Getting Out of Town

Getting out of the city is a real treat.

Two weekends ago I spent Sunday morning visiting Fiesole, a small hilltop town perched 800 feet above Firenze.  The nice thing about Fiesole is that it’s only a 20 minute bus ride away.  It was a beautiful day and there were only a handful of tourists plodding around.  There was a craft fair in the main piazza, but otherwise things were quiet.  Fiesole boasts an ancient Roman bath and an amphitheatre, but mostly people go to take in the views of Firenze below, and they are splendid views.  I would have taken pictures, but the valley below was a bit smoggy and the lighting was all wrong.  But the sun was shining and the air was fresh and the Tuscan hills looked beautiful and it felt absolutely right to sit on a park bench and stare down at my new adopted hometown and listen to Handel’s Hallelujah chorus on my iPod.  Truly heavenly.

Elin, Corona, Katherine, & Pete in Cortona, Nov 2011

Last Saturday, I spent the day a little further out of town with my friends Elin and Peter, Peter’s daughter Katherine, and Corona the Chihuahua (woof!)  The destination was Castiglione del Lago – a small town just inside Umbria on Lago Trasimeno – the 4^th largest lake in Italy after Lakes Como, Maggiore, and Garda in the north.   I met Elin and Peter several years ago in an Italian class at the Instituto, and at the time Elin was in the process of renovating a house outside of Castiglione del Lago in a village called Gioiella.  As happens with anything that involves construction over here, the house took forever to be renovated, but the final product is splendid.   I arrived by train and Elin picked me up at the station. We headed to the house, had some prosceco and pear juice, got caught up, and toured the property.  The house is perched on a hill with a 270 degree view, an olive grove, a swimming pool, and a just-completed outbuilding.  Click here for a link to Elin's Website and to see the house! It is all pretty stunning! 

A view from Cortona

Then we jumped back into the car and headed for Cortona.  Cortona is back in Tuscany and is a hilltop town featured in Under The Tuscan Sun.  With no tourists, Cortona is cute in every way, but I could only image what it’s like in the summertime – UGH! We had a lovely lunch at “Flufluns” a hole-in-the-wall trattoria with excellent food and took a leisurely stroll through the main streets.

Corona, Elin & Zak in Cortona

Elin, Corona, & Pete in Cortona

Once the stores opened again, we all did some shopping, Katherine had a gelato, and then we headed home for dinner.  Elin introduced me to Fennell pollen, which she used to spice a small pork roast, and the mushroom risotto she made rivalled my own! YUM!  A splendid day ended all too early and I hopped back on the train to come home to Firenze. Thanks to Elin, Pete, Katerine & Corona for their wonderful hospitality.