Cortona

With a crescent moon still bright, the sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon of hills, spreading reddish light over the Chiana plain below Cortona. I open the window for some cool morning air, and the bakery aromas tease me. Sigh. We are leaving Cortona today after a wonderful week in eastern Tuscany. This ancient Etruscan hill town is as beautiful as Frances Mayes describes it in her memoir, and I have taken numerous pictures of it and the countryside for my course next semester as I'll be teaching Under the Tuscan Sun again. Tim and I took the "Big Walk" three times. The "Big Walk," as it is referred to here, is a 3 mile or so path that encircles the town outside its walls. We leave the town proper at Piazza Girabaldi, stroll through the parterre built by Napolean (one of 2 flat walks in Cortona!), out into the country a bit, past Bramasole (Mayes' house), around the old fort at the highest point on this hill and St. Margherita church and back again by way of Via San Niccolo. We have had such a relaxing time here.

After the morning market, we leave for Milan for a night there before heading to Paris for the Christmas holidays. More updates soon.