Cortona

We drove to our final hill top town today, Cortona. This has become a popular stop because of the book/movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Cortona also has as patron Saint, Margherita. The three of us visited the Etruscan treasures at the local museum. I took a couple of pictures of some ironware. The Etruscans were alive and well in BC times. I love seeing their artifacts because they have such beautiful detail, simplicity, and dynamism. The mosiac picture of Jesus came out of the same museum. We trudged our way up the hill to the basilica and resting place of St. Margherita. We truly felt like pilgrims by the time we had made our way through all the switchbacks (certainly more so than all those on tour buses who were parked by the front door :)). Our last tour day in Tuscany was a gratifying one. Tomorrow we drive back to Florence and say goodbye to Paula. Anne and I will then take the train to Rome.

Assisi

We took a drive to Assisi today and joined the tourists/pilgrims visiting St. Francis. It was another beautiful, sunny day and not too crowded in the basilica and St. Rufino. My pictures are from St. Stefano, a simple church that I found very peaceful, the scenery and the basilica. Enjoy!

A cooking class at Montestigliano

We hung out at Montestigliano today because we had a cooking class with chef Nicola Vizzari. The early morning gave me perfect lighting for some shots of the buildings and I took advantage of it, as you can see by my pictures. The chef and Paula are in the picture from the cooking class. Paula is learning how to soak and squeeze water out of day old bread to make a crumbly addition to a salad. We also put together the ingredients in dessert glasses for tiramisu. As you can see from the tray, we had a variety of successes for style in presentation. However, we agreed as we ate them that each dessert was equally delicious!

A sunny day in Tuscany

Today was a wonderful, sunny day in Tuscany. I had my camera out first thing in the morning to catch the views around Montestigliano. The ones with the fog were right from the open window in our kitchen. The building picture is also from Montestigliano. The three of us went to Siena today. Anne and Paula were well-behaved and went to the museum and the cathedral. I played hooky and walked around in the sun. However, did I get the best shot of a narrow street in Siena? No, this posted one came from Anne's camera. I guess it does pay to be good...:)

Hill Towns on Pasquetta

Yesterday we had pouring rain for most of the day; this continued off and on throughout most of today. We visited the small hill towns of Montepulciano, Pienza and Montalcino, not knowing what to expect because it was an Italian holiday, Pasquetta, for the day following Easter. The normal Italian tradition is to have a picnic. However, the rain drove the natives into the city streets and restaurants. With half of the businesses closed and the other half overwhelmed with the combination of tourists and rain-avoiding Italians, it made for surprisingly stressful day of working hard to find a place to park and a place to have lunch. However, the sun came out in the late afternoon and everyone's mood improved. My pictures are all from that point in the day. We were on top of the fortress wall in Montalcino and it was thrilling to see the landscape open up with the beautiful green fields and the mixture of sun and clouds. The three of us enjoyed a quiet evening in our home at the villa, making fresh pasta and a salad and sitting by the fireplace. Tomorrow we head to Siena to experience some of the big city action of the Tuscany region.

Montestigliano

It is Easter and Anne, Paula, and I are settled into our villa at Montestigliano. For those of you who do not know Paula Raschko, she is a good friend from the Seattle Women's Chorus who was able to join us for a our week's stay here. She flew in yesterday to Florence and we picked her up and headed to Tuscany. The villa staff are putting on a big feast today for Easter and are expecting 50 participants. The three of us took a walk around the estate today prepare for sampling the many delicious items without guilt. The pictures I have are of our living room, the view out our back door and one from our walk. We have a functioning fireplace and had a hearth warming evening last night. Buona Pasqua!

Florence

Anne and I have been in Florence for a couple of days and I have had a difficult time wanting to post. How can that be possible in such a beautiful city? Well, the biggest reason is that no museum allows picture taking—this knocks the wind out of my sails. However, today we went to the Palazzo Pitti which is chock full of wonderful art (which you cannot photograph) and an attached garden in which your only restricted from walking on the grass. Therefore, all my pictures are from this garden. I have one picture of me with Pegasus, my adopted symbol from childhood, and another of Neptune spearing a fish in a fountain. There is a good view of Florence proper. Also, a large head in the garden. Anne and I went in the afternoon to the “Specula”, a natural history museum that has detailed wax representations of human anatomy. You can google the museum and see pictures of full intestinal disclosure—taken by someone other than me. Anne and I have also been on a buying spree of fine Italian leather goods. I may end up posting our purchases tomorrow if I can't come up with something more interesting :)