that Keith could get back in time for work.  Once in Pierle, Patricia gave us the grand tour of her little place.

Here you can see her place on the left, her door is behind the maroon Fiat, the wall on the right is the side of the castle.

And this is Patricia going through her front door.  Doesn't seem that scary to me!

This is the old fireplace that is currently in the kitchen

Patricia will be changing a lot of the rooms around with her restoration.  I have to admit we really were expecting a run down, falling apart place and even as it was, it was quaint and rustic, but has so much potential!  I can see why she bought it.

This is looking outside to some of her land and olive trees

We now are upstairs looking down at the stairs we came up.

This is Patricia's bedroom.  All of the furniture in the house came with it when she purchased it and had been sitting there for 20 years.  I do believe she had quite a bit of cleaning to do, it all sure looks great now!

This is her little upstairs hallway with a sfuzzo (a very LARGE container for wine) she found downstairs in her cantina.

These are the stairs down to her cantina, from the kitchen level.

This is an old wine de-stemmer, press and vat in her cantina that came with the house.

To the left is her temporary shower, as her current bathroom is a very flimsy add-on sticking out of the first floor.

In another part of the "cantina" which is what we would think of as a basement, is a wine barrel and another sfuzzo ( I know I'm misspelling this word - ma help!).

Here is Patricia exiting out the door of her cantina, getting ready to take us on a little walking tour of her property which has 30 olive trees.

This is a former pig holder, which Patricia hopes to make into an outdoor grilling area some day.  We hope to help her grill :)

Here I am standing just outside Patricia's front door looking up at the Rocca di Pierle castle.  You can see it is very very close to her place.

And this is what the Rocca di Pierle looks like at night.

I have to give Patricia a lot of credit with her bravery in doing this.  She currently has been waiting for her architect to get things together for almost a year, something that can be very common in Italy.  She is hoping Alessandra can help, as she has connections and may be able to speed up the process.

Keith and I thought a lot on the drive home.  What is interesting is that it made it so do-able, after seeing Patricia's place.  It is a lot of hard work, especially as a foreigner here just to make sure you aren't being overcharged or someone isn't giving you a line, even though there still are very many honest hardworking people who do great restoration work.  She already has some complaints about the place, such as barking hunting dogs nearby and some abandoned cars that should be removed.  Just as I have complaints of living next to a crazy neighbor lady and now the former church next door is constantly being worked on.  It really makes you think of all the considerations you should have before taking something on.  But in the end, I do envy Patricia.  And who knows, maybe we'll someday be hiring the crew she used to restore her place. :)

For Something Completely Different...

I just had to share a picture that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, these are my two reasons for being happy:

How could you ever be in a bad mood around this guy?

O.k. I know I am so behind in posting, but we've been running all over the place lately and I haven't been home to post.  Worst of all, now I even have more to post!  It's life in posting hell! 

I'll be posting a storm over the next day or two, so please come back and check out posts if it looks like you haven't clicked on the link.  Hope you'll find something of interest!

Buona note!

Lunch in Asciano

As per the norm now, we took a drive and went to lunch in Asciano, over near the Chianti area, but only about 20 minutes from Cortona.  It, again, was a beautiful day out and perfect for a drive.

We stopped on the way in Farneta to check out an old abby, Abbazia di Farneta we spotted on the way to the superstrada that dates back to the 10th century! (you can click on any picture to enlarge it)

It was in amazing condition and obviously had been restored.  They had several items on display from the original building, including this wall from the house.

This was the base of an old mill

This is a little pathway that leads to the back.

The abbey was founded by the Benedictines in ca. 1000 and then taken over by the Olivetan friars.  There is also a museum here which you can call ahead to request a visit.

It is said to be one of the best Aretine Romanesque examples.

I just wonder, are we in Italy, or is this southern California?  I'm finding it hard to tell the difference in this picture!

Just a mere 20 minutes away from Cortona, towards Asciano, you find this landscape.  Rolling green hills dotted with villas.  Absolutely picturesque and serene.  Keith always has to say, "Where do you want to go today?"

You see many places like this along the road, villas with a cypress tree lined driveway.  Seriously, I am living in a postcard without edges and not a bad place to be.

Finally, we arrived in Asciano, ready for a great lunch!  We parked near this Chiesa and headed into the little city determined to find a fantastic little locanda.

Goal!  We found the Locanda del Ponte del Garbo which had great food at very nice prices and finally a pizza for Keith!  We have found that at lunch time pizzas are hard to find because they normally only fire up the pizza ovens at night.  Amazingly enough this was more gorgonzola pizza than Keith could handle!

Here is my favorite Italian car, the Ape!  To drive one you must be an old gentleman and always wear a cap.  Sometimes you even squeeze your wife in with you but you must always face forward and look very proud.  Many times you must tear around corners just in case there is someone on the other side to jump out of the way, while revving the engine loudly.  On country roads you must stand your ground and insist that all other traffic yield to you.  You are the Ape. 

And soon it was time to leave Asciano. 

On the way back we stopped to look at this travertine marble quarry by the side of the road.

We've read that you can visit the quarry where Michelangelo took his marble from.  I need to find where that is, it would be quite interesting!

Another interesting find on the way back to Cortona, the Castello di San Gimignanello.

It was originally erected as a monastery in 1354, but looks now to be privately owned.

The little church next to it was closed due to theft, which is pretty sad and you have to wonder about someone who would steal from a church in the middle of nowhere.

And that was lunch in Asciano!

Evening at the Teatro

I am jumping ahead of myself since I still haven't caught up posting from last week.  But you all are intelligent people, if there is a link to the left that hasn't been clicked on, then you aren't quite caught up!  And I will be posting more in the next few days to catch up, so please keep coming back to check for more posts! My hope is to have another boring week next week to fully learn the new website and get everything started moving the blog over to that.  ANYway!

We just got back from an evening at the Theater in Cortona.  For the last few days we've noticed signs advertising a free concert put on by musical students featuring classical to modern pieces.  We decided to take advantage of visiting our local beautiful little theater (seriously they should film movies in it because it is a CLASSIC Italian style theater, but small, in perfect condition) and join the locals to listen to the talent.

This is a really yucky shot, but the best I could do with the low light in the theater.

This is the roof, which is the most beautiful color of blue, but a bit blurry in the low light.  You can see the many details though and in the center of the middle round area is a chandelier which is not very apparent in the picture.

Of course there were tons of teenagers and they had a VERY difficult time keeping quiet.  But they were so encouraging of everyone and there really were some great performances, most memorable by the teachers!  Although a group of very popular kids played a Queen song and the guitarist made me think of a young Mattie, he was so good.  Here's a clip from one of the "bands", just click HERE to see the video.

Needless to say this made me reflect on our experience.  I think one thing we are enjoying is being part of a small community.  We recognized a few people we now know from various parts of town.  I used to be part of a small small town and I hated it.  I think the difference now is we focus on all the good things.  All we know is the friendliness of who we have come into contact with, how nice they have been and how they have helped us.  We don't know if they say something behind our back and we certainly don't understand them if they do.  It's like we get to wear rose colored glasses and see all the positive things around us for once, because we just don't know if someone has an attitude or is rude.  I also think we have more time to make an effort to be kind and thank everyone we come into contact with, it literally helps us to speak the local language.  What an amazingly positive result!  I also have ALWAYS found that just attempting to speak the language to someone, instead of spouting off in your own language what you want, receives such a kind response of people WANTING to help you, instead of being done with you as soon as they can.

We left the concert at the break, since Keith had to come back for work. I was able to make a quick stop at La Saletta, the local glitzy enoteca, and have a glass of the Cortona Syrah which is just "OH so good". 

What a life. I sit here, blogging at midnight, with a glass of Rosso di Montelcino and some fresh Parmesan cheese we bought at the Camucia market today.  And NO, I am not worried about gaining weight because I just walked to the Theater and back in my high heeled boots on cobblestones and steep inclines.  My legs are on FIRE.

I think I really am living la dolce vita.  And I really appreciate it.

Firenze / Mercato Centrale

Saturday we took Keith's Mom and Aunt Kathy via train to Firenze!  It only takes just a little over an hour from Camucia.  It was cold, rainy and very nasty out, but we didn't let the bad weather deter us.

We got in just at lunch time and of course we had to go to the same place we had been to 3 years ago for lunch, where Keith had the best bistecca fiorentina two days in a row.  It wasn't far from the train station and was literally at the beginning of the mercato centrale (how convenient), the big market I LOVE to visit winding through the streets of Firenze.

Here is Keith and the steak he's dreamt about for the past 3 years.  This is a closeup of the steak, which is traditionally cooked with olive oil, salt and pepper over an oak fire grill.

Keith had to admit it wasn't as good as he remembered, but we did end up having a bistecca chianina here in Cortona (the same thing basically) which was out of this world.  I think Keith's grilling skills became so great over the years he was making just as good steaks.  We sure do miss our grill!

So the cow that goes into both the fiorentina and chianina bistecca is the Chianina cow.  Apparently they are so finicky if they are upset they will produce bad meat.  They don't like to be with many other cows in their pasture and they also get stressed out if they have more than one person tending to them.  That's what the book said anyway.  I seem to have a lot in common with the cow!

After a wonderful lunch we hit the mercato centrale and our visitors started buying souvenirs.  O.k. so maybe I bought a thing or two as well but I did need some leather belts and that market is the place to find some great ones.  They have clothes, scarves, belts, tons of leather goods, paper goods, etc.  And here you do bargain with the vendors.

We lost Keith's Mom & Aunt Kathy when we stopped to buy belts and finally found them in a leather coat shop!  Funny enough, I ended up walking out with a red patent leather coat I was NOT planning on buying.  It looked too good not to buy and I got a great deal!

The weather was slowly clearing up and we walked towards the Duomo.

Since we weren't able to go into either the Duomo or the Baptistery, I'll post historical info on them at another time when we re-visit.  Unfortunately, it was late and they were just closing, so we continued on, heading towards Piazza Signora.

I couldn't help considering if this was really a religious reenactment or just a comedy like the three stooges.

Seriously, doesn't it look like one guy is getting hit over the head by the other and the angel is laughing?  Well I see it!

There is a gelato store I've frequented for years in Firenze, they have the BEST selection of gelato and always have a particular kind that I love, but is very hard to find.  Normally I traipse all over the little side streets trying to find it.  This time we just literally ran into it and it was VERY good. :)

This is the Piazza Signora where the original David statue used to stand until they replaced it with a copy because it was getting damaged by the elements. 

I love this Piazza, it has been in so many movies and whenever I am there I really feel the essence of being in Italy with the voices of many languages murmuring in the background.

Here's the copy of David statue and the building to the left is the Uffizi museum which houses some amazing pieces of art.  We will soon be returning to hit all the museums, which Keith has never visited and it has been many years since I have been in them.

You know nothing makes a noble lion statue seem silly than a pigeon crapping on his head.  Poor guy, I can relate, hanging out laundry daily to dry is just asking for it from these bomb droppers.

I've always loved this statue of Neptune and it looks even more intense with the lighting from the stormy sky.

We made our way to the Ponte Vecchio, which is the famous bridge you'll see in many postcards and pictures of Florence.

It has a very interesting history.  It used to be occupied by butchers and grocers who would throw their waste into the river below.  It also was occupied by leather makers who would tan the hides in horse urine in the river.  In 1495 the Archduke ordered that only jewelers could be shopkeepers on the bridge and it has been that way to this day.  It was the only bridge in Florence spared by the Germans in 1944.

So this was completely new, I'm not sure what is with all the locks but they were all over this iron fence on the Ponte Vecchio.  I'm sure it is a statement of something, but I'm not sure what.  Anyone know?

Our visitors finally were tuckered out from the walking all over Firenze.  We hopped a train back to Camucia and here is Keith and I just in case you forgot our smiling faces.

By the time we got back we were all tired and hungry and decided to go to La Tufa in Ossaia and have a great dinner, which we did! 

Later, we took Keith's Mom with us to our local Enoteca where they had a DJ spinning tunes as we sipped wine.  I made this stupid video just for Jason, since this is his favorite song and we always think of him when we hear it.  And anyone who has seen the internet video that was going around of the guy hamming it up to another song......well you'll get the similarity.  Or you just won't know what the hell I'm talking about and think I'm nuts!

Hahahahahahahahaaahhhah

Chianti Road Trip

Thursday we got the heck out of Cortona and headed for Chianti!  Keith and I had visited a restaurant 3 years ago in the middle of nowhere and were on a mission to take his Mom and Aunt Kathy there for lunch!

Unfortunately we had a late start, somehow we just always seem to get out of the house later than expected and when four people are trying to use one bathroom with the cruddy shower to get ready, expect delays!

We hit the road determined to make it as far into the Chianti area as possible.  The area is so amazingly beautiful, with rolling hills spotted with vines and olive trees and villas surrounded by green fields.  We finally pulled in to Radda in Chianti at 2:00 p.m. and knew if we didn't find something to eat soon, everything would be closing up.

We found a fantastic little restaurant, La Perla Del Palazzo and had an absolutely scrumptious meal for lunch.

The owner had suggested a local Chianti wine that was made just outside the little town.  We could see the cantina (what they call where they actually make the wine) from the restaurant.

I, of course, had pasta and as you can see, it was AMAZING!

The owner and staff were wonderful, I would HIGHLY recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Radda in Chianti.  We later learned they had only been open for three months, I expect they will be doing great business, I know we will be back!  We were VERY satisfied customers.

We walked around the little city and browsed a few of the shops.  In many of the Italian cities there are places where you can taste some of the local wines.  We stopped at a place that had one of the new tasting machines we had heard about but not seen yet.  They were only using it to measure pours, but there is a new wine bar in San Fransisco that is using them to offer tastes of more than 200 wines, self service!  It was pretty cool and very expensive for the machine (5,000 euro).  A nice addition to any bar, but not ours today!

Keith's Mom and Aunt Kathy found some funky water bottles they really liked and I admit most water bottles here all look the same.

We stopped into the Colle Bereto wine shop, the wine we had with lunch, and the same gentleman who owned the restaurant also owned the little wine tasting bar.  He was very good to us and we left with a few bottles of Colle Bereto, a very nice Chianti Classico Riserva.

Here's a small side view of Radda in Chianti by where we parked the car.

We were close to San Gimignano and decided to go for a visit since it is such a beautiful little town, travelling on winding little roads through the Chianti hills to get there.

This is what the Chianti Classico sign logo looks like when Keith is speeding like a bat out of hell past it.

The countryside looks like what you would see on a postcard, it's almost unbelievable how rustic and charming it is.

Here's Keith's Mom, yelling at him again to slow down on the curves.

IT WAS A JOKE!!!!!  Hahahahah.......that's what you people get for letting me in on the family humor.  HA!

We finally made it to beautiful San Gimignano, a small well preserved medieval town known for its many towers.

The sun was slowly setting and the views of the sky were almost magical.

Apparently 13 of the 76 original towers, built in the 12th and 13th century still are standing.

There are many tiny walkways...................

.........opening up into piazzas throughout the city.

This is Piazza della Cisterna.

Can you tell I'm having a hard time not posting all my pictures?  There were so many great shots, although I have to push my camera a little to take good ones at night.  Of course when Keith gets his high-end Canon he'll be giving me a run for my money, but then again I think this is MY blog. :)

You'll be happy to know that we did finally make it for dinner to the restaurant called La Locanda di Pietracupa in San Donato in Poggio we had visited 3 years ago.  It was just as amazing as ever, I never thought it was possible to have such incredible food twice in one day!  If you are ever in that area, try this place.  It really is in the middle of nowhere but if you are driving through it is such a gem.  It also has a little pensione attached that we plan on visiting with Porter dog on one of these trips.

It was a late night, but we all had very satisfied tummies and slept very very deeply.

Citta di Castello

Well Thursday we hustled and bustled and got everyone out the door in time to just make the tail end of the market in Cortona.  Keith and I loaded up on veggies, cheese and flowers, while his Mom & Aunt Kathy were able to pick up some local products to bring back to California.

We went to one of the many vendors that roasts a whole pig stuffed with spices and garlic and then cuts the meat off in front of you to make a panini (sandwhich).  We brought our panini back to the apartment and proceeded to have a wonderful rooftop terrace lunch.

No one seemed to mind what route we would take, so I decided we should visit Citta di Castello because the name intrigued me and the Blue Guide to Umbria said it was an interesting city to visit.

On a side note, I have found the Blue Guides to be invaluable to me, along with the Rick Steve's Guides to have the best overall information.  The Blue Guide gives you the facts on EVERYTHING in a city, while we have always used Rick Steve's guides for places to stay and eat, as well as local sites you can miss or sites you must see. We use these in conjunction with several maps when driving around, I prefer Insight laminated maps (I tear maps within minutes of opening them), Streetwise laminated maps are a close second, but nothing beats the detail of the Touring Club Italiano maps (NOT laminated) which only cost 7 Euros here in Italy.  This all is purely my preference for someone who has done it a few times and finally found what works, I'm not getting a kick back, yet :)  When I update the weblog to the new server, I will be able to have areas with all my suggestions and what I like to refer to.  One of these days!

So where were we?  Oh yes, going to Citta di Castello.  We decided to go the way of Rocca di Pierle (see previous post for more INFO) since WE found it so impressive.  Sorry, another interjection but can I say that Miss Patricia di Pierle (who I met via www.expatsinitaly.com ) is restoring a place there and we will be getting together with her next week.  I can't WAIT to hear her story!

Of course the Rocca di Pierle was nothing short of impressive, with well earned gasps from our guests as we rounded the corner and got our first view.  We decided to drive closer and have a look at the back side of the castle.

Pretty rustic!

We continued along our route to Citta di Castello and parked in a handy parking lot that had escalators to take you to the public gardens near the Duomo.  Most stores and churches were closed so we decided to have a coffee in the Piazza Matteotti after our long drive.

It was so enjoyable on the Piazza we had a second round, ensuring that we would have more than enough energy for the rest of the day.

The history of this area can be traced as far back as the stone age, although current buildings date back to the late 1400's.

We wandered through town, then found Corso Vittorio Emanuele II where there were many shops open and did a little browsing.  There were some interesting museums but we decided to just walk around the city and visit a few of the churches. 

The Duomo was quite an impressive structure with some great artwork in the chapels inside.

Here is our happy little group on the stairs to the Duomo

I don't think I would visit Citta di Castello again, as there are many prettier cities to visit much closer to Cortona.  The guide book mentioned some museums to visit in Citta di Castello, but we didn't have enough time to go to any.

We headed for home via a remote road through the Umbrian hills descending into Toscana near Castiglion Fiorentino.  I showed off my Italian cooking skills and made a smashing dinner (if I don't say so myself) including a fantastic Veal Vin Santo, which we had with our favorite Cortona Syrah, Il Podere.

But no rest for the wicked, it was up and at them the next morning to Chianti wine country!