Morning tour of Centro Storico of Montepulciano and Cortona
Gary and I decided to get up early and head out on a little reconissance mission. Another dry run. Hence Gary’s nick name Dr. DR. Ww had thought about leaving at 6:30, but though better of it and agreed on 7. I was freaking out because Christine didn’t want to leave the phone on for me to use that alarm. I tried to get my watch alarm set, but I had absolutely no confidence in it. Needless to say I didn’t sleep all that well because of it and I was fully awake before six. I slipped out onto our cool patio with its unbelievable view of the lago and tried to catch up on this journal in the time I had. The sun was rising in the east and I could smell great bread baking somewhere. This patio is quite interesting in that you can not see it from the street. It appears as only a small slit in the roof. This also means there is a wall around the area which really gives total privacy. I can stand up and see out to the lake, but when sitting the small cast iron table with two chairs and a couple of splotches of bird poop, I can’s see anything except he brown tile floor, yellowish tan wash on the walls and a tiny bit of the roof. But all I have to do is stand up and I get a full 180 degree view of the lake and a great clump of cypresses straight ahead.
I got down stairs at about 6:55. No Gary. I even had to unlock the front door to let myself out. I sat oout in the patio area and waited. At exactly 7 I heard a phone ring upstairs at exactly 7 and know it must be Gary’s wake-up call from Stephano and sure enough in about two minutes There was Gary and off we went.
Our first goal was to check out Montepulciano, here after referred to as “the puch.” We got onto the main highway but turned south and tried to wind our way there over the back roads. I worked the map but Gary also has a great sense of where he is and can make quick decisions about the direct he needs to go. It really turned out to be no problem. We had a little slow up as we waited at one of those traffic light things on the side of the road while some workers got ready to continue with some major improvements on the road. In less that 40 minutes we were climbing the hill to the puch. Many claim that the view from the valley below is really the best view of all but we push up into the city in our black Peugeot. Because there was very little traffic we went flying up into the centro storico. Gary has extreme confidence and no fear although we were almost creamed by a huge Mercedes truck in the heart of the city. Actually I would have been the one who was creamed. We swung back around, kind of made a loop, headed down the hill out of town. We stopped along the way and got gas and I took a picture back toward the city. We then headed toward Cortona. The signs directed us in a weird looping way but we finally found it. It is on the top of a hill but at the base of the hill is quite a large town with many shops and much activity. We climbed up the hill and Gary again blazed his way into the centro storico. It was about ten to nine and the signs said the center closed to cars at nine so we were fine. We had to dodge a bunch of trucks unloading goods for the day but we kept driving downhill and eventually escaped. Al least for Gary nothing seemed to be drawing him there or holding him there, so our one time plan of having dinner there tonight or even taking the women there seemed to be evaporating. Looking at the map I saw a back road way which we decided to take. We wound up one hill and on the back side discovered a dilapidated old church which Gary was convinced would be a great spot for dinner, but when we checked it out there really wasn’t anything there. “Is it something?” No, it isn’t anything. The cross roads town was called Mercantile and from there we headed back up another hill and the signs said that Touro was 6K away. At the top of the hill we found a restaurant with a stunning view and lawyer lawn chairs. A dinner possibility, so we stopped to check it out and like true Italians we stepped up to the bar and ordered due café at €1 each. We then headed back down the hill and were back from our adventure at 9:30. Just in time to find the ladies down for breakfast.
Isola Maggiore on Lago Trasimeno
Our plan for the day was to get some exercise and go for a hike first down to the lago and the lido, then to take a boat ride over to the second largest of the three Isola Maggiore. We probably again left about eleven and walked the exact route I ran in the morning. It was interesting that tight before we crossed under the freeway in a tunnel there were some carbinieri by the side of the road pulling people over. We saw it again later in the trip. Some kind of a random checkpoint thing. We walked into the park along the water and then past the weird statues commemorating the battle of Trasimeno. We checked out the schedule of times the ferries were leaving and then walked out to the ticket sales book and found we had missed the 11:40 and would have to take the 12:20 all for €9.40 for the two of us. It was probable a 15 minuteish ride and we arrived to a bunch of shops, a few restaurants and I think a hotel. Immediately I bought a guide in English with a map. The island is about 24 hectares in area, two kilometers in perimeter and at the highest point is 308 meters above sea level. We decided to hike around the perimeter but were stymied by a locked gate and fence. I’m not sure Peggy was ever convinced she couldn’t get in there. In my book I am currently reading Francis Mayes’ Bella Tuscany, she talks about spending the night on the island and then asking to see the unoccupied house and being shown it all. Supposedly someone from Rome owned it and some day was going to fix it up. Apparently 2007 is that time.
We hiked up to the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel but it was closed. As we hiked down, we discovered a monument to St. Francis that supposedly houses a block of stone that served as a pallet when he was on the island during lent of 1211. He fasted on the island for 40 days. Further down the trail there is a decaying wooden statue of St. Francis that we could find no information on and then one of bronze that is no more than 20 years old. We walked all around the perimeter and saw a nesting pheasant along the water’s edge and made it back to the settlement. Next we hiked up to the old (wind) mill which one map described as a Roman tower. We went back down, I bought two aprons, and we stopped at the little café where I had bought water earlier and had a bite of lunch. A paninni and a bite of gelato. I had nothing as I was at least trying to be hungry for dinner. We caught the 2:40 ferry back and hicked back through the statues and up to Tuoro. We explored a bit and found an even faster way to get back than I had found in the morning. Once you actually looked at it it was amazing how far we looped back as we went up the hill. We probably got back to Capricci by 3:30 or 4. Enough time for a dip. I stayed up in the room and wrote a little and Christine went down and actually swam. By the time I got down there I wasn’t warm enough to swim so I just sat out and read. Gary ordered a bottle of red wine which Sergio delivered with four glasses and some salami, bread and cheese. Perfetto.
Gary had borrowed a guide on Umbria from a couple from Cork and he found a place in Castelo Rigone called Ristorante La Corte in Relais La Fattoria. It was a 40 minute drive up a windy road, but we parked and got there in time of our 8 p.m. reservation. We tried to eat outside, but it was just too cold so we moved in and it was quite an elegant place all in white with the bowed chair covers. Three of us had the pris fixe €28 menu. Which consisted of a scrambled egg and toast thing with olives. A pasta with porcinis and a pork course with a great balsamic reduction which Christine and Peggy thought was too sharp, but I loved. The dessert was describes a milk pudding but was really a flan with almonds and caramel. The wine we had was a Rosso di Multipuciano from Avignonesi which Frances Mayes also mentioned in her book Bella Tuscany, Robert the owner spoke with us and asked us how we found Capricci and we told him all about Trip Advisor. After we wedged the car out of the lot we made it back without incident.
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