the men in Cortona & Arezzo

Wednesday morning I headed out for some breakfast. The B&B I stayed at gives you a ticket for breakfast. You can choose one of three places listed on the card. The one I wanted to eat at was closed and so I went to the Bar Sport Caffè. The most handsome Carabiniere came in and stood next to me as we had our coffees at the bar. I kept trying to steal a few glances without making it too obvious. I was not brave enough to take picture but I can still remember every detail.

After breakfast, I went back over to Il Girasoli to see if the shop owner was there. The rolling green door was open but the regular doors were still locked. I peered into the window and a man, who I later found out was her husband, came up to me to tell me that the shop was not open yet. I explained that I was another Slow Traveler and wanted to meet the shop owner. He insisted that I wait right there while he made a phone call. Actually it took him a few minutes as the reception is impossible in Cortona. I thought it was just my phone service but I later found out it is the town. It reminded me so much of the “Can you hear me now?” commercial. I actually tried to explain the commercial to a few people but no one got it. Anyways, he finally reached her and I told her that I needed to catch the but that was leaving soon for Arezzo and that I would return around 3 pm.

I walked to the bus stop and sat on one of the park benches to wait for the bus. This man who was also sitting on the bench asked me in Italian if I was a tourist. I told him that I was from Hawaii. He told me that he was from Canada and then we both switched to English. I was very lucky to meet him as I would never have found the train station without him. We chatted on the ride down on the bus and also at the train station for a few minutes before our trains arrived. He was going to Rome and I was going to Arezzo so we took different trains. He had that accent that everyone had in the movie “Fargo” and I I had the hardest time paying attention to what he was saying as all I could keep thinking of was the movie. He teaches Roman History and was off to meet some friends to go to a dig down south somewhere in Italy.

The train ride was very short and I arrived in Arezzo with a map that I picked up in Cortona. I wanted to see the Piero della Francesca exhibit and chapel and also the Piazza Grande. I have always wanted to visit Arezzo after seeing the movie “Life is Beautiful”. I was so amazed with the Piazza.

I decided to take the bus back as it would end up taking almost the same time when having to wait for a bus at the train station and so before heading out into the town, I stopped at the tourist information booth and asked where the bus departed for Cortona. The man drew a little line on my map.

The are a couple of main streets in Arezzo which go straight up through the middle of the town. I kept my eye out for the bus stop and saw a blue bus at a stop which seemed to be too close to the train station to be the stop I was shown. I saw a couple of men sitting at a table outside at a bar wearing what I thought were blue bus uniforms. I asked them if the blue bus was the same bus I would take to Cortona later in the day. They said “yes” and then I asked them if I was at the Pisazza Guido Monaco and showed them the map where the tourist info guy marked the bus stop. They told me that the bus stops at both stops and so I could go to either stop to catch the bus. At this point another man sitting nearby, not wearing a blue uniform who must have been eavesdropping on our conversation came over and asked me what bus I wanted to take. He pointed to a different location where a blue bus was parked insisting that I needed to catch the bus there instead of the location that the other two men pointed out. And then, a huge argument began between the two men and the eavesdropping man. Voices were raised and hands were flying. I tried to assure them that I understood where the bus would stop and thanked them for their help. They continued to argue as I left.

I went to the San Francesco church first to see Piero della Francesco’s work in the Capella Bacci (chapel), which was called The Legend of the True Cross. This cost 5 euros. It was very beautiful but did not move me like many other art works have in the past. I then walked to the Museo Statale d’Arte Medioevale e Moderna museum to see the Piero exhibit. It was not until I reached the top floor and saw the famous Duke of Urbino which I recognized immediately was I “wowed”. Ok, I know that is not a work but it is late and I can’t think of the proper word to describe the moment.

After leaving the museum, I headed uphill to see the Duomo and then the Piazza Grande. Unfortunately the piazza was roped off with stands placed in front of all the buildings in the piazza. It took the “wow” out of my moment of finally seeing this famous piazza. I then realized that the bus would be leaving pretty soon, and so I stopped at a bar and got a slice of pizza to go and headed down to the bus stop in piazza where the tourist info guy showed me. The guys in the blue uniform were correct as the bus then stopped at the stop that they showed me.

As usual, I forgot my ginger and was wishing I took the train instead of the bus as my stomach was not thrilled to be on the bus. When I got back to Cortona, I went back to see if the shop owner was still at her shop. She was there and it was exciting to meet her. She is the fourth Slow Traveler I have met. She was busy with “Imelda” for a while and then more and more customers came into the shop. It was great to see her have such a wonderful day of business. I also met a friend of hers who runs a blog from Cortona. They both recommended il Dolce for a gelato where I later had an incredible gelato (pistachio and nocciola)

After leaving Il Girasoli, I wandered the town for a short while taking some photos and then bought a big bottle of water and sat on one of the park benches. After a while a much older man came and sat next to me. He asked me where I was from and told me that he was from Rimini and was on a tour and pointed to the group nearby. We had a very enjoyable chat about many things and after a while the group headed our way and saw us on the bench. Well, this required pictures from all of his “men friends” with lots of laughter all around. I wonder if any of them will end up on the internet somewhere. At one point I wanted to ask him if he was escaping from his group but remembered that if the work “to escape” was pronounced incorrectly it could mean something very different and so I did not bring that subject up.

After my chat and then my gelato, I headed back to my room to pack. For dinner, I checked out a couple of other recommended restaurants that I wanted to try but both were closed. One restaurant had a sign saying “just married” and the other one was also on vacation. I thought about eating at Il Cacciatore but decided on pizza since there was a review for Fulfuns as having great pizza. I would not agree at all with that review. I thought the pizza was terrible. I also ended up most of the night with a horrible stomach ache. I can’t definitely say it was from the pizza as I have been eating a lot of wheat which I am not supposed to eat but it sure was a coincidence. I am just thankful that by the following night my stomach started to feel much better although it was not fun on the train.

The following morning I headed to Rome (see one of my previous posts).

I am off to bed! Buona Notte

tuesday in Cortona

I guess I will start with Cortona and go backwards back to Venice to catch up on all I have not been able to post yet.

After arriving in Cortona and checking into my B&B, I went on a restaurant hunt to find a somewhere to have lunch. I brought a list of recommended restaurants with me. As I did not know the town well yet, I looked for restaurants near the center which was also near my B&B. I stumbled onto La Logetta but it was already full. Since I was there, I asked to have a table reserved for me for dinner. I also asked the waiter for a recommendation of another restaurant nearby. He suggested Il Cacciatore.

Il Cacciatore was also on my list and turned out to be my favorite place to eat while I was there. I had a ravioli dish which was stuffed with eggplant and came with a fresh tomato sauce. Delicious!! I also enjoyed the atmosphere. There were a few tables full of locals and what seemed to be a table of Italian tourists. Right before I was done, in walked “Imelda” and her party as I will call her (nicknamed by a fellow slow traveler and that is all I will say about that). There were only tables for 2 set up. Two men offered to move so that they could set a table for four but they just started eating. I was just finishing up my water and waiting for the bill and offered to let them have my table but no one would hear of that. It was an entertaining few minutes before I left.

I then went to look for Il Girasoli to see if Alessandra was there. It took me a while to find it and when I did, I could not believe I did not see it sooner as it is located right in the town center. Alessandra wasn’t there and so I left a message saying that I would be back the next morning.

After leaving my message, I went to the tourist information office to get a map of Cortona. I also inquired about the hike up to the church on the top of the hill. The road to take started near where the buses depart and so I went to check the bus schedule and then started on my long hike. It was a very hot day and I ended up with the beginning of a blister. At the top was the Sanctuary of Santa Margherita and a little further up was a fortezza, Fortezza del Girifalco. The cost was 3 euros and it was similar to the fortezza in Montalcino in that it had the wall at the top that you could walk around but it was not as big. I really enjoyed my visit inside the fortezza. The views were spectacular.

After my long walk up to the church and the fortezza, I headed back down a different way which included walking along a few windy roads through the middle of the town. When I got back to the center, I went back to my room to rest my feet for a while. I went back out to look for an internet caffè and spent a little time catching up.

I then headed over to La Logetta for dinner. The food at La Logetta was good but it was a very “touristy” restaurant and I felt that the service was not as genuinely friendly as I find it to be in places which are not frequented by so many tourists. I had bruschetta with tomatoes and a salad with lots of vegetables and delicious tuna.

I was pretty tired after dinner and went back to my B&B for the night.

bella Cortona

I am now in Cortona. It is a beautiful day. I arrived about 12:45 after two train rides. I was fortunate to have a nice man share a taxi with me at the Camucia-Cortona train station, although I think I ended up paying the entire fare. After a wonderful lunch I hiked up to an amazing church and the Fortezza with great views. Yesterday I climbed the tower in Bologna (more in another post about Bologna). I have definitely had a workout these past two days. It looks like I will definitely be going to Rome on Thursday instead of Friday and will post more then as I will have computer access at my apartment.

Hope everyone is well!
CIAO!!