Even though today was a free day, we were still out of the house by 9:30 and just returned right before 5 PM. I think longer than we both anticipated. We still have not been able to find an open supermarket when we need it.

We had two major stops today, one in Cortona, which is in Tuscany and maybe familiar to any of you who watched the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. The second stop was Lake Trasimeno, the fourth largest lake in Italy, which is located east of Tuscany in Umbria.

Both stops were easier to get to than we anticipated and I became overly excited when I learned we would be on like a highway for 55 km. Nothing here has been that long yet. Tomorrow I’m sure we’ll be driving a much more on highways as we are heading to Rome.

Cortona sits on top of a hill like many of the major medieval cities in the area. The drive up to corona a little challenging, but I assume it’s preparing me for the Amalfi coast. Sections would be wider than others and then very narrow and then you do a switchback which was hoping nobody was coming the opposite direction. It was a little stressful. By the time we arrived at the parking lot, I needed a nap. We found a spot that we thought was going to be free parking because it was in the Holy Spirit parking lot and it said free on the website. But that was not true…this is my surprise look. We had to pay 4 euros, not too shabby. We also picked this lot because it had an escalator which we fell in love with and Siena. It was a little misleading because we still had to walk up steps in order to get to the escalator and then going down there was no escalator for part of it. But hell, I’ll take an escalator over steps any day other week.

At the top of the steps, there was a beautiful viewing spot, which was quite large and you could see both Tuscany and even lLake Trasimeno.

Cortona is not very big, but it does have 22,000 residents. We entered it in at one of them main streets called Via Nazionale. This pedestrian walkway was flanked with all kind of shops selling clothing, jewelry, leather goods, souvenirs, and gelatorias, wine, restaurants, etc. the street ends in the main square called Piazza della Repubblica. This square defined “the most romantic square in Italy.” As you walk closer, you can see the Town Hall with the clock tower. This square is the real heart of the town where sooner or later you end up coming across the inhabitants of Cortona and the people wandering around to visit the town. The Town Hall, originally called Palazzo dei Priori, was developed between the late 12th century and the 16th century, with refurbishment and renovation works still carried out in the 1800s.

Because it was Saturday, the square also had tents up selling things such as fruits and vegetables, chocolate, cheeses, salami, clothes, dried fruits, spices, Tuscan jams, honey, etc. you could even buy a Porchetta sandwich. So if you had to guess what I bought, what do you think it was? Yes, chocolate, cheese, and some dried fruit called pomelo that I can only find in European countries. Carol Allen got me hooked on it while we were in Cyprus.

We learned about a museum they had there called the Accademia Etrusca, and decided to visit. The Museum was established in 2005 and brings together the ancient eighteenth-century collections of the Accademia Etrusca as the Etruscan chandelier, the Egyptian section, the ancient Library and the section dedicated to Gino Severini, as the latest archaeological finds illustrating the history of Cortona.

Since 2005 the MAEC-Museum of the Etruscan Academy and the Town of Cortona – is divided into two main theme sections that make it an original tourist attraction. The first one, better known as Section of the Etruscan and Roman town of Cortona, gathers extraordinary archaeological finds, brought to light during recent excavations in the Cortona area, which are evidence of the ancient history of this town. Significant objects coming from the grave goods of the burial mounds in Sodo and Camucia are on display. One of the most interesting pieces is the renowned Tabula Cortonensis, a document written in Etruscan dating back to the 2nd century B.C. Thanks to these remarkable finds the MAEC Museum is considered one of the most important museums in Tuscany.

The second part of the museum, has some the oldest, richest and most heterogeneous section of the whole museum complex, which has been progressively increasing over the centuries since 1727 thanks to the private collections.

When we first arrived, the city wasn’t too crowded with tourist, but as we were leaving, it definitely picked up and we noticed that the parking lot was completely packed. One of the benefits of visiting this small city is it’s not nearly as crowded as some of the other cities. Lots of people make their way here because of the movie, but it was a lovely little town.

Our next stop was Lake Trasimeno. It only took us about 30 minutes to get there from Cortona, and we were sort of rushing but not really to make sure we made it in time for lunch. We ate a restaurant called Osteria il Maremmano, but the beautiful view of the lake. The sun was out many people were walking around. It’s about only 70° here today so it’s a little cooler. There were some sailboats on the lake maybe windsurfer and a motorboat or two. Not that much activity on the lake. Mom and I ordered calamari and shrimp as an appetizer and a pasta dish. While we consider this lunch, it was both lunch and dinner because we were full and didn’t even finish or even halfway finish our pasta. Mom ordered a pici, which is a hand rolled pasta similar to a stick spaghetti. with a red sauce and I ordered the same pasta with a Chianini white sauce. I enjoyed mine more than mom enjoyed hers. She thought the pasta was al dente and she likes it more overcooked. Cinzia recommended we visit a local butcher to try this meat called chianini. So when I saw it on the menu, I had to try it. Chianina is an Italian breed of large white cattle. It was formerly principally a draught breed; it is now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. We came home with leftovers and I have a feeling will be going to Rome with us.

On our return from the lake, as we were getting closer to home, we pulled over and took a few photos of Siena. This is one of my favorites.

Tomorrow we drive to Rome. Wish us luck because Marta scared us and about the crazy drivers in Rome.