22 October 2009 - Il Sole del Sodo B&B and A Magical Evening in Cortona - "Under the Tuscan Sun" Country

We arrived at our B&B and were met by Anna, the owner's sister. She was lovely and very helpful. It was the oldest home we'd ever stayed in and it was so nice to relax after the "exciting" drive from Rome!

Our Home in Cortona for three nights - Il Sole del Sodo B&B - the mural on the wall was about 100 years old!

Antique Lamp and Bathroom at Il Sole del Sodo B&B

Views from our room across to the little town of Sodo and the Tuscan countryside

Panorama view from our room at the Il Sole del Sodo B&B

Looking down from our Juliette balcony to the courtyard below - with the obligatory olive trees and grape vines!

Our B&B was over a hundred years old with steep staircases and cute shuttered windows. It was the oldest building we had ever slept in!

Name plaque for our room - Stanza Degli Affreschi

There were pots of colour - including a cute couple of reindeer - around the front courtyard of the B&B

Our Juliette Balcony - above the entrance to the Il Sole di Sodo B&B

Scenes around the back of the B&B - with the pool and olive groves and the Tuscan hills in the background

The restaurant of the B&B - we enjoyed breakfast here each morning

On our way up to our room and through the staircase window we spied a cute grey cat sitting in the middle of a potplant in the courtyard of the house located behind our B&B. The whole courtyard was so typically Italian I had to take a couple of shots to freeze the moment in time.

In the afternoon I wrote some postcards while Steve had a rest and at about 5.00 p.m. we got dressed and headed up to the medieval city of Cortona for dinner - it is called a "city" but has an atmosphere more of a village or town. There is only one street that is on level ground and the rest are steep and narrow with amazing sights down each one.

Views from the carpark located high on the hillside outside Cortona city walls down to the town of Tavernelle-Sant'Eusebio in the Tuscan countryside below

Ancient city walls and a medieval church steeple - our first close-up glimpse of Cortona

The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio is located just outside the city walls.

From the carpark entrance we gazed down upon this amazing huge cemetery which is located halfway up the hill to Cortona. Apparently Napolean decreed it had to be outside the city walls to prevent diseases from spreading to the inhabitants. Beyond the cemetery is the town of Tavernelle-Sant'Eusebio located at the bottom of the steep hill.

Cortona - What made it even more special was to visit it for the first time at night as the glow from the medieval lamplights made it almost magical. It was like being in one of the old movies from yesteryear!

Steve at one of the entrances within the ancient walls of Cortona. We stood enthralled as we contemplated the uniqueness of this town. We had never seen anything like it and just drank in the atmosphere before proceeding up the hill and passing ancient houses along the way.

We had to park our car outside the city walls as only residents are allowed to drive in due to the narrow and steep streets of the city. There are no footpaths so pedestrians have to walk on the roadways and it would be very dangerous with heavy traffic having to navigate around them.

Cortona - streets so narrow but still the cars were able to navigate down them and avoid the pedestrians.

Around the Town Square are many little shops plying their goods to the hoards of people that visit this place each year. We purchased postcards and train tickets for our journey to Florence the next day.

Cortona Town Square - a hub of people and just delightful to soak in the atmosphere

The Cortona Town Hall - central to this magical medieval town - was a focal point in the movie 'Under the Tuscan Sun' which was filmed here. The fountain in the movie was constructed in the Town Square while filming took place and was then dismantled to restore the Town Square to its original state.

We were enthralled by the stunning narrow streets that branched off in all directions. The fact that this was a medieval town made for carriages, not cars, was so evident by the "non" city plan of the streets as they were so narrow and so steep and went off in all directions. The fact that cars were able to navigate them was a wonder in itself! Cobblestones, ancient lamps, houses made of rocks that were centuries old - it was an amazing experience.

The breathtaking Cortona Town Square - where several of the scenes from 'Under the Tuscan Sun' were filmed. At night it was just spectacular and felt quite magical.

Every street had narrow laneways and steep staircases with ancient stone walls leading down to the next section of town

History come to life in the streets of Cortona

After wandering up and down the streets we found the most incredible restaurant to enjoy our first dinner in Tuscany - Ristorante Il Cacciatore - located on Via Roma in Cortona. Officially opened in 1904 this was the first restaurant opened to the public in the medieval city of Cortona. The room in which we dined was part of the medieval town hall and I became quite overcome with emotions on a couple of occasions as we sat in this building that was hundreds of years old. I kept wondering about the lives that had walked these floors over the centuries - what they had endured, the highs and lows that had been a part of each individual life, and how their lives ended. To me it was like history became almost tangible and every crevice seemed to emanate a forgotten story. We were the only ones dining and consequently our waiter couldn't do enough for us. We felt like we did in the Cook Islands when we celebrated our 10th Anniversary dinner and Tavita had closed the restaurant so we could enjoy a private dinner. While enjoying a sumptuous dinner of steak with proscuitto and truffles - our first experience of truffles - finished with a delicious Chocolate Pannacotta, I could almost hear the galloping hooves thundering on the cobblestones bringing news from afar over 2000 years ago - it was truly the most amazing experience and one I will never forget. I truly can say I've never experienced such an emotional dinner.

Dining in the incredible Ristorante Il Cacciatore in Cortona

Steve outside the gorgeous entrance to a shop in Cortona - all the shops were like this

Marble plaque on one of the buildings of Cortona No secrets in Cortona! Looking up we spied this clothesline - one of many in this fascinating township

The steep, narrow streets of this amazing little town perched on the top of a hill in Tuscany!

It was sad to leave this amazing little town, but eventually we wandered back to our car and coasted down the hill to the B&B for an early night after an extraordinary and emotional day. Cortona - If you never go to any other medieval town in Italy you MUST visit this one! I will never forget feeling so awestruck as we wandered the ancient streets of this incredible hillside town - our first medieval village - in all its night splendour! (It had such an effect on me I'm even getting emotional writing about this, four months after the event, because it was such an amazing evening.)