by | April 9th, 2003
Northern Italy tip from Claudia:
“How far south are you heading in Italy? I'm sure everyone and their monkey is suggesting places
[Ant's note - they are, and hallelujah for that], but there is a really amazing walled city named Cortona, in Tuscany, that I highly recommend.
“I meant to go for a day, I spent a week there. Great place to hang out for a day or two… many wine bars with friendly old men serving.”
Well, I don’t know how friendly the old men will be towards me, but no matter. If there’s a wine bar, there’s a good chance you’ll find an Anthony holding up its counter and, ahem, assessing the inventory for a while…
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Hey, just to clarify, Cortona is in the Florence region, so it’s not in southern Italy, but actually a good bit north of Rome. I didn’t know how far down into the boot you were going to make it. I still recommend it though!
Whoops – thanx Claudia! Shows how much I still have to learn. I fixed that inside the text so it reads correctly now.
Oh yeah, from the hostel window which is decently high up in the town, you can see Lake Como. Very pretty, also you can rent a bike and cycle to surrounding areas. Good luck getting back up the hill though….
If there’s a glass of wine waiting at the top, I’m sure I can brave that hill.
Is there good hiking in the area, what with the lake and all?
Hiking… hmm, it’s all pretty leisurely walking so I don’t know if I’d call it hiking unless you were starting at the bottom of the hill. There was a nifty church at the very top of town that had an incredible view of all around. Also nearby, which I forgot to mention before, is St. Francis of Assisi’s monastery and you can see the little cell he slept in. I am not much into monasteries, but the walk to get there (3 miles?) was really pleasant. You can wander around the monastery grounds which were in full bloom when I was there. Also along the way were patches of lavender and rosemary, so it smelled heavenly.
Grab a bottle of wine, some cheese, bread and some olives and you’ll have a great day. I often did this, and took a snooze in the local park during siesta hour.
I forgot to ask, why wouldn’t the little old men in the wine bars like you??
Because I’m not a Bettie Page-lookalike brunette, unlike some travelers out there
And thanx for telling about that monastery and park – sounds like a great way to pass a day.
who, me??
Well, maybe not – say if you have a twin sister. Or a clone.
Just returned from two week stay in Cortona. It is in a great location to visit Florence, Assisi, Montelcino and several other “wine and art cities”. We stayed at a really cool farm called Parco Fiorito and splurged for three nights at Villa Badelli and one night at Il Malone. We love Cortona and with the movie just out, it will become a very popular place.
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