Views from our balcony - I loved the swaying organza curtain and the iron posts
Anna, our delightful hostess, at the Il Sole del Sodo B&B situated just outside the town of Cortona
A quaint statue of Santa Maria located in the wall of one of the old buildings opposite our B&B. It reminded me of the one where the old man brings flowers each day in "Under the Tuscan Sun".
Steve outside the gates to our B&B, just prior to our leaving for Cortona
We made our way back up the narrow, steep road to the old city of Cortona, again quite cautious at the speed of the other drivers and the steep cliff face beside the road!
Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio - the beautiful church outside the city walls, which is where the exterior wedding shots in "Under the Tuscan Sun" was filmed
In the photo below is an aerial view of Cortona - buildings and streets shown in further photos are easily identifiable in this shot. The tower on the middle left is the Town Hall which is featured in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" and the very large church in the centre of the photo (just above the long white building) is the one where I sat on the stairs and chatted to the old lady in the story I mention further down. Steve walked up to the monastery overlooking Cortona, seen here on the top right. St Francis of Assissi is believed to have stayed here. You can also see dome of Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio outside the city walls in the centre of the photo.
The long straight road which looks vertical in this picture and is located on the left bottom is captured in the photo further down with the amazing view and really steep road. The photo directly below this one was taken where the orange roofs are located right at the bottom of the photo.
The amazing houses on the edge of the Etruscan wall of Cortona - we walked up here absolutely in wonder at the history before our eyes! The ocre home with orange roof on the right is clearly seen with two others in the aerial photo above, just left of centre bottom.
Entering Cortona through one of the gates of the city - would you believe that cars negotiate these streets?
Striking medieval bronze doorway in Cortona - I wonder how old they are?
Cars jockeying for position as they negotiate the narrow steep streets of Cortona
How's that for a narrow, steep street with an amazing view to the Tuscan Valley? One of the seven gates of the old town of Cortona. This is the long straight road at the left bottom of the aerial photo of Cortona.
Entrance to Hotel St Michele, Cortona, looking up to Piazza dell Repubblica
The entrance to Hotel St Michele's parking garage - I wonder what this was originally used for?
One of the many steep, narrow streets in this delightful town
Delightful medieval lamp and Coat of Arms located on Cortona's Town Hall
The entrance to Ristorante Preludio - we returned a couple of hours later, after wandering around the town purchasing gifts and souvenirs as well as just exploring, to partake of a delicious lunch in delightful surroundings. The movie credits for "Under the Tuscan Sun" thanked this restaurant as the cast and crew enjoyed dinner here on many occasions during the filming of the movie.
Gorgeous little shops built into the stairs of the Cortona Town Hall - quite ingenious!
Jeni on the stairs of the Cortona Town Hall, made famous in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun". It is a very impressive building situated in the centre of Piazza della Repubblica, Cortona's main public square.
We wandered down to Piazza Signorelli where the local markets are held every Saturday and I was able to purchase a lovely embroidered tablecloth for €5 - a real bargain. While browsing the many stalls suddenly I recognised Piggely, our B&B's resident dog, and we stopped and chatted to Anna's sister, who was from Rome and visiting for the weekend. She had brought Piggely and her own dog along for an outing to this delightful little marketplace. It is a quite regular occurrence that we encounter someone I know from my past when out on an "excursion" of some sort at home but we couldn't believe that being thousands of miles from home we still were able to find "someone" we knew! The one and only "person" we bumped into whom we had met before during our travels throughout Europe!
Teatro Signorelli - the movie cinema in the Piazza Signorelli. This was used in "Under the Tuscan Sun" in one of the main scenes and as the director said in her commentary of the movie, the film would actually be shown here. It was also used in the movie "Life is Beautiful".
We were amazed at how the cars were able to negotiate the very narrow streets. Only residents were permitted to drive inside the old town. We wondered how they didn't have accidents as there were side streets heading off in all directions and often around a very blind corner.
The only "front" yard we saw in Cortona - every other house or building we saw was built straight onto the street but we came across this beautiful yard that actually had trees and a lawn, with a fascinating ancient tower in the corner.
As we wandered around I was entranced by the age of the buildings and the construction of the narrow, steep, cobblestone streets - to think that people had walked them 2500 years ago just amazed me. I felt transported back in time...
One of the fascinating streets of Cortona.
Ancient tower in Cortona - I wonder what has occurred in these walls down through the years?
Beautiful old medieval church in Cortona. I sat on these steps while Steve took a walk up the very steep hill to a monastery perched high above Cortona.
Views from the hilltop monastery down to the Tuscan plains and the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio - used as the location for the wedding in "Under the Tuscan Sun"
View from the hilltop monastery down to the old town of Cortona and the vast Tuscany plains below. If you click on the photo it will enlarge and you can see the old cemetery in the middle on the right, which Napolean had declared to be situated outside the city walls to ensure disease was controlled. (When you've finished enlarging it just click the back arrow and you will return to my blog entry.)
Gardens within the monastery walls
Old Etruscan walls of the monastery that overlooks Cortona and Tuscany far below
One of the many ancient streets of Cortona, lined with homes that are hundreds of years old - so picturesque!
While Steve walked up to the monastery I sat on the stairs of the church and a little old lady, about 80 years old, trundled up from the market carrying two HUGE bags of goods she had purchased. She stopped next to me for a rest and we "chatted" in her extremely broken English and my extremely broken Italian and she told me she had lived there all her life right at the top of the hill where Steve was. After about 10 minutes she waved goodbye and started up the steep hill in the photo below, which had about a 35 degree incline, and when she had gone about 25 metres one of the women in the house on the left with the green door came down and gave her a glass of water and had a chat with her for a few minutes, then about 30 metres further up the hill another woman leaned out of her window and then brought her a cup of tea and they chatted for another few minutes - it was so lovely to see the rapport between them and the care they took of her as she slowly made her way home.
Steve making his way back to me after his walk to the monastery
Marble bust over one of Cortona's archways
Quaint Cortona home - tall and narrow with stonework that could tell thousands of tales!
Typical archway across one of the narrow streets of Cortona - and cars fit through it!
Tall ancient building of Cortona - I wonder how old those stones are?
Cortona Clock Tower on the Town Hall - featured in "Under the Tuscan Sun"
Ristorante Il Cacciatore - our dinner spot the night before - we shared a delightful meal here, full of emotion and wonder at being in such a romantic medieval town that was over 2500 years old!
The restaurant Il Cacciatore on via Roma was the first restaurant opened in the medieval city of Cortona, in 1904. Some of its rooms were a part of the medieval town hall of Cortona and as we dined I tried to imagine living here centuries ago.
Steve about to enjoy lunch at the elegant Restaurant Preludio - one of the location spots for "Under the Tuscan Sun" which is thanked in the credits of the movie. I didn't realise it was in the movie until I watched it today as I write this (4 months after we arrived home!).
We feasted on a delicious meal here, while enjoying the sumptuous surroundings - it truly was visually stunning and just how I'd imagined a Tuscan restaurant to be!
Elegant statues of African women with their babies graced the staircase inside the restaurant
Stunning frescos and cloisters composed the ceiling in the restaurant - we felt very special to be here, especially as we were the only ones in the restaurant.
The stunning entrance to Restaurant Preludio - just delightful!
The stunning entrance to Restaurant Preludio - just delightful!
After lunch we slowly made our way back to the car. Near the entrance to the town we stumbled across some Americans coming out of this beautiful courtyard and they said they were professors from the USA and this was the University of Alberta, Cortona - quite a long way from home! They let us have a quick look around before locking it up for the day.
Beautiful cloisters of the University of Alberta in Cortona, with gorgeous frescos adorning them
On our return we relaxed in the grounds of our B&B and played ball with the dogs, before sharing a light dinner of crusty bread, cheese and fruit following by a few games of cards before an early night.
Cute Piggely, the B&B's dog, lapping up some attention from Steve
Anna's sister's terrier - a delightful little dog who just loved his ball
We watched the sun slowly setting over the Tuscan Hills from the balcony of our room and I couldn't resist capturing it for all time
It had been a delightful day in a very enchanting medieval town! As I've already said, if you are heading to Italy this is one place I really encourage you to add to your travels. I would go back there in a heartbeat...hopefully one day...
(I've just been watching "Under the Tuscan Sun" prior to writing this and it brought back so many great memories of many of the buildings we marvelled over, the streets we walked down and shops and churches we visited, including a credit to Restaurant Preludia, our gorgeous lunch spot!)
