eurobimbo's journey to enlightenment

Paulette & Friends

I've been getting quite a bit of email inquiries about Cortona, now that I am an expert. (not!)  I try to answer every email and give people as much info as I can.  Paulette was someone who I emailed back and forth with and was able to give her a lot of helpful information from looking up train schedules online to a map of Cortona so she could see where she was staying.

Paulette was kind enough to invite Keith and I to lunch with her and her cousins to thank us for all of the information.  We love meeting fellow travelors and gladly took her up on the invitation.

Paulette and her cousins were renting a house at the beginning of Via Guelfa, right on the city wall.  We had a great time getting to know them and having lunch out on their balcony.

The New Site is Sort of Up!

I have my first post up on the new website!  Click HERE to see the new site.  Please, please, please bear with me as I try to get everything up and running which is going to take me a couple weeks, at least.  I'm so behind in posting!  I'm also in the middle of making all of the menu items and links, so it really is HEAVILY under construction.  My goal is to put up a post from the last 2 weeks every day, so please bookmark the new site!  For all of you subscribed, I will be switching over your subscription emails to the new site and you will be notified of each and every new post, as soon as that is completed.  Thanks for your patience and again for all your fantastic comments!

We will be in Southern California after June 15th for a little lavoro (work) so the month we are gone I am taking to work hard on the new site.  Soon it will be so new and improved you won't believe you put up with the old one.  Really!  A piu tarde!

This is a Test of the Emergency Broadcasting System.....

I AM UNDER CONSTRUCTION! 

No, I haven't taken time out for plastic surgery, I just got really busy between Sandy leaving, Keith returning, going to Venezia for our anniversary, getting sick when coming back, and trying to get my new website up and running!  Seriously, I have been a busy girl!

I will be linking to the new website over the next few days when I work out some bugs and can actually post!  Thankfully I have all my blogs written, I just need to upload the pics that go with them and save them on the new site.  In June we will return to California for a month to get our long stay visa (with help from a super duper insider friend we now have), and I plan on getting the new site all finished and the past blogs all copied over.  It will be so new and improved with so much info you just won't know what to do with yourselves. Even more improved will be my control over the email notification of new blog posts, woohoo!  Right now I am subject to someone else's software that doesn't work all the time.

I also want to mention that I am getting over 500 hits a week on the blog!  For someone who isn't really advertising, I say that isn't too bad.  I get at least 5 emails a week from strangers who have happened along my blog and want to share their story or need some advice on coming to Italy.  I really do my best to answer all emails (sometimes a little slowly) and questions if I can.  I've had the opportunity to even meet people I've helped and now have some new friends.  Thank you everyone for ALL the incredibly kind comments, I know I'm no literary genius, but I'm trying to write from the heart and really evoke the image of our everyday life here in Italy.

Enough said, back to the slavery of trying to get this new site up and running.  If the computer doesn't get thrown over the side of the hill, there may be a new and improved site listed here soon..............

Sandy Does Lunch in Siena

Friday we contacted Indah and Mentha and decided to meet them for lunch in Siena.  Alfredo, our new friend in Rapolano Terme tried to tempt us to come to his place for lunch but then decided Saturday would be much better.

After driving around the city a few times completely lost and trying to figure out where the closest parking lot to Piazza Il Campo was, I finally just got as close as I though I could and parked at Santa Caterina, which ended up being quite close but a hike up a steep road to the center.

We had lunch at a place Indah suggested and had a great time talking in between getting interrupted by the waiters who had all decided to take a special interest in entertaining us.

Indah and Mentha took us to an English language bookstore that they frequent in Siena called BookShop.  A great place to choose from a variety of books all in English.

Sandy, looking fabulous as always, joined me for some hard core shopping and browsing of all the Italian goods.

I made sure to have Sandy take the classic picture in Siena in front of Il Campo, the main piazza in Siena.

We shopped till we dropped, or I made Sandy just about drop with my excitement of shopping, and headed for home.  What a fun day with the girls!

Sandy Visits Montepulciano

Thursday was a beautiful day and we decided to take full advantage of it by visiting the Camucia market.

We had to come back to Cortona to deposit our purchases of fruit and vegetables but parking has become an incredible nuisance with the filming crew that has taken over the town.  Sandy was kind enough to offer to walk Porter while I waited for her in Piazza Garibaldi.  Here's actual proof!

I wanted Sandy to get a feel for the Tuscan countryside that I love, the area near Montepulciano and a bit north and west.  As we drove towards Pienza, I made an executive decision and stopped at an interesting place Keith and I had always seen and admired from the road.

We soon came to discover that this was Palazzo Massaini, built in the late 13th century on the ruins of a previous castle.

We wandered around the grounds, waiting for the tasting room to open.  Yes, that is correct, they also make their own wine (which is just so-so).

Palazzo Massaini is also an agriturismo and offers farm holidays on the abundant estate.

Sandy and I were amazed by the property which was so picturesque and every archway was another excuse to pull out the camera.

Sandy was charmed by the countryside and couldn't believe the amazing views of the area.

This area isn't only pretty to look at, they also make an incredible wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, one of my favorites.  Palazzo Massaini had a few Chianti wines and some Tuscan blends but nothing that was incredible.  I still really enjoyed the "rusticness" of the agriturismo.

There were some great door handles on very ancient doors on the property to add to my collection:

Here you can see Pienza (where they make Pecorino cheese) in the background and the beautiful rolling green hills of the Montepulciano/Pienza area.

We walked around the luscious gardens of the property where there was many statues but both Sandy and I felt some sort of pull towards this mermaid.  We think it must be her smile.

After our fun drive, we high tailed it back to Cortona for our very special appointment!  A date with David at the hairdresser shop "Nuccio"! 

 

I guess you all will just have to wait to see the results!

Sandy Tours Cortona!

NEWSFLASH:  Please check out some newly added posts;

Sandy Has Arrived!

Bye Bye Keith

San Sano Lunch (scroll down to Saturday, April 23, 2005 post)

Lunch in Asciano (scroll down to Saturday, April 26, 2005 post)

I woke up this morning to rain, rain and more rain.  Not exactly the nicest weather to impress your friends with.  But no real need to impress your friends too quickly when they sleep until 2:00 in the afternoon.  Yes, that's correct, Sandy had 18 hours of well needed sleep!  For someone who has sleeping problems I feel so satisfied that she caught up on it all out my house!

We went for a little walk around Cortona and Sandy had her first gelato at our special little place.  Mmmm.....good!  Today I had pesca (peach), and yogurt.  Fantastic as always, I think it really is the best gelato in all of Italy.

We skirted around the movie crew who were blocking most of Via Nazionale and viewed Piazza Signorelli.

It was so fun to experience Sandy's first impressions of Italy.  She is loving everything and is totally amazed by all of the old buildings and churches.  It's like being able to see everything for the first time again to see it through her eyes.



She was captured by the hills surrounding Cortona and green countryside. After a couple attempts we finally got in a good self portrait.


Martha and Ben, a couple we met via www.expatsinitaly.com website and at a get together last weekend gave us a call and invited us to dinner in Castiglion Fiorentino at a restaurant Martha had described where you can see this amazing sunset image against a church nearby.  We gladly accepted the invite which also included picking us up here in Cortona.

It continued to rain in Castiglion Fiorentino but Sandy was able to look completely fashionable nonetheless.


Isn't she the cutest?  I am just so proud of her for just being willing to come check out Italy and visit me.

After a bit of detective work we finally found the little Vicolo the restaurant was located at.

There was a bit of a wait, so we had a chance to get just the perfect picture of the church in question although unfortunately there was no setting sun to turn the building into an array of golden colors.




The restaurant was good and we had a blast watching Ben struggle to open the bottle of Lambrusco Sandy and I had ordered.  It was so rough even a gentleman from the table next to us offered to help, but Ben was determined to open it, and upon being informed his secondo plate was no longer available, he finally popped out the cork.


We received a lot of stares from everyone for being the stranieri we are, but we smiled and laughed and had a great time.

I decided I needed to try to be in more of my own pictures, which really mean I need to be able to take the perfect self portrait.


I probably need a little more practice.

And here is our happy group!  Thanks Ben and Martha!

Sandy Has Arrived!

Well, Keith left to go to California for work for a week and one of my dear friends, Sandy came to visit while he is gone!

After spending the last two months constantly together, it was a little daunting to be on my own.  I was actually a bit anxious about driving and even getting gas.  I did practice the driving enough to feel comfortable (they are a bit more aggressive here), but we always have a struggle using the self serve gas machines, apparently all Italians do.  Although that makes me feel better, it doesn't help me!  I felt like I conquered the world yesterday after I drove home from taking Keith to the airport and forced myself to get gas off the A-1.  I did it successfully and felt I could do anything after that!  Boohoo, one small step for Tania!

Sandy has never been out of the country and I am so jazzed that she made the effort to come all this way to visit me.  I give her kudos for having an open mind and being willing to experience something so far from the normal American life!

I made an executive decision and took the train in to Florence, and a bus to the airport, since it took me over 2 hours to get Keith to the airport yesterday morning due to construction on the A-1.  It was quite easy and I was so excited to finally see Sandy!


She was definitely excited to finally be here, after her lengthy flight and I could tell how dead tired she was. 

I was so excited when we finally got back to Camucia and started the drive up to Cortona and she started saying constantly, "this is amazing, this is so beautiful".  It was even pouring rain and not the beautiful countryside it normally is, but I can't wait to show it to her in the sun!

After a shower and dinner, Sandy finally collapsed and I can't wait to show her around Cotton in the morning!

Bye Bye Keith!

Keith is hitting the road and heading back to California for a week of work, work and more work!

It was so beautiful out we went for a little drive and had lunch at Gulliver's, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere near the border of Umbria and a place we probably won't be able to find again.


On our little drive somewhere near Umbria and Toscana, we saw the Orient Express!  I didn't realize what a rare siting it was until I told Keith I had always wanted to take that train someday and looked up their web site.  As unique as it might be, it costs 545 Euro to go from Rome to Venice!  Seriously!  The train only runs several times a year and I'm excited I was able to see it, but I don't think I'll be traveling anytime soon.

We headed home and found that once again, on a Sunday afternoon, our little city of Cortona is flooded with people!  These two were painting on the ledge just below us and were quite good!


This is the view of what they were actually painting.  They stayed there for over four hours!








It was still a gorgeous afternoon for a walk and Keith wanted to take in as much of Cortona as he could before leaving.  Here was another religious shrine we spotted along the way.











I found this lovely gravel road on the west side of Cortona that just leads deep into the countryside with beautiful vistas.












This was a strange little shrine, located next to a tree in the grass.










Here's the lovely Santa Maria Novella at dusk.   Quietly majestic.







And this, well this would be the suitcase Keith packed for his trip.  He wanted to be sure everyone, especially a very special suocere knew how much space the box that carried their mother's day gift took up :) 

ExpatsinItaly 1st Cortona GTG!

Saturday Cortona was host to the 1st official www.expatsinitaly.com Cortona get together!  We all met up at La Saletta for a glass of wine and had a great turn out.

Here you can see, from left to right, Alex & Michael Shaun w/ their two daughters, Alessandra, Alfredo, Pietro and Patricia di Pierle.

This is Greer, Tara, Mentha and Dan.

                         

And here is one of all of us at La Saletta

For those who could stay longer, we moved the party over to our apartment for a potluck lunch.  Here's what the spread looked like AFTER we all dug in.

Ben, who was visiting the area with his wife Martha and was behind organizing this event, was kind enough to bring fun goodies to pass out to everyone.

Everyone was busy chatting in different parts of the house.  Notice the "men's only" section on the balcony?

Thanks to everybody for helping out and bringing food!  It was a great meal and we really enjoyed getting to know everyone, how fantastic that we all live so close by!  We look forward to seeing all of you again soon in the future.

Giostra dell'Archidado!

Happy Mother's Day, Ma!

Finally it was the last day of the city of Cortona's festival, the Joust of the Archidado (Crossbow)!

But before the joust, we wanted to go for a little drive in the countryside for some fresh air and a change of scenery.  We visited the area at the bottom of the hills of Cortona and tried taking every little bitty road we could find, to see what lay at the end.

Along all of the roadsides and even attached to houses you find these religious shrines, or as I like to call, "God spots".  Each are differently decorated and feature a different saint, but all are very beautiful in their own little way and many always have fresh flowers.

My new website will have Photo Galleries and one I plan on having will just be religious shrines we have spotted here in Cortona and driving around.

Here is another....

We found a road that took us to a little old Abbey hidden away in the hills.  I'm not sure if it was still being used, but the building attached to it was definitely lived in.  These are the old doors to the entrance with so much character and weathering in the wood.

This was a very interesting God spot/religious shrine, a carved one.  It looks very old but only dated back to the 1800's.

As we were traveling along the little road we both spotted a little birdie that didn't move or try to get out of the way as we went by.  So of course, I had Keith stop and went to see what was up with the bird.  The stupid little bird didn't even flinch as I picked it up and just continued to chirp.  Then he proceeded to start falling asleep on my hand.

He was so cute, and would peep every few minutes as he was slowly falling asleep.  He didn't seem to be hurt and I check his wings but they were also o.k.

He didn't want to drink any water, but was content with sleeping.  I knew it was a bad idea to go with my instinct, which was to take him home and nurse him, since I didn't have anything to give him and the pet stores were closed.  So I found a branch for him to sit on, which he grabbed with his tiny feet and was able to balance himself on it, and hoped that he would soon recover and be off to join his friends.  Isn't he just a cutie?  If I don't say so myself, this picture came out quite well :)

As we drove up another little country lane, we spotted this church that seemed to no longer be used but privately owned (as many around here are).

I like this shrine, they were using an Illy coffee can to hold the flowers. Perhaps it is the shrine to S. Illy.  Maybe I'll have to leave some flowers to ensure that Keith will always make good Illy coffee with his machine.

This one was in the side wall of someones house we were driving by.

These are the beautiful red poppies that you see growing wild all over the countryside that are in full bloom.

GIOSTRA DELL'ARCHIDADO

Finally, it was time for the Crossbow Competition of the Archidado, the final event of the week taking place in Piazza Signorelli.

The entire city was decorated with all of the flags of the five divisions of the city, all who were competing against each other in the crossbow event.

The master of ceremonies presided over the events and was flanked by his guards.

The procession was led by the usual horns and drum show, and then the first to arrive was the section of San Andrea.....

..... and their archers soon followed, notice the very young archer on this team!

The next section to arrive was our sector, San Marco Poggio!

 

... and here where their archers, one of which was the first woman archer ever to be part of the competition.

The next section to arrive was Peccioberardi.......

....along with their archers

Next was San Vincenzo with their archers.....

And last but not least was Santa Maria.  What is funny is that this is one of the more handsome men who is part of the event and every time I take a picture of him it comes out blurry.  Sorry girls.

The royalty (all part of the event, not real royalty), were seated at the special place reserved for them to observe the games.

Then they began with, guess what, games with flags!  You can click HERE to see the video of their quite skilled flag event.

The next demonstration was sword fighting, which was very artfully done.

Then, finally, the crossbow competition began!  Each of the five sections of the city had two archers competing for them.

The target consisted of the white middle part with 4 rings, the middle portion being a "4".

After each round, they would tally the score and then each of the other archers who hadn't gone would begin.

The scoring would require a representative from each of the five sections to watch over the official judges who would decide on each arrow.

Finally, and with great skill from every player, the game was called.  San Andrea had one again for the second year in a row!

They celebrated with a victory parade through the streets ending in Piazza Garibaldi, just below our apartment.

Woohoo!

We then went to dinner with our wonderful landlady Silvia and her boyfriend at La Locanda nel Loggiato.  Silvia had kindly invited us out and we had a great time chatting and just getting to know each other better.