Italy Trip Home Page
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ITALY
Page 3
Wednesday, September 24
Well, it was time to leave Rome and head out to the Tuscan countryside. We cabbed it to the train station and rented our vehicle
which turned out to be a pretty nice little Volvo wagon with a scrape. We took a couple photos as evidence and took off for Orvieto.
We had some intermittent rain, but no downpours and except for a minor miscue heading out of Rome, no problems. Google Maps on an iPhone equipped with an Italian SIM card worked quite well
The countryside looking from the walls of Orvieto
The Gate
Mike, Deb and Lorri on a damp street
I guess Orvieto is divided into quarters. Maybe each quarter has a soccer team and they play each other on Sundays.
Notice the Madonna
A damp street
It's interesting how the weather can affect the mood of everything.
Looks like the sun is shining at the end of the alley
We didn't go to the free exhibit. The poster was too scary.
No light at the end of this alley.
Ah, here is some color! Painted ceramics for which Orvieto is famous.
More Color
It's also famous for its Duomo, parts of which date from the 1300's
Very impressive structure for a small town on a hill
A closer look at the facade
This is what Orvieto is also famous for!
We enjoyed sharing a bottle in a cozy little wine bar
We may have even bought some for our stay in Cortona!
One of the many shops on the Piazza
Who needs to buy stuff when you can bring home the photos?
We toured and shopped
What's wrong with my legs?
Heading down
This was a great little leather shop where I bought a belt and Debbie bought some gifts. And there's the wine we bought!
On to Cortona!
With luck, we found the house, which is a couple miles outside of Cortona on a little hillside with great views.
It was starting to clear up in the late afternoon
That's Cortona in the distance along the ridge
Looking out over the valley
The house
The olive grove
Debbie among the olive trees.
After settling in, we went back to the "Coop" for dinner supplies like wine and food. Pork chops? I don't remember.
Thursday, September 25
Our first full day in the Cortona House, we went to the farmers market in Carmucia, a small town near Cortona, and bought ingredients for dinner. Later we drove into Cortona and spent the afternoon shopping, eating, sight-seeing, drinking wine, the usual.
The day dawned bright and sunny with a little left over low-lying fog
We had to get outside with our coffee and explore
This is Lorri exploring. That's me reflected in the windows!
Beautiful!
The house
In back of the house looking west
In back of the house with Mike looking north
This is the farmers' market in Carmucia.
We found most produce and grocery items to be very reasonably priced
Deb stopped for a cappuccino and croissant
The Cheese Guy
After depositing the morning's food purchases back at the ranch, we headed to the nearby hill town of Cortona
It's a very nice, cozy, picturesque little town.
So we did a wine tasting
The wine-tasting enoteca
Even the steep little alleys were nice
It almost makes you want to take a rest and have a glass of wine
Looking outside the city walls
Another selfie stick photo!
They stack them up
This is the interior to the Chiesa di San Francesco. The ceiling beams are 13th century originals, sagging a little but still holding the roof up.
This is the exterior
Lorri and Debbie going down hill.
The piazza
Our lunch spot overlooking the piazza
That piazza
We did go to the Etruscan Museum but somehow there are no photos.
By "we" I mean Mike, Lorri and I. Debbie made a brief cameo
So later, we headed back to our Cortona House for some R&R and a home-cooked dinner
The weather was better this day but there were clouds moving in
I believe we are smoking Cuban cigars, another thing I like about Italy...it's legal to do so.
Yup, those are Cubans alright.
The rain has moved in but we must protect our fire so that we can bbq our leg of lamb!
Mike and Deb protecting our fire
Time for some wine and a selfie
That selfie stick came in handy
A solo selfie stick selfie!
a little telephoto photo of Cortona
another
peep hole photo with wine and Debbie
no Debbie
We're cooking now, baby!
And that's it for Thursday, another great day in Italy
Friday, September 26
We took a day trip up the road to Arezzo, a "mini Florence" according to some.
It turned out to be a very nice town, easy walking, nice stores, friendly people and, of course good wine.
In the morning Lorri and I took a walk down the road that leads to the house. It was a beautiful sunny day.
The view looking toward Cortona
This is the access road
Looking back up at the house - it's the one on the right
Looking across the fields
So then we drove to Arezzo and parked the car.
The first thing we saw in the public square were sculptures jumping out of trees!
Here we are with Guido in the town square, I mean piazza!
Arezzo was sort of like Florence but a lot smaller and less crowded, and no river. There were quite a few pleasant streets for walking, lined with shops and cafes.
We stopped here for refreshments
There was a young chef in the storefront window making pasta with a hand-cranked machine, cutting it and filling it right there.
We had to try it. Debbie said it was the best pasta she's ever had!
There were several sculptures like this one hanging around town.
A little later, we found a spot to have our picnic lunch.
These are the views from our picnic lunch
The town has a lot of artwork scattered about
"Hey, that looks like one of our table cloths!" says the owner of our Cortona house
Mike is getting a hairy chin!
Why is the hair on my chin white? It must be a bad photo.
Cattedrale di Arezzo
According to Wikipedia, construction on this church was started in 1278 and finished in 1511. That sort of makes Caltrans construction schedules look pretty good.
The remains of an ancient fresco along with a folk-art-like Madonna and Child. It's not the Pieta, but I like it.
The happy crew walking down the street
We stopped at the Coop on the way home and bought dinner food.
It was shaping up to be a nice sunset
It was time to write in the guestbook so I made a little sketch. I guess I should have waited until after we wrote something to take the photo.
Bwah, ha ha ha!
Can you see the shadow of the selfie stick?
There it is again. Hey, nice stogie, Deb!
Lorri with iPads
Debbie selfie with Mike
The light was getting good
OK, now lose the wine glass...
There we go.
Awww.
I'm king of the world! The queen is at my feet.
My domain.
Peaceful, relaxing, quiet, warm
Our views
What did I say about the wine glass. Runs in the family, I guess.
The other king of the world
My new profile picture. Am I cool or what?
One last photo for today. This is Mike absorbing some rays. The men at work (shoveling something, according to the sign) must be off to the right where the arrow is pointing.
Tomorrow, Firenze!
Back to the Top of this page, Wednesday
Thursday, Sept 25
Friday, Sept 26
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