Italy Trip 2016 - day two (Cortona)

More on my recent trip to Tuscany...

Day two:  Cortona

Cortona hadn’t originally been on my radar, but two of our party had friends who live there, so we decided to add it to the itinerary.  Boy, am I glad we did!  Cortona is gorgeous! I'll try to give a good account of our day.  To try to make things clearer, my friends' friends will henceforth be known as The Locals.

view from the villa

We got up relatively early and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise behind our lovely villa.  I could take pictures of that view all day, every day.  It was just glorious. A smart gal pal had ordered some baskets of food to be preset in our villas, so we could have a little breakfast before heading out.  Of course, we couldn't make the oven/stovetop work, so I tried toasting bread in the microwave, which didn't really work well.  It made the bread into a cracker instead of toast, but at least it was a little something something to tide me over. The peach jam they left us was really tasty, though! After snacking, we got an early-ish start and drove about two hours in gorgeous scenery, through twisty-turny roads, climbing up up up – luckily, motion sickness did not rear its ugly head, though a little bit of ginger was passed around the car.  I should take a moment to thank my intrepid pals who were brave enough to drive through Italy.  I begged off; even though I felt guilty about it, NO ONE wanted me to drive.  I mean it.  Anyway. Finally, we could see some walls and knew we were getting close to Cortona.

Etruscan walls/gates

Cortona is mainly known to American tourists, I guess, as the city where author Frances Mayes bought her villa and wrote Under the Tuscan Sun.  Thankfully, since we were there in the winter, there weren’t a lot of tourists clogging up the squares and streets, looking for Frances Mayes.  It was nice to have tour guides, aka The Locals, through the city streets (which are pretty hilly, I must say!  My out-of-shape legs took a beating!), and to hear little tidbits from them.  They were really a ton of fun. Cortona is an ancient city, going back to the Etruscans, and we entered through the remaining Etruscan-era gate.  We took a look inside a lovely church, wandered the streets looking at the old family crests still existing on the stone walls, toured The Locals’ spectacular apartment, then went to lunch at Antica Trattoria.

yummy pici

Our host at the restaurant (Luca, maybe?) was charming and very generous with the food.  We thought we had ordered a couple of antipasto plates for the table, but instead each person got their OWN plate of antipasto.  It was amazingly delicious, but boy, was it a lot of food.  The house red wine was also amazingly delicious.  For my main course, I ordered the pici.  I had read that pici is a local pasta specialty, so I wanted to try it.  Again, I’m glad I did!  The pasta was very rich and dense, chewy but not tough.  Apparently, the pasta is rolled by hand and it’s sort of like a very fat spaghetti.  The tomato sauce that came with it was also delicious, very light and elegant, with just enough garlic to enliven it, but not blow out the taste buds.  It was really delicious and I’m so happy I gave it a try.  I will admit I’m a bit of a picky eater, so the fact that I tried something I’d never eaten before is kind of a source of pride.  It helped that it was a pasta, though. 

Le Celle monastery

Lunch was a pretty long affair (there was a lot of laughing and story-telling going on, so who cared how long we were there?!) – once we finished, we were starting to lose sunlight, so we all piled into the rental car and drove out to see more sites:  first, we went to Bramasole, Frances Mayes’ villa.  It’s quite lovely and overlooks an amazing vista.  We didn’t really stay long, we just parked long enough to get some pretty photos.  Then we climbed back into the car (there were eight of us in the car – the six travelers and The Locals - needless to say, it was jam-packed-full) and drove to Le Celle, the monastery that exists outside the walls of Cortona.  Le Celle is an 13^th century Franciscan monastery that extends through many acres.  It sits atop a beautiful stream that we did walk along, though it was pretty dark by the time we got down there.  That's the one thing about going in winter - the sun sets really quickly. I’m sorry I didn’t get better photos of the monastery, and we didn’t get a good look at the chapel because services were going on (though we did get a look at a tiny cell that St. Francis of Assisi may have used), but I did get a nice sense of the expanse and the serenity there.  

interior, Santa Margherita

Back into our clown car we went and we drove to Cortona’s most famous church, Santa Margherita.  Santa Margherita is the patron saint of Cortona - she died in the 13th century and her remains are on display in this church.  Again, we didn’t get to get a really good look at the church because services were going on. I did get a couple of photos, though you can't really see where she is on display behind the altar, darn it. Even Wikipedia doesn't have a good shot.  I don't know what's up with that.  We wandered around the grounds of the church for a bit before climbing once again into the clown car to drive back into Cortona proper.  Well, actually, we found a lot outside of the walls, since inside is a limited non-resident-driving zone.  

photo credit: Gregg Moore

We found a good parking space, walked back into the city, and did some window shopping and regular shopping.  There were a lot of lovely independent shops, with beautiful crafts and artisans making crafts.  There was an amazing store that sold stunning paper products, which I couldn't resist, and I got a lovely piece of pottery at another shop.  My tiles/pottery from my last trip to Italy are some of my most prized possessions, so I was happy to add to the collection.  We all just had a lovely time walking around, browsing, and soaking in the nighttime ambiance of the city.  We didn't want to be driving on those hilly, twisty-turny roads too late, though, so we finally left to make the rather long trek back to Selvetelle (home base).  I would definitely love to go back to Cortona - there were museums there that looked fascinating but there wasn't time to explore, and I'd love to see the monastery during the day.  It's always good to be left wanting more, I guess. But for now, back to the villa to get some rest before our next trek: a winery tour, an unplanned detour and then Siena...

photo credit: Gregg Moore

Italy Trip 2016 - day one (Pisa)

We'll see how much of this amazing trip I can actually remember.  Jet lag, you know...

Day one:  Pisa

view from the back row

If you've been reading my blog (and I hope you have), you know that I haven't been back to Italy since the game-show-winnings trip in 2007, but I have been longing to go back. This trip has been in the planning stages since February, and when departure day finally arrived, it almost seemed as if it came too quickly. Was I ready? Would I be able to handle all the walking?  Did I pack well?  Last time I went, I packed a big duffel bag and was miserable dragging it around, so this time I stuffed everything into my small carry-on. You have no idea what a hardship this was for me.  I did a bit of worrying about, well, everything, then I told myself to shut the f- up.  I was going to Italy!!! So...here we go.  After taking a harrowing car service ride to JFK, having to go back and forth from security to the ticket counter because the machines couldn’t scan our tickets, and eating a very tasty snack at an airport wine bar, we (five pals and me) finally got onto a Virgin Atlantic flight to London.  Virgin Atlantic is AWESOME!  It seems like they bring you food every five minutes, which is nice.  And we each had individual screens for movie watching – I watched a documentary on Serena Williams, Zootopia and…something else that I can’t remember at this moment.  We were in the back row, which normally I don't enjoy that much, but we had plenty of room behind us to recline our seats, if we wanted to.

hey, that's London!

The flight over the ocean had quite a bit of turbulence, so we were stuck in our seats for most of the flight, which always makes me nervous.  I like to walk around a little bit, especially during such long flights.  But we made it there in one piece.  We had a bit of a layover in Heathrow, which was mainly spent standing in line to get our passports stamped and re-claiming checked bags, but we finally got on our British Airways flight to Pisa.

After another easy flight, we finally landed in Italy.  All the months of planning, waiting and dreaming were finally over.  The trip through customs at the Pisa airport took only a few minutes (the customs agent was just not having it; she dismissively looked at passports for a second, then, with an Italian snarl, whacked down the stamp.  you can barely see it on my passport), then we were off to pick up our rental car.  It was quite a comedy show, trying to figure out how the car worked and how the GPS worked, but once we got going, we decided to head right to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Why wait?!  We took a couple of wrong turns, but finally found a nice parking lot near the Campo di Miracoli, or Field of Miracles.  

You know, I’ve seen pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa my entire life and thought, ‘that’s cool,’ but it was never a bucket list/must see kind of thing. Seeing it in person is a whole other experience.  We arrived as the sun was setting, so the sky was glorious, and looking at the tower, from every angle, was simply magical.  The white stone just glows and the detailing over each inch of each level was stunning.  I admit it, I got a little teary at how beautiful it was.  I wasn’t up for climbing to the top, but my friends were.  We got there right before the last grouping could go into the Tower, so my friends opted to do that, and I went to the Camposanto (the cemetery).  That structure, which was begun in the 13^th century, is also quite beautiful.  They say that the earth that lies in the middle of the U-shaped building is from the Holy Land.  There are a lot of beautiful tombs inside the Camposanto, alongside the remains of frescoes, a room of holy relics, and an area where they’re doing restorations.  I was interested to see Fibonacci is interred there - don't ask me how I remembered his name.  I knew he had something to do with math, but that's about it.  I felt smart for about a minute, until I realized I didn't remember WHY his math was famous (I looked him up on Wikipedia - aha!).  Anyway, the Camposanto was truly lovely inside and I was happy to spend a solitary hour there, looking around at my leisure.  I was pretty much the only person there, except for a family with some screaming kids who kept running back and forth. Sigh.

After my friends finished their climb of the Tower (check out one of the spectacular photos below), we went into the gift shop and got some souvenirs (yes, I bought a Leaning Tower of Pisa/Santa Christmas ornament, so?!), then set out to find a place for dinner.  We walked past a couple of touristy places right by the Field of Miracles, then stopped at Bar 62.  It was relatively touristy as well, but by this time we were starving.  I got the calzone Toscana, which was a delicious (and enormous) calzone with mozzarella and Tuscan salami.  Delicious (and enormous).

We enjoyed a leisurely dinner, then walked back to the car to begin our drive to the villa where we’d be staying for the week.  The GPS was out of its mind and kept wanting us to go back to Pisa (“turn back” became a familiar refrain through the whole trip).  Thankfully, a beautiful gal pal’s cell phone was working and those directions were easy and perfect.  After about a 45-minute drive, we arrived at Borgo alle Vigne, the Hilton Grand Vacations Club resort we were staying at.  I can’t even say how grateful I am that we could use another beautiful gal pal’s club points to be able to stay at this gorgeous resort FOR FREE.

The concierge was very handsome, and very charming, and he showed us around the place.  We had two two-bedroom villas, so the boys stayed in one villa and the girls stayed in the other.  The boys had a larger dining room, so it became our after-hours lounge, where we would drink wine and go over the next day’s plans.  Considering that none of us had slept in more than 24 hours, I was surprised we didn’t go right to sleep as soon as we got to the villa.  I guess we were all too excited.  But, speaking for myself, once I finally got to that very nice bed, I was OUT, but woke up early-ish to start our first full day in Tuscany.  First stop:  Cortona.  Stay tuned...

view from top of Leaning Tower (photo credit: Gregg Moore)

Italy Trip 2016 - basic stats

Wow, no one told me that jet lag would be even more of a beast as you get older.  My brain is still mush.  I'm hoping that dissolves soon.  I've actually got a busy work week ahead, so we'll see how many trip reports I can actually accomplish.  But I'll get them to you eventually.  I only have a few shows coming up, so my brain can still be filled with my amazing memories of Italy.  But, to whet your appetite (hopefully), here are some stats from our trip - just some silly numbers that bring a smile to my face and maybe they will bring a smile to yours... : )




OUR 2016 ITALIAN VACATION - stats

# of steps taken (according to iPhone):  142,776
# of stair flights climbed (according to iPhone):  101
# of miles walked (according to iPhone):  59.8
# of miles driven (according to Google):  736
# of miles driven (adjusted for hills, roundabouts and vista stops):  73,600
# of towns visited:  10
# of bridges crossed in Venice:  about a thousand
# of roundabouts driven around:  about two million
# of hookers standing around roundabouts:  2
# of tunnels driven through:  37
# of photos taken by Tari:  2042 (on the iPhone), 206 (on the borrowed camera)
# of group selfies:  18 (give or take)
# of days prosciutto was eaten:  7
# of pizzas eaten:  3
# of times we bought bread from the gorgeous bread guy:  only 3
# of winery tours:  2
# of wine bottles consumed:  uh…20?  30?  It was a lot.
# of times a guy next to us spilled wine at the airport:  1
# of times Tari cleaned up that wine because guy was too drunk:  1
# of times that guy sat next to Jamie on the plane: 1
# of trips to ATMs:  3
# of animals we narrowly missed hitting with the rental car:  3 (deer, hedgehog, cat)
# of giant worms that were as big as a stick:  1
# of rock sculptures constructed:  1
# of cemeteries visited:  2
# of first-century holy remains viewed:  1 (from 304 AD!)
# of cooking lessons: 1
# of hours of cooking lesson:  6
# of times Tari went to the men’s room by accident:  3
# of toilets, uh, broken:  2
# of pairs of shoes purchased:  4
# of pugs sighted:  2
# of Pinocchio sightings:  500
# of Pinocchios purchased by Tari:  1
# of Keith Haring murals viewed:  1
# of contraband handbags smuggled onto plane:  1
# of working clothes dryers found:  0
# of times unmentionables were dried with blow dryer:  2
# of times the tv was turned on:  0
Transportation taken:    1 bus, 1 rental car, 1 gondola, 2 taxis, 4 speed boats, 4 trains, 4 planes

one of the previously-mentioned group selfies

previously mentioned first-century holy remains (photo from Wikipedia)

previously mentioned gorgeous bread guy

Trip of a Lifetime

I'm back!  The trip went much too quickly, but, needless to say, a great time was had by all. I did try to blog from Italy, but my internet/cell phone issues were just too much for me to handle.  I'm currently putting together posts for each city, along with a summary of the trip, but for now, please enjoy one photo from each day of the trip.  As you can see, Tuscany was more beautiful than I could even imagine...