One of the things we’ve been enjoying most about our current location is the altitude. Cortona is a hill town, and we are at the very top of this particular hill town. The views to the valley below are spectacular, especially at sunrise and sunset. Larry went out one recent morning to capture some of the magical morning golden hour.

Morning mist across the valley

Sunlight on the hillside cottage below

Morning sunlight on the olive trees

Sunny hillside

Serene

Looking down on the town

The Etruscan wall

Some of our neighbors

The monastery down the road

Later in the day we decided to take a long walk around the other side of the hill, giving us a view of the valley on the other side, gradually descending and then spitting us out at the public park at the bottom of the town. The slowly sloping street is lined with tall, straight cyprus trees planted in honor of those young men from Cortona who died in World War I. One of the things I love the most about Tuscany (and Provence – they’re very similar in climate) is the vegetation. I love the silver-green leaves and gnarly trunks of the olive trees and the tall, dark, majestic cyprus trees, who seem to be standing watch over their domain wherever they are planted. This road also takes us past the real Bramasole (not the one used for the movie), Frances Mayes’ Tuscan home. It is a striking house with a lot of character. I especially like the varied coloring of the stucco. I’ve taken this same walk many times while we’ve been staying in Cortona and love every inch of it. It’s serene, peaceful, and beautiful.

The Etruscan Wall and the old city gate that we drive through to get home

Cortona and the valley below

The Val di Chiana below

The Etruscan Wall surrounding the city

Out walking the dog

Sunlight in the valley

Out for the afternoon passeggiata

Afternoon sunlight on the hillside

The real Bramasole

Charming villa set in the hillside

I'll take any one of these villas. I'm not picky.

Majestic cyprus trees

Looking down across the valley from the edge of the city park

One of the only long, level stretches in Cortona. It's a pedestrian path that is part of the city park.

Old friends enjoying the afternoon

Looking over to Umbria: Lake Trasimeno

Playing in the city park. The kids were a mixture of locals and British visitors. Language doesn't matter when you're a kid and you want to spin until you get sick.

Fountain in the city park

Looking up at a few of Cortona's many bell towers

Memorial to the war dead in the city park

Florence is only about an hour away from Cortona, so on a recent sunny day we decided to take a road trip. Tony came with us too, so we could release him back into the wild. He was looking a little worse for the wear on the ride and I was worried about him, but as soon as we found a good spot and Larry dumped him from the jar he scrambled under a rock. Arrivederci Tony!

It was a beautiful afternoon. We spent some time strolling along the Arno, had lunch at the piazza in front of the Palazzo Vecchio being watched over by David (or, a replica of him anyway), and then spent the afternoon among the Renaissance masters at the Uffizi: Botticelli, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Raphael and Caravaggio, among others. It’s a small museum but dense and requires several hours of one’s time to cover it properly. The building itself deserves careful attention. Once housing the offices for the ruling Medici family, its hallways and galleries are intricate and beautiful.

Sunshine on the banks of the Arno; Ponte Vecchio in the background

The stereotypical Vespa lineup

Palazzo Vecchio

The perfect man

Looking down along the outside of the Uffizi galleries

Photography was unfortunately forbidden inside, but Larry snapped this shot of one of the long hallways

It was unfortunately already dark when we departed the Uffizi (these shorter days are really putting a crimp in our sightseeing!), but we visited Piazza Santa Croce for an outside look at the beautiful church which is the resting place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Rossini, and others, and then took a trip to the nearby Vivoli, site of the famous Italian gelato. I ordered a rice (sort of like rice pudding in ice cream form) and chocolate gelatos; Larry had chocolate mousse and coconut. We both had our first introduction to Italian gelato at Vivoli when we visited Florence right after high school. We discovered a whole new level of ice cream on that trip. Goodbye Baskin Robbins, I’ve found a new friend! But honestly as much as we fondly remember it, we’ve had so many amazing gelatos in recent years (New York has some amazing gelato shops) that it wasn’t quite as good as we remembered. Still, fun to be back in a place that held so many nostalgic memories for us.

Santa Croce at night

The home of my first introduction to a whole new level of ice cream

Goodnight, Firenze!

While in Provence, Larry and I loved seeing the cute little baby olives on all the olive trees. Traditionally, olive harvesting time is in November and December, so we’re in Tuscany just in time to catch the harvest (and take home some fresh olive oil!). Recently we were on our way out shopping when we spotted some locals harvesting their olive trees. The harvesting process is extremely manual and difficult. They essentially need to be harvested by hand, then gently placed in crates where they won’t crush or bruise, before being taken to the local mill to be pressed into pulp, to harvest that beautiful liquid gold. Only the olives harvested in this manner will be turned into extra virgin olive oil. They lay nets out around the bottom of the trees to catch any olives that may fall – these olives will be damaged and therefore are not good enough to go into the best oil, so they will be used for soap or other secondary items. In order to produce the best, most pure, and least acidic olive oil, the olives must be pressed within 24 hours of picking, preferably in an oxygen-free environment (oxygen ruins the taste). I’ll bet you had no idea so much work went into that bottle, did you?

Harvesting olives

Hard work!

One recent weekend Larry and I went on a drive and ended up at a little antiques market in the neighboring town of Castiglion Fiorentino. What a great spot for people watching, on top of interesting antiques (and junk).

Castiglion Fiorentino

Antiques market in the town park

Checking out the merchandise

An afternoon outing for friends

Army surplus table

Afternoon sun

The other night I walked into the bedroom for some reason and saw a little bug scampering along the floorboard. Something about his shape caught my eye so I went closer to get a better look. I saw pincers. And then said, “Uh, Larry? I think that’s a scorpion.” Sure enough, it was. A little tiny baby one, trying to find a crack in the floorboard so he could get out of the light (they hate bright light, and they live in cracks between rocks, which is why there are so many near to these old stone walls and homes). Larry said, “I want to put him in a jar and study him!” So, he got a jar, caught the little guy (who was mad as he** at finding himself in this new glass prison), and named him Tony the Tuscan. Larry looked him up and found his species, and we figured out he was just a little baby (I hope his mother isn’t nearby!). We’ll be checking under the bed every night before we go to sleep from now on. The funny thing is I lived in Phoenix for two years and never came across a scorpion once.

He doesn’t like Larry at all. Every time Larry picks up the jar he charges at him through the glass (he doesn’t do it when I pick it up). Since then, we’ve decided to take him for a ride – so he’s away from houses – and let him go. He deserves to live his little life out in peace.

Tony the Tuscan