… hoping to get out of the drizzle in Firenze. Another ancient hill town, Cortona started by at least 800 BC, and became one of the 12 towns of the Etruscan League in the 400s BC. Today Cortona is the home of Jovanotti, Mia’s favorite Italian singer, and she hoped to catch a glimpse of him somewhere, walking or biking through town. (We didn’t.)
Cortona’s about two hours from Firenze, and the drive is pleasant, mostly on the A1 expressway. Lots of green fields, flowering trees, and interesting old buildings on the hilltops.
We found a great (free!) parking space fairly far up the hill that is Cortona and so didn’t have to walk too far to the center of town. Because the town is on such a steep hill, there is a beautiful view from every overlook, which also provided a welcome rest.
We ate a light lunch at Bar 500, a restaurant with the Fiat 500 as its theme. Mia felt right at home! We had pizza and sandwiches.
Thus fortified, we continued to explore the city, stopping at one of its many interesting galleries that has a deep well in the floor, filled with fancy goldfish.
We went to the Diocesan Museum, housed in an ex-church which contains important artwork by Fra Angelico, Signorelli and Lorenzetti; church vestments and other sacred items, relics of saints, and some Roman pieces. We looked at a few lovely churches (including San Francesco) and took many many photos of interesting sights in Cortona…
We stopped at Il Cacio Brillo, an enoteca, for a glass of wine and breadsticks. A little further down the street was a restaurant that advertised pici alle molliche, pici pasta with a garlic, butter and bread crumb sauce. We stopped and shared one entrée, just to see if it was as good as the dish we made a few years back on our last trip to Tuscany. It was really tasty!
Now well after dark, we hit the road for Firenze!
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