0375 Lake Trasimino to Rome, via Cortona

3^rd Oct 2015

Sunshine, an Etruscan town, and coffee in the piazza !

We awoke to heavy mist over Lake Trasimeno – The sky was trying to be blue, but the mist was so thick we could see nothing. But it was not raining, which after the big storm last night was a relief.  We had been told to expect bad weather, so this was a great start, and we decided that although Rome and our friends in Rocca Priora were the target today, we would first go up to the mountain village of Cortona for a coffee in the piazza to see if it had changed at all in the last ??12 years !!

We were slow packing up because we were chatting to Rudi and Peggy in their Mercedes G Wagon.  They have driven from China, across the ‘Stans (as I call them) and Russia, so have had quite a journey themselves.  They are keen to go to Alaska by shipping to Halifax Nova Scotia next year, and as I am considering this route home too, we had a chat about it.   So by the time we had chatted, showered, and packed up, it was already 11 am before we paid our bill and headed out.

The old Etruscan town of Cortona stands high on a hill, and as we wound our way up the steep road, I started to remember it from last time.  We didn’t quite end up where I expected but close enough, and after we parked (ah, free parking – Norway could learn something from this because it puts a smile on the tourist’s face instead of a scowl !!) we walked the short distance further up the hill and within 5 minutes were in the small but delightful Piazza de Republica. This was the main part of Cortona that I remembered from last time, and in the morning sunshine, with only a few tourists

milling around, it was wonderful to be back.  Cortona is an amazing town in that the locals always seem to be just getting on with their own life, despite all the tourists around them.  People sitting in the sunshine on the steps leading up to the church, the waitresses from cafés run across the road to shops with coffees, and everyone else is just “being local” and getting on with their lives.  It makes it all seem so natural, and, I hate to say it, but, well, Italian.  It was very relaxing sitting in the piazza, drinking coffee, having a Panini, and then having a glass of vino, while the world of Cortona continued with

the local police chief standing in the square chatting to his friends, the local refuse collector parking his little 3 wheel Piaggio ute in the square while he emptied dustbins but in between was sitting and chatting to all the locals in the square – It took him more than an hour to empty the 3 dustbins in the square !  And then a classical guitarist busker set up in the corner of the square, and his music was just perfect in that atmosphere.  I could stay in a place like this forever.  (Have I said that before ?!!)

I need to digress for a moment.  When we were last here with John and Di Skidmore, while we sat in this same Piazza each evening, we noticed a young local lad who seemed to be trying to chat up all the girls, but in vain. We christened him Wallio, and on this visit we spent some time trying to see if he was still around.  We spotted a few possibilities, but no definites !!

After an hour sitting in the piazza and watching the world go by (one of my favourite hobbies !), it was time to start heading towards Roma.  We wandered through into the larger piazza next door

which had a local market set up (Saturday), so we spent a while inspecting their cheeses and salamis, and some of their clothing.   Then a visit to an ATM to stock up, a bit of window shopping, and a gelati to go, and we were set.  We wandered off down through some little alleyways, not knowing quite where we were going but working on the theory that if we kept going downhill, we should end up at our car park.  Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, we were reasonably close and, not having to pay for 2 hours parking, left with a smile on our face and a good feeling about Cortona.  It really is a great little town. By the way, I make no apologies for the many photos of alleyways in Cortona - There are so many, and everyone is a feast for the eyes. I just had to keep them all ! 

Winding down the hill in the car, we set the computer to take us towards Orvieto.  After a while we stopped for a bite to eat amongst some vines on the top of a hill, before heading on down the narrow B roads.  We saw a van beside the road selling fresh picked porcini mushrooms that are apparently a delicacy in this part of the world and decided that this would be an ideal present to take to our friends in Rome, and have fun choosing our mushrooms and chatting to the guy before we bag our purchase and head on down the road. When we reach Orvieto we have a quick drive up to the town, recognize little, and then jump on the Autostrada to Rome so we can get there before midnight. Meanwhile the weather is getting better and better and we end up with an almost clear blue sky.

Finding Gabriella’s house is always a challenge, as they live on a narrow lane that is off another narrow lane that starts somewhere in this little village called Rocca Priora.  We are in the Castelli Romani, the hills above Rome, but somehow my friend Mr Garmin directs us almost to Gabriella’s front door ! Wonders never cease.  Naturally we receive a truly Roman Welcome and before long are sitting around their dining table enjoying some vino, the porcini mushrooms (suitably prepared by Gabriella), and other freshly picked vegetables from their garden. The grappa that came out later, and a special Sicilian cheese, I was not so sure about !  It was then off to bed, where is seemed really odd sleeping on a real bed and mattress instead of my little foam bed in the car !  

Photos here https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0375LakeTrasiminoToRome?authkey=Gv1sRgCKu95YzK2Om0jwE