Adventures in Cortona

Bouna Sera Tutti (Good Evening Everyone),

Lovin' the terrace...

Well, we've been settled into our new, temporary home in Cortona for about two weeks now and it is amazing.  We have to pinch ourselves every morning when we go to sit on the terrace to sip our coffees and eat German yogurt with whatever yummy piece of bread and fruit that I picked up at the market the day before.  Wednesday night was our big adventure though...

Wednesday night we were invited to join friends from Florence for dinner and drinks and to meet two artists that they were hosting.  We thought it would be a little difficult timing wise, but we decided to do it anyway.  So, we hurried our way out of Cortona.  I had to leave the Italian culture and film class that I am taking early, but this isn't something we'll be doing too terribly often and how often are we this close to Florence.  So, we took the bus to the town below, Camucia, in order to catch the train.  We grabbed our bus tickets at the Tabbacaria just in time and ran to the bus stop.  Yay, we caught the bus.  We go knowing that the little train station is often desolate and unattended, so we decide to take our chances with the ticket vending machine instead of hike up the road to the travel agency to get train tickets, since we are running a little short on time.  Of course, there are two German tourists taking their sweet time with the machine that is labeled with the actual destinations... Chris figures out from a key which code we need to punch in on the other machine to get our roundtrip tickets to Florence and we are golden.  Meanwhile, in all of the commotion of the train tickets we forget to check the night bus schedule for when we get back.  Keep in mind, Camucia is famous for stranding people with no way to get up the hill to Cortona.  It has happened to Chris a few times when bringing students for the day.

So, we are off to Florence and have an amazing time visiting with our friends, having yummy cocktails, and eating an amazing dinner, keeping in mind that the train we "know" how to get to Cortona from is leaving the Florence station at 9:30 pm.  Our hostess kindly reminds us at around 9:05 pm that we should start getting ourselves to the station.  We call a cab just to be safe and get to the station around 9:20 pm.  As we feverishly search the boards for the platform to our train we realize it is leaving at 9:22 pm, 8 minutes earlier then was listed when we checked on-line and on the station board when we arrived in Florence!  We run.  As we arrive at the platform, luckily, a gaggle of Carabineri (Italian military police) are searching a group of men wanting to get onto our train, slowing the trains early departure just enough for us to jump on.  

So, we get on the train, fully aware that getting back up the hill to Cortona may be an issue having realized that we had forgotten to check the bus schedule.  We have the phone number for the only taxi driver in Cortona, but when we first tried calling to make a reservation there wasn't any phone service on the train.  We decide to wait until we get closer to Cortona to call since we aren't exactly sure when the train will be arriving.  Around 11pm I tried calling again since we knew we were only one stop away from our destination.  No answer and no way to leave a message... hmmm, unsettling.  The train arrived in Camucia at around 11:15pm and we immediately went to check the bus schedule posted on a sign in the piazza outside of the station... the last bus was at 9:04pm.  Ok, so we try the taxi number again... still no answer and no way to leave a message.  His phone is off!  So we decide to walk to a café further into town, because surely they will have another taxi number, right?  We get to the café and ask and the barista and she takes us outside to show us the sign with not only one, but two other taxi numbers!  So I call.  I reach a woman who, with her gravelly voice is obviously in bed and has no intension of coming, refers us to another number and I ask if it is the other gentleman posted on the sign and she responds quickly that that is her son and he won't be coming either.  She gives me another number and it is actually the Cortona driver who's phone is off.

A collaborative piece Chris and I
did as an art postcard...

Long story, not so short, we decided to bite the bullet and make the 5 mile or so trek, all uphill climb (what seemed like a 45 degree incline, but ok Chris is right; that is ridiculous, but it is steep) on foot in dress shoes (thankfully flats).  It actually ended up being short of fun.  It was a little scary since there are no street lights along the narrow hairpin turns, but the moon was pretty bright and the weather was perfect.  It was quite a beautiful walk with the cypress trees glowing silvery in the moonlight, lining the way.  There was a nice light breeze to cool us as we got heated up and wafted smells of the Tuscan country air towards us.  Admittedly there were a few frightening (better check your pants) moments of large snarling dogs coming at us in the dark, but luckily even though we couldn't see them, there were thin wire fences holding them back.  We have also been hearing plenty of stories of wild animals here in the hills, such as wild boars, foxes, and wolves, but we didn't run into any of them, though we did hear some not too distant howling of what I would guess to have been a coyotes.  We sang some songs to both occupy ourselves and scare any possible critters.  

Just as we were getting close to the top, finally after what seemed like dozens of cars careening down the tight turns past us, practically pinning against retaining walls and steep ledges, a nice older gentlemen stopped and offered us a ride up to the main piazza.  After a few moments thought we decided since we had made it this far we may as well finish the job.  So, we headed to the two escalators and a flight of stairs that finish the final ascent into town, but of course with the way our evening was going, they were both turned off.  As we climbed the last bit we were saying we didn't really need to share our little mishap with everyone.  Poetically, while we made our final push up three large flights of stairs to the top, of course a friend who has been teaching with the program on and off for years was sitting right at the top of the steps at a little café with some italian friends to catch us at the end of our embarrassing little adventure.  All we could do was laugh when we saw him.

All together it was actually a lot of fun, good exercise after a big dinner, an authentic experience, and it surely makes for a memorable story.

Cortona

So, upon arriving to our beautiful new (temporary) home/ apartment in Cortona, we were greeted with this incredible sunset from our terrace. I wish you could be here to see it! We could sit and have a glass of wine and talk about the last 10 years that we have missed. 

This cute black kitty was following us in the park, playing and running around us in circles, but we completely lost his attention when this ginormous frog showed up...

Florence

At the Bargello Museum

Blowing out the candles on my Birthday gelato at Emily's house

My 32nd Birthday at Emily's house. How fitting that I spent it in Florence with her exactly 10 years ago to the day.

I love the Bargello!

A fabulous lunch at our favorite (secret) restaurant in Florence...

Still the same amazing view of Florence from San Miniato

Emily's adorable new little kitten, Guelfo, who is a little purr machine and I just couldn't get enough of him!

Rome

View from the Capitoline Hill

Rome's mascot, the She-wolf, mothering Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome).
On the way to the Forum from the Capitoline Hill.

These three trees have been maintained in the center of the Forum since the time of the Republic.
There are olive (oil), grape (wine), and fig (fruit) trees which they considered to bear the necessities of life.

In the Forum

View from a balcony inside of the Vatican Museum

A sacrifice to Dionysus in the Vatican sculpture garden.

Anyone recognize this little beauty?

I just thought she had the best face...

She is pretty gorgeous too!

At the top of the Spanish steps.

A man unknowingly bathing in a fountain full of pigeon poop at the Villa Borghese...
that's what he gets for sticking his fat head into my shot.

The side of the Colosseum.
Behind me is where the gladiators would train.

The Colosseum (as if you needed me to label it...)

Outside of the Arch of Constantine (? I think that's the right one)

Sitting in a really cool installation at the MAXI (Contemporary Museum) in Rome.

Ciao!

Bella's attempt to come along for the trip...

My amazing friend Michelle started this blog for me from e-mails that I had been sending home to friends and family and photos that I had been posting on Facebook.  She put together the design, title, and first several posts for which I am eternally grateful.  The title is inspired by (I believe) my kitty Bella, who had to stay home and I think she imagined me telling Bella the stories of my adventures a bit like Marco Polo telling Kublai Khan in Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities".  This theme will occur later throughout the blog...
(Although, I am considering changing the name to "Confessions of a hopeless Italophile", but maybe that will be the name of my book...)


Ciao Tutti-

We made it safely to Canada and we are waiting patiently for our flight which will leave in about an hour.  Apparently we are boarding in about 5 mins.  We'll message when we are on the other side of the ocean.

View from the Capitoline Hill

A presto-

Marissa and Chris 


Ciao Everybody-
We're here in Rome! We are exhausted, but happy to be here. We're heading to bed, since he have an early start tomorrow. Have a good night. 
Love,
Marissa and Chris
PS Darren- we both have our laptops, so if you tell me how to set up Skype, we'll do it.

Ruined cloister connected to a Romanesque church in Viterbo

We made it to Florence yesterday. On our way to Florence from Rome we stopped in this really beautiful hill town called Viterbo. 

Wedding at San Miniato