This morning (Thursday) we did something we don't often do - went to a cafe near our house in Subiaco with Ozzie, for coffee and a local version of "una pasta" (won't waste my time having one of those again). We visited cafes in France and Italy at least once every day when we were away and were envious of those people walking and sitting at cafes with their dogs - and today it was our turn.
After almost 8 weeks, our wonderful holiday has come to an end, and what an adventure it has been. And as I look back on it all, the stand-out memories are:
Travel: My birthday present to Brian of an Emirates upgrade to Business Class - such complete luxury which had our holiday beginning and ending with an Emirates chauffeur collecting us from, and returning us to, our house in Subiaco.
Old friends: Travelling with Julie & Danny, visiting Shirley, Marg and Rob in Paris, sharing components of our holiday with Anka, Lincoln, Oscar, Suzie & Andy. Revisiting Abigail and Jasper in Burgundy and Fabio in Venice.
New friends: Kate and Vincent from Montreal, Marina & Gianni in Barolo and their daughters Federica & Valentina, Margherita and her little daughter Martina in Monforte d'Alba, Gianluca and Barbara in Tivoli, all of those fabulous people we met at markets, in shops and post offices, restaurants, cafes and bars and when we were out walking, and the sweetest little boy who waved to us as he crossed the crosswalk behind his dad and then waved goodbye as we drove off.
Exceptional landlords who made us feel so welcome: Othello & Tito in Paris; Sylvie, Dominique & Matthias in Mareuil-sur-Ay; Abigail & Jasper in Burgundy; Marina & Gianni in Alba; Fabio & Monica in Venice; Alessandro & Marzia in Tuscany; and Gianluca & Barbara in Tivoli.
Beautiful pets: Harry the Jack Russell in Mareuil-sur-Ay; the 4 cats (Oscar, Albion, Squeak and 1 other whose name escapes me) and 3 horses in Burgundy; the little black poodle at the hairdresser's in Beaune; L'Axe the optician's miniature schnauzer in Beaune; the 2 cats and little dog in Carpentras; Stella the little dog at Monforte d'Alba; the 2 big truffle dogs Dick and Jana and the 3 little dogs (my favourite was 12 year-old Bobby) at Barolo; the 2 tortoises at Cortona; the little dog, also named Bobby, who greeted us like long lost friends at a bar near the top of Cortona; the Lagotto Romagnolos truffle dogs Luna and Togo and their 3 puppies, TJ (Togo Junior), Macchia and Magellano at Tivoli; and all of those cats we befriended in our gardens and on our walks.
Fun times: Visiting the bar on the A380; finding our way on the Paris Metro without maps; playing Spotto; backgammon tournaments; cooking with Charolais beef and a Bress chicken; in-house dinner parties with great food and wine, music and laughter; comparing "hallucinogenic" cheese dreams; truffle hunting; the cooking class; the Italian family dinner in Barolo with singing and much laughter; Lincoln's birthday party with more singing and dancing; Andy's crazy sense of humour that still makes me giggle; Lincoln and Andy's stupid practical jokes played on each other that also still make me giggle; finding and losing our way around Venice without maps; kisses under the Rialto Bridge; people understanding my Italian perfectly - even by telephone; and being asked for, and being able to provide, directions for tourists in Venice.
Language mishaps: Realising just in time that our landlord invited us to meet him in front of his gondola - not his garden; asking the butcher what type of dog (cane) instead of meat (carne) he used in his sausages; telling Brian that the "Tagliata di Manzo" on the menu was pasta with beef sauce (it was sliced beef); mixing up tenses, using familiar forms of verbs with strangers, asking for 2 cappuccino instead of 2 cappuccini, and many, many more on a daily basis.
Breathtaking Experiences: Arriving at our apartment on the Isle St Louis; sailing on the St Martin Canal in Paris; Tuileries and Luxembourg gardens in full bloom; front row seats at Mozart's Requiem at the Madeleine; arriving at our B&B in Mareuil-sur-Ay; buying champagne at the tiny, disorganised shop in Epernay run entirely by the petite, hunched-over and very knowledgeable 86 year-old Madame Salvatori; sitting alone silently in the Mary Magdalene crypt at the Vezeley Basilica with the praying nun whom I initially thought was a statue; witnessing vintage in Burgundean vineyards; the gardens at Abbaye de la Bussiere; the town of Fontaine de Vaucluse and its French Resistance museum; climbing Mont Ventoux above the clouds with ice covered sparkling trees; crossing the border into Italy; Alba's white truffle fair and the overwhelming aroma before we entered; witnessing the exuberance of truffle dogs and smelling white truffles before they had been removed from the ground; arriving in Venice; the Venissa restaurant and gardens on Burano Island; travelling on the new Italian bullet train; walking into Cortona on a Saturday evening; walking through the enormous, peaceful public park at Cortona; views of the Tuscan countryside; bumping into a large group of monks and then a group of nuns walking through Cortona on their way to church; the gardens at Villa D'Este in Tivoli, visiting the village of Cervera di Roma.
Fresh Produce: Markets in Beaune with Charolais beef and Bress chickens; village markets in Provence, Piedmont and Tuscany with little ripe strawberries, perfect grapes, bright red tomatoes, porcini mushrooms, wild forest mushrooms, white and black truffles, cheese and salami; fresh eggs with bright orange yolks for pasta at our cooking class in Barolo; and Rialto Mercato in Venice with the fish market, fruit and vegetable market and Casa del Parmigiano cheese shop.
Outstanding food: Breakfasts at "our" cafe in Rue St Louis; lunch at l'Atelier de Joel Robuchon and also Lavinia in Paris; dinner at Abbaye de la Bussiere in Burgundy, lunch at Ma Cuisine in Beaune; lunch at Christian Etienne in Avignon, lunch at Le Saule Pleureur (Weeping Willow) in Provence, morning tea (twice in one day) at Baratti & Milano and aperitifs at Mulassano Bar in Torino; dinner at Le Case Della Saracca in Monforte d'Alba; coffee every day except Sunday at Gino's in Venice; dinner at Il Nuovo Galeon in Venice; lunch at Antiche Carampane in Venice; lunch at Venissa on Burano Island; dinner at Osteria del Teatro in Cortona; hazelnut and cherry gelato in Cortona; coffee at just about anywhere in Italy; and our many picnics.
Outstanding wine: Vintage and n/v Champagne before dinner on many, many occasions, Burgundean red wines and some white wines every day in Burgundy, Rhone reds in Provence, Nebbiolo and Barolo wines in Piedmont, and Brunello wines in Tuscany.
Great music: Mozart's Requiem at the Madeleine in Paris; singing in Italian after dinner with our landlord / truffle hunter Gianni who possesses a fabulous tenor voice; Chamber Music at Chiesa San Vidal in Venice; Tosca at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice; and lots of music every day from our iPod (French and Italian playlists, 60's and 70's playlists, favourite opera arias, classical music favourites etc).
Driving mishaps: Trying to drive out of the centre of Paris after collecting our hire car; damaging a tyre on a sharp rocky curb when performing a u-turn on the drive to Champagne; arriving in Florence to collect our hire car and finding that the Europcar office would be closed for 3 days; and trying to find the Europcar parking station at Rome airport.
Lessons learnt: Never collect or drop off hire cars in big cities; don't drive at night; don't bother going to Harry's Bar again; and beware of anchovies in France and Italy (preferably taste them before you buy and always taste them before you include them in your cooking).
Thank you: Kerri & Oliver for looking after Ozzie and managing our household; Sarah, Gordie & Rebus for baby-sitting Ozzie; Peta for feeding and looking after the sour dough starter; Katherine for giving me the ability to converse in Italian; Lexie, Michael, Louis et al for recommendations relating to Alba; Julia, Peggy & Al for your encouragement, support and willingness to adapt to new-fangled computer applications to communicate with us; so many family members and friends who have been following this blog which was aimed at keeping our parents informed (hence the 'G' rated entries); Frank our travel agent who looks after all of our flights, car hire and train tickets and is available at all hours to cope with my panic phone calls; and finally to my darling husband for being the best travelling companion a girl could wish for.
Would we do it again? In a heartbeat. In fact plans are already under way for our next big adventure to attend an important family wedding in Scotland, and we can hardly wait.
Paris Apartment on Isle St Loius: www.isla-bonita.fr
Champagne B&B at Mareuil-sur-Ay: www.lecloscorbier.fr
Burgundy Cottage: This cottage does not have a public web site, however I will be happy to provide contact details by email if you are interested.
Provence Apartment: This apartment was in a central location for touring and quite pretty but not all that practical and just a bit too renovated and closely monitored by the landlady for our liking.
Alba Cottages at Monforte d'Alba: www.larosagialla.it
Venice Apartment at Rialto Mercato: http://venice.rialto-bridge-and-gran-canal.tobook.com
Tuscany Cottage at Cortona: www.homeaway.com.au/holiday-rental/p406952
Tivoli B&B: http://www.ilcasaledeifiori.com
Travel Agent: http://axist.com.au
Facebook Messages: Search for "Lizzy Barman"
Today began as we arrived at an enormous terminal at Dubai airport - jumped into one of 4 or 5 enormous glass elevators that all work in unison carrying hundreds of people at once, then onto a fast, driverless train to another enormous terminal and into a very comfortable Emirates' lounge.
We sat back with a glass of wine and watched the Federer Djokovic match from London with 4 other people, before I did a bit of last minute gift shopping for Ash and Mila, and we made the long, long walk to our exit gate and onto the Boeing 300 - nowhere near as luxurious as the A380 but still very comfortable, especially as we managed to get front row seats. Then breakfast was served at what seemed to be a ridiculous hour, our beds were made up for us and we both managed to get a few hours of solid sleep.
The 11 hour flight seemed to pass quite quickly and we both loved the middle-eastern lunch that was served a couple of hours before we landed in Perth at 5:35pm. Then a pleasant drive home to a spotlessly clean house, with vases of fresh flowers and a royal welcome from Kerri and Ozzie the wonder dog!
Oh it is so lovely to be home.
Leaving Rome is always sad for me - and I find myself singing that wretched Dean Martin song to myself for hours!
We woke this morning unexpectedly at about 6:45 when the power returned and all of the bedroom lights became illuminated. The rain stopped as we were having breakfast with our gorgeous Tivoli landlords Gianluca and Barbara, we said our goodbyes and left just after 9, giving ourselves over 5 hours to get to the airport, return the hire car, check-in and claim a tax refund - and just as well we did!
There were heaps of delays on the way to the airport with traffic at a standstill many times, with roadworks, a bit of flooding, car breakdowns and accidents (none involving us fortunately) - and we finally settled into our lounge with less than an hour to spare - hardly enough for essential shopping at Rome airport.
Then onto the fabulous A380, with the Veuve Clicquot flowing "freely" and a delicious lunch after which we both settled back to watch Woody Allen's latest movie "Blue Jasmine" (we both loved it). Brian finished the movie about 15 minutes before I did and disappeared - and of course I found him in the bar having a few drinks with his new best friends from Mount Hawthorn!
Today was all a bit hectic and it was so nice to finish it off relaxing on the A380 - and we are both now very excited at the prospect of returning home.
After breakfast at our B&B, a skype call to P&A and a little play with the dogs, we headed off to visit Cervera di Roma (recommended by our landlord) and Subiaco - both about 50km from Tivoli. And today, for the first time, Jane misbehaved and got us into all sorts of trouble - hopelessly lost several times!
After leaving the motorway and travelling back and forth for kilometre after kilometre, heading for a village for which there are almost no signs, I finally resorted to the old-fashioned method of stopping and asking for directions. Today, the little knowledge I have of the Italian language was absolutely invaluable - and I made some lovely new friends along the way.
Finally, we managed to get onto the road leading up to the exquisite little hillside town of Cervera di Roma - founded by the Benedictine monks in the 8th or 9th century, and which since the late 17 hundreds, has been a town for artists, writers and composers. Cars cannot get into the village at all, so we had to park and walk - up and up and up flights of stone stairs. We finally reached the little town piazza just after 12 and the only open door belonged to the Bar/Cafe. So in we went, to the tiny little room with 2 small tables and 6 chairs, introduced ourselves and soon became best friends with the 4 people present - an elderly man (whose grand-daughter? came to take him home for lunch about 5 minutes after we'd arrived), a middle-aged woman who left at one stage and returned with a tourist booklet for us, the young guy who served us (we both had coffee and una pasta - the cheapest we've had since arriving) and a young woman. It was such a lovely experience - and not one word of english spoken.
We went back out into the piazza with the older woman who told us that there is an artists' path that leads up through the village to the artists' summer retreat, the church and the remains of the fort at the top of the hill. So off we went again - and the path is decorated with paintings, poems and sculptures, goes through tunnels and up and around tiny little paths, with the most beautiful little houses and gardens - and all completely silent. In all the time we were in the town we saw the 4 people in the bar, 1 man going into a house and 3 workmen who were installing floodlights up at the fort but who had stopped for lunch when we arrived.
Then back down through the village again, to the piazza where the bar was closed for lunch, and drove to Subiaco, about 12km away. Subiaco was the site of St Benedict's original monastery and is now quite a large, spread-out town. At one stage there were 12 monasteries there, but only 2 are left, both about 6km out of town.
The old town of Subiaco is set on a hilltop, and once again we set off walking, this time in the hope of finding a nice restaurant for lunch. We passed the remains of an old monastery on the way and there are other remains at the top of the hill, but not a restaurant in site. So back in the car to drive to one of the remaining monasteries which was beautiful and huge - and their restaurant looks great but was closed. By the time we arrived back at the "new" part of Subi, it was well after 3pm and we just headed to a supermarket and bought some nice produce from a delightful man at the deli to take home.
We arrived back home at about 4:30, Brian made some salad and platters of our standard buffalo mozzarella, ripe red tomatoes and basil, prosciutto crudo, salami, olives and some great bread (probably the best we've had in Italy this time), and we were joined by our landlord Gianluca and his wife Barbara who is a tour guide. Gianluca made a lovely fire in the living / dining room over which he grilled 3 different types of Italian sausage and some pancetta and the four of us sat around the dining table drinking wine, grazing on all of the fabulous food, discussing all sorts of issues (covering even the 3 taboo topics) and had lots of fun.
We all headed off to bed just after midnight to the sound of deafening thunder and heavy rain pounding on the roof, and just as we were jumping into bed, all the power went off. What a lovely way to end our holiday - such a gorgeous night. Shame about Subiaco really, but not long now until we're back in its namesake - and we can hardly wait.
After a lovely breakfast at our B&B prepared by our landlord - with the 3 puppies waiting for us to emerge - we headed off walking up and around the narrow roads that lead to the old part of Tivoli, to visit the world heritage site of Villa d'Este.
The villa was built in the 16th century for a cardinal on the site of a former Benedictine monastery and is unbelievably opulent, with enormous rooms, all elaborately decorated with murals on every wall and ceiling, and beautiful marble floors. And it all overlooks the formal garden that is full of fountains and water features - unbelievably beautiful and so incredibly enormous.
After almost 3 hours at Villa d'Este, we went around the corner to Ristorante L'Angelino di Mirko, as recommended by our landlord. We started with octopus served on artichokes and wished we'd gone for the fresh pasta instead, because the octopus smelt a bit strong for our liking (I left half of mine), and then we shared a whole sea bass which had been baked in a salt crust and it was fabulous - served at our table by the chef, with some potatoes and spinach and a bottle of local white wine.
Then more walking up narrow and winding cobbled streets to the waterfalls at Villa Gregoriana. The Aniene River flows through Tivoli and after what was called a "catastrophic flood" in 1826, Pope Gregory 16th commissioned a couple of engineers to divert the flow of the river. They built 2 tunnels which form a 120 metre waterfall in a beautiful and ancient park built around a deep gorge that is full of caves, waterfalls and the remains of temples and a villa.
It was 4 o'clock by the time we started our walk back "home". After a couple of false starts, we finally got onto a road that we recognised and arrived just in time to see a beautiful pink sky as the sun set over Rome - after receiving a very warm welcome from the puppies (TJ, Macchia and Magellano) and Togo, their beautiful dad.
I couldn't begin to estimate the number of steps we've walked up and down today, but I do know that we're both absolutely exhausted and can't wait to get to bed - after another quick bowl of pasta in our dining room.
Saturday is market day in Cortona and we walked into town at about 9 while it was still reasonably quiet to finally post our parcel, visit the market (we bought 2 Porchetta Panini for breakfast), have coffee and do a bit of last minute shopping before saying our goodbyes to our landlord and his wife. And then off for our next adventure - Tivoli, 30km east of Rome.
It started to rain soon after we got onto the motorway, but cleared as we headed south through Umbria and to the outskirts of Rome, and the directions given to us by Jane and our landlord were perfect. We arrived just before 3 to our beautiful B&B and received the most amazing welcome imaginable - from our landlord, his 2 truffle dogs (Lagotto Romagnolos) who look like big bears with human eyes, and their 3 puppies who are just over 3 months' old. I am in heaven!!
The puppies are absolutely adorable - all wrestling each other out of the way so that they can be closest to us - or sitting on us when they get half a chance. And the father is only just over 1 year-old himself and such a huge boy who is just a sooky, cuddly Fozzy Bear. The mother is all white, loves to watch us but is very timid and won't come near us at the moment. It has become my challenge to win her over!
Once we'd gone through all the formalities, spent some time chatting with our most delightful landlord and met his mother and his nephew, we unpacked and sat in the garden for about and hour. Brian brought his diary up-to-date and I was completely occupied with the three babies. And then tonight we played some of our music, sat in our large dining room and had a simple bowl of pasta and will be heading to bed nice and early in preparation for tomorrow's adventures in Tivoli.
li.
This morning we packed up another carton of purchases to post home and walked all the way down the main street, past the main piazza only to find that the post office was closed. So a little walk around the corner to the tourist information office to find out at what time the post office would open, to find that the tourist office was also closed. We stopped for coffee at a table in the main street before returning to the cottage where a quick check of the internet showed that November 1st happens to be a national holiday in Italy - All Saints day!
No wonder it's so busy in town today - Italian families with lots of children and dogs everywhere. We realised that we should probably book a restaurant for dinner pretty quickly and headed off again, walking around a few of the little streets we'd not been on before, booked a nice looking restaurant and then visited the Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca. The museum is in an ancient building in one of the piazzas and doesn't look all that big from the outside - but of course Cortona is built on the side of a steep hill, and while the museum only goes up a couple of storeys from the piazza, it goes down at least another 4 or 5!
What a fabulous museum - and such an amazing collection. Some excavations have been done in the walls of the museum itself, exposing the etruscan walls that once encircled the original piazza. The Romans just built the current piazza on top of it. The etruscans were in Cortona from at least the 7th century BC and several of their buildings and burial tombs have been uncovered over the last couple of hundred years, and archaeological digs are still being done. Unfortunately the museum is just too big to be able to do justice to the collection in one visit, but we absolutely loved it.
By the time we left it was after 3 and we headed into a little cafe/restaurant on the terrace of the old theatre for lunch, overlooking one of the crowded piazzas. Then a walk part way down the hill, with fabulous (though quite misty) views over the valley to Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, and an easy climb back up the hill on a couple of escalators.
And tonight we walked back through an absolutely packed town - exactly as it was last Saturday night soon after we arrived. Today we have observed the Italian culture of people meeting family and friends in the town piazza and main street, and standing, talking to each other, with children running around playing and well-behaved dogs on leashes everywhere - and groups of people sitting at bars and cafes talking animatedly with lots of laughter, and not a mobile phone or iPad in sight! It is so wonderful - and so different from the halloween atmosphere of last night!
Before heading out for dinner, we lay on the bed and read - something we've been able to do a fair bit of this week. Brian's finished a Stephen Fry book (from our cottage bookshelf) and I've just about finished rereading Under the Tuscan Sun.
Our restaurant tonight was great and every table taken (just as well we booked). We both started with pumpkin soup, then Brian had beef straccetti with porcini mushrooms and I had porcini mushroom rsotto, we shared a salad of thinly sliced fennel and orange and a half bottle of Chianti Classico. Then a gorgeous walk home through the town that is still full of people and more cars are still arriving.
After a quick breakfast, a skype call to Peg & Al and check on the tortoises, we headed off for Siena - just over an hour's drive away. On the way, in the middle of nowhere, a black cat crossed the road in front of us. Now I'm not superstitious in any way, but...
We found our way into Siena, and I was looking for a parking area, but Jane said we were still 2km from the centre of town, so we decided to keep going. We suddenly realised that we'd crossed over the "traffico limitato" line, but to cut a long story short, we found a parking bay that was still almost 1km from "centro" and I've spent the last half hour or so trying to make an online payment of an 80 euro parking fine!!
Anyway, we walked up a long but gentle hill, along a narrow curved road completely lined with ancient buildings, then under a couple of archways and stepped into the Piazza del Campo. Wow! What a sight. It is absolutely amazing - so enormous and regarded as Italy's loveliest piazza - and I think we would have to concur with that view. Work commenced on laying the beautiful brick paving in 1327 and apparently took 22 years to complete!
And they have a bare-back horse race (called the "Sienese Palio") around the edge of the piazza on the 2nd July and 16th August every year, with 10 "jockeys" from different districts of Siena (wearing their district colours). They've been running this race for a bit longer than we've had the Melbourne Cup - since at least 1283! There are photos of the August race everywhere around town and we found it very amusing to watch a youtube clip after we arrived back at our cottage later this afternoon. So glad we were there today and not when the race was run!
After coffee (the most expensive we've had since arriving in Europe) and a leisurely walk around the Campo, we walked up a couple of narrow and steep alleyways to the magnificent Duomo (cathedral) - also set in a beautiful piazza - before having a latish lunch around the corner sitting outside at a little trattoria. And then another long stroll through what must be a such tiny part of the town, back to our car which by then had been decorated with a pretty pink ticket.
We drove back home via the area called Crete Senesi, known as the Tuscan desert because it is almost completely barren - just spectacular rolling hills as far as the eye can see, with isolated farm houses here and there. It is breathtakingly beautiful. I was looking forward to seeing all of the sheep (responsible for pecorino cheese) and all of the shepherds who look after them, as described in our "Italy" book - but the only non-human beings we saw were 2 colourful pheasants in 2 separate fields who squawked and headed for cover when they realised that we were close by, and a few geese and chickens in a village backyard.
When we were in Piedmont, I saw halloween-related items in shop windows and asked our host, Marina, and her sister-in-law Bruna, if Halloween is celebrated in Italy. They said that it is and they both were of the strong opinion that is is "una brutta festa" (a bad celebration) and I agreed with them completely. Tonight, after we arrived home, we could hear what sounded like gunshots in "our" park across the road, and of course it was teenagers with some sort of very loud fireworks being a bit silly.
We headed off down the main street of Cortona for dinner, and there were so many people, both children and adults, dressed in macabre costumes. We headed off to the elegant restaurant we both loved so much on Tuesday night - to get a booking for tomorrow night if possible, or otherwise to go there tonight - and all of the staff were dressed as draculas or witches!! Anyway, they were completely booked out for tonight and tomorrow night and I must admit that I was quite happy about that.
We finally headed down (and I mean down at about 45 degrees) a narrow lane into a cosy pizzeria/ristorante, for a delicious dinner of mixed antipasti (different salamis and cold meats, pickles, cheese, grilled vegetables, melon and different types of freshly cooked croquets), some perfectly grilled sirloin topped with whole peppercorns and rosemary, a mixed salad, a good bottle of local red wine and coffee - all very simple, very inexpensive and just what we were looking for. Then back out into the streets where all was quiet.
But as we approached "our" park, there was another loud explosion and we saw a mob of about 15 teenagers, all wearing white masks walking towards us. Then a youngish well-dressed couple came walking up the hill heading out for dinner, and then a motorbike and a few cars went past and we were easily able to slip into our little garden sanctuary. Marina and Bruna were absolutely right - what una brutta festa - and such a shame that it is celebrated in this beautiful part of the world.
Black cats and Halloween - what a load of nonsense (I think)!
The breakfast that Brian prepared this morning was fabulous as usual and included "spremuta" (freshly squeezed juice) of clementine oranges. Today has been a special birthday for our son-in-law, Mark, and we decided to spend some time around our cottage this morning in the hope that we might be able to speak with him via skype or mobile phone when he arrived home from work. We sat in the garden, in beautiful sunshine, with the tortoises and 2 cats, and caught up on a bit of reading, and finally were able to catch the whole family on speaker phone, on a bad line unfortunately, for just a short time as they drove to an Italian restaurant in West Perth.
After our big day yesterday, we chose to have a quiet day in Cortona today. We walked up our street, past the park and bumped into a large group of Franciscan monks who were on their way to the church located a few metres from our cottage. There were a lot of buon giornos exchanged with the locals and we could clearly hear a broad American accent in the middle of the bunch (not sure of the collective noun for monks).
We headed off down the main street and into the piazza to visit the greengrocer, post office, the butcher (for some veal scallopini which was cut using one of those meat slicers usually found in delicatessens), the bakery, the little alimentari, the wine shop and then finally a pasticceria for coffee and una pasta (the coffee was great - the pastry not as good as those we've had elsewhere) and on the way home, a gelateria for "un piccolo cono" of cherry icecream which was sensational. Oh I will have to spend so many hours at the gym when we get home!
Then back home to put all of our groceries away, spend a bit more time in the garden, have a lovely skype conversation with Peg & Al, and then an afternoon rest before heading off into town again - but this time for some serious shopping. We went in and out of many of the little shops we've been admiring - buying a few more souvenirs and gifts as we went - a bag shop, paper shop, bookshop, art gallery, clothing shop etc etc - and explored some of the little streets we'd not visited before. Cortona is such a beautiful town.
And then we bumped into a large group of nuns - all wearing the traditional long black habits - who were also heading off to "our" church. Many of them looked so young and it was lovely to watch them walking down the main street in front of us, doing a bit of window shopping as they went, in the windows of some of those beautiful little shops we'd just visited.
Then back home for a pre-dinner glass of pinot griggio with some thin slices of fabulous wild boar salami and a backgammon tournament before I made dinner in our little kitchen - fresh pappardelle (Brian's favourite pasta) topped with some porcini mushrooms, Scaloppini al Vino Rosso, a tossed salad and fresh bread. Plus a couple of glasses of the Vino Nobile that we bought yesterday - with a special toast to Mark.
"Our" church has obviously been very busy today and the bells have been ringing much more than we've heard on other days. They must have had a special occasion in their family today too.
After Skype conversations with Jonah and then Peg & Al, and a quick search of the garden for the tortoises (they were "curled" up together in a corner), we set off at about 10:30 to visit 3 nearby hilltop towns - Montepulciano, Pienza and Montalcino.
Our Italy book showed that we had about a 100km round trip, and I expected that we would be back home by 4:30.
The views today were absolutely spectacular - views that could only be Tuscany - neat fields of green, yellow and freshly ploughed brown, pencil pines, olive trees, oak trees, yellow houses with rust coloured tiled rooves (or roofs as younger generations say) - but not one farm animal in sight! I was expecting to see at least a few horses, cows, sheep or goats - but not a single one! Just a few spoilt designer dogs on leashes in the towns.
1. Montepulciano is one of the highest hilltop town in Tuscany. We parked in a carpark way up towards the top of the town, and then still had to walk up and up and up beautiful cobbled streets with amazing views over the countryside at every turn, and finally arrived in the main piazza which is spectacular - full of ancient, very large buildings. We sat at a cafe in the piazza for lunch - a crostini and a glass of the local Vino Nobile, followed by coffee - probably the worst lunch we've had on this trip - but in a magnificent setting. We then went in to the nearby wine centre where Brian tasted and then bought a bottle of some serious Vino Nobile - so much better than the wine we'd had with lunch.
2. Pienza is a much smaller town, but still with the same cobbled streets and amazing views over the valleys below. Pope Pius the second redesigned the centre of town in the 15th century to include a cathedral and a papal palace (both very beautiful) and then proceeded to rename the town after himself!! The main piazza reminded me of Piazza della Signoria in Florence - though it is about a tenth of the size - with a beautiful loggia containing only one sculpture which we both loved. It is of a life-sized man and a woman, both on horseback and looks so beautiful, and it's only when you get close to it that you realise that the full-sized horses are only about half a metre long.
3. Montalcino is set on a hill, in the middle of beautiful vineyards and breath-takingly beautiful valleys that are part of the Val d'Orcia, and it is the centre of the famous Brunello wines. We could make out the silhouettes of several towers and church steeples in what looked like a very spread-out and beautiful town and Brian read the screed from our "Italy" book as we approached - including the part about a 14th century fortessa (castle) with impressive ramparts which now houses an enoteca (wine shop) where Brunello wines can be sampled and bought.
We followed Jane's directions as we climbed higher into the town, and she told me to go straight ahead but there was a parking sign pointing to the right and I followed that (much to Brian's horror). And in the little parking area, there was only one remaining bay, so I took that too. And a few metres to our right was that bloody fortessa (I hope Ash & Mila don't read this)! So I'm afraid to report that I have no idea what the town of Montalcino is like - but the castle is fantastic and Brian is now the proud owner of a dozen fabulous Brunello wines which will be delivered to Subi at some time in the next few months!
Now that daylight saving has ended, it becomes dark very early in Italy, and by the time we left Montalcino at about 5, the sun had almost set. So a very long, slow drive home in the dark, along pretty ordinary roads and through pretty ordinary looking towns to arrive back at our exquisite hilltop town of Cortona at about 6:30. And then this evening, after a quick skype call to Wilma & Gary, we walked up to another restaurant recommended by our landlord, Osteria del Teatro - and it too was packed. We were given some little pieces of toast drizzled with very new green and peppery olive oil, then Brian had what looked like a sirloin steak but was very tender, and I had duck breast - both pan fried to perfection and thinly sliced, served with beautiful accompaniments, and we shared a large onion that I would guess had been baked slowly (very caramalised) and a bowl of salad, and we each had a glass of a 2008 Brunello. Buonissimo! Such a fantastic way to finish our fabulous day in Tuscany.
After a quick breakfast in our cottage, we headed off for the town of Foiano Della Chiana, about 20km away, for their Monday market. It's a small town with beautiful Tuscan architecture and we were able to park within about 200 metres of the market piazza. We bought the normal tomatoes and grapes, plus salad vegies, pears and a huge bag of clementine oranges, and then wondered around the lovely old town centre, stopping for a bit of food shopping and coffee in a small bar/cafe in the main piazza.
The drive back home, through olive groves, corn fields and tiny villages was beautiful - and we could see Cortona in the distance much of the time. The silhouette of Santa Margherita (where we walked yesterday) was clearly visible and it didn't seem to be all that high up really!
As soon as we entered our garden, I went looking for the tortoise (I had read about him on the internet and found him yesterday) and he must have realised that we had been to the market because he started walking towards me and my bag of goodies. I offered him some pieces of lettuce but he just walked over them and kept heading closer, so I tried a little piece of tomato - and he went crazy - absolutely loved it. Then a piece of Sicilian grape - loved that too. He is a gorgeous little thing - about the size of a rockmelon.
Brian made some coffee with a platter of fruit, cheese and mortadella and and we sat in the garden, in lovely sunshine, for a couple of hours. Brian brought his diary up to date while I read and entertained a beautiful black cat who visited for a short time, and then I heard rustling in the garden next to me. At first I couldn't see what was making the noise, and then there it was - a much smaller version of the tortoise I'd fed earlier (who by now was fast asleep in the sun with a tummy full of tomatoes and grapes). Anyway the little tortoise is very sweet and loves tomatoes and grapes too - not keen on clementines though.
Later in the afternoon, we strolled around our beautiful town, discovering more shops, restaurants and bars, and bought some bread and a fabulous nocciola (hazelnut) gelato - the best I've had so far on this trip.
Today when we were at Foiano Della Chiana, I bought, from the deli section of an alimentari (little supermarket), a container of "anchovies with pesto" which I thought would be perfect with some fresh pasta tonight. It looked fabulous. Brian made a big bowl of salad, we had some reasonably good bread and lovely Italian butter, I cooked the pasta and gently heated the anchovies (they looked and smelt delicious) and tossed them in the drained pasta - and it was awful!!!
The anchovies weren't like the gentle Spanish and Portuguese ones we buy at home - they had a very strong, fishy taste and contained a lot of little bones - such a disappointment - and such a waste of beautiful pasta. Definitely going to be a restaurant dinner tomorrow night.
