shave ice & gelato

Tuesday, June 19th
The breakfast the following morning in Bologna was one of the usual buffet types. There was a man at the bar taking orders for coffee. He made me a delicious Caffè macchiato. The staff were very friendly and helpful. I found Hotel Porta San Mamolo after reading one of Palma’s posts from Bologna. I would definitely stay there again if returning to Bologna.

I arrived in Cortona about 12:45 after two train rides. It was a beautiful day. 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 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 Girasole 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.

Wednesday, June 20th
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 Girasole to see if Alessandra 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 Alessandra. 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 Alessandra 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.

I still have tons of photos to share from my trip to Italy last summer. Because some of my photos would work better in a slide show type set up, I finally learned how to make a picasa web album slide show today. I have not posted any photos of Cortona yet. I decided to make my first slideshow of a hike I did in Cortona in June 2007.

After a long train ride to Cortona, finding a taxi, settling in, and having lunch, I spent my first afternoon in Cortona hiking up to the Sanctuary of Santa Margherita and the Fortezza del Girifalco. It was a long hike uphill. Although it was a hot afternoon, the views were spectacular. When I finally reached the top, I arrived at a huge church, the Sanctuary of Santa Margherita. It was unfortunately closed when I arrived.

I continued walking a little further uphill to reach the Fortezza del Girifalco. The cost to enter the fortezza was 3 euros. There was only one other person visiting this very peaceful fortezza while I was there. I first spent about 30 minutes walking along the wall that surrounded the perimeter along the top (similar to the fortezza in Montalcino) enjoying the views and the cool breeze. I then spent a little bit of time checking out the rooms inside. There were a few art pieces hanging in one or two of the rooms. Although the other rooms were empty, they were also peaceful and cool. After an enjoyable visit, I headed back to town, taking a different path, which took me along a few windy roads through a beautiful area of the town.

view from the bus stop:

While in Cortona, I took a daytrip to Arezzo, a place I have wanted to see since seeing the movie, Life is Beautiful. I wrote about my visit, "the men of Cortona & Arezzo" while traveling last summer. Here are some photos to go with the post.

The Duomo was HUGE!! Too bad it was closed when I arrived.