Friday, November 16, 2012

Day Trip to Cortona!

 On October 17, Andrea and I set off to Cortona...home of the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun!Italy
We walked to the bus stop to catch the local bus...
to the train station..
It was a beautiful day and the train ride was exhilarating,...beautiful landscapes rushing past our train window filled with pretty acreage of infinity trees, green grasses and gorgeous farmhouses.
arrived in Cortono an hour and forty minutes later but not buses or taxis' in sight.  we simultaneously looked at each other and said, No problem...let's just walk to town. Ugh. Another hour later, up up up and I mean really UP....we walked and walked. I had to stop several times just to breathe...did I mention that it was straight up hill?
 finally, I called in the "Bus Team" and before we knew it, a bus on its way to pick up some school kids, picked us up and took us the last 10 minutes into town. I could not have done those last 10 minutes.  It was tough.  But as we rounded a bldg to come into town, first thing we saw was this..
 
A Wednesday afternoon and the beautiful wedding party.,.,with every girl in that wedding party wearing THE most beautiful shoes ever!!
After downing several bottles of water and sitting for a bit, we, of course, stopped at the first cute shop we came to..

before stopping at the cutest pizzaria for lunch. A typical Italian cafe with seating inside and out
 
we ate the pizza so fast that I didn't get a pic but i did get this image of a dessert they just brought to us. They took leftover pastry from the morning, croissants filled with cream, and drizzled it with pomegranite seeds and syrup! Yum.
then, off to the piazza where we found a beautiful view..
after talking to some ladies in town, who were painting pictures of the scenery
they assured us that it was only a short walk to Bramasole....the house that Frances Mayes's, who is the author of Under the Tuscan Sun, lives in and was also the house that Diane Lane lived in as her "fixer upper".  So we took off down a tree lined lane, thru a park, and here we go again...up up up more steep roads and hills.  45 minutes later, we finally got to the house, with sore knees and feet and lungs that could hardly take one more deep breath!
 
the gardens at Bramasole
pic from actual movie when Lane first found Bramasole
the landscape seen on our walk to the house
As soon as we caught our breaths yet again....we had to hightail it back down the hills to get back to train station in time for our train back.  I had to get back to Assisi in time for a dinner invitation to Anne's farmhouse that night!
...sigh....another beautiful day in Tuscany!!
 
 
 
 

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