il giovane holden: mezzo

We left Roma on a rainy Wednesday morning headed to Toscana. Thus began the middle, or mezzo, portion of the second long travel between Roma and Firenze - which encompassed a quick tour of the hill towns of Toscana. Our first stop was Cortona. Cortona is a beautiful city, even in the misty rain. We arrived in Cortona at the bottom of the hill, actually the train station is in Camuccia. Thankfully, our hotel sent vans to shuttle us up the hill; the last time I was here I had to walk all the way up and it is long and steep with twelve students with a lot of luggage. Cortona is a beautiful representation of a typical Tuscan hill town and was made famous to Americans by Frances Mayes in her book, Under the Tuscan Sun (and many other books since) about buying and renovating a villa in Cortona. However, Cortona is beautiful in its own right, without this newfound fame. The first thing we did upon arrival was find a trattoria to take the students out to a true Tuscan lunch. We had tuscan bread, Dave had ribbiolita (a type of tuscan vegetable soup), Holden had papardelle with cinghiale (wild boar) ragu, and I had pasta with tartufo bianco (white truffle) which just happens to be in season right now. It was so delicious. It was, hands down, the best pasta I have had in Italia so far. The students had a variety of Tuscan dishes that they really enjoyed as well.

lunch in Cortona

It was a bit drizzly off and on throughout the day, but Cortona was still every bit as beautiful. We explored all the little passageways leading around the city, walked all the way up to the top for an exquisite view, and did a little shopping after riposo when the shops opened up. I was a little disappointed that the MAEC (Etruscan art museum) never reopened in the afternoon because I was hoping to find a little Etruscan artifact in its store to take back to my dad, but perhaps I'll find something in Firenze. After such a heavy lunch, we just bought some snacks to bring back to the hotel room for an in-room picnic while Holden painted some with his new watercolor set. It was a wonderful day in Cortona, I just wish we had more time to spend here.

Cortona

Palazzo Comunale in Cortona

winding streets in Cortona

Cortona

view of valley below Cortona

Cortona

view of valley below Cortona

smiling after cioccolata calda in Cortona

view from hotel of foggy Cortona

We left a foggy Cortona very early Thursday morning for Arezzo. We had very little time to spend in Arezzo but were able to enjoy the morning relaxing in a cafe and shopping for the picnic for the students' lunch. Then we had a little time to walk around the city and explore. Holden enjoyed Piazza Grande and playing by il pozzo (the well). We also found a very nice terra cotta ceramic shop here.

law court building in Arezzo

Arezzo

Piazza Grande in Arezzo

Then we all got back on the bus and headed to the Antinori winery. Most wineries in Toscana, and well all of Italy, are small quaint little places. But recently Antinori decided to follow the ways of Napa wineries and build this mega structure, designed by the architecture office Archea. It was part winery, part tasting room, part vineyard, part museum. It was beautiful, but a little hard to get used to in Toscana. From the winery we had beautiful views of the valleys down below.

Holden with the students at Antinori winery

Antinori winery

Then we left Antinori to have our picnic of Tuscan bread, pecorino cheeses, Tuscan salami and prosciutto, and various fruits. And we headed to Siena for the afternoon. We first went to the Duomo and the Piazza del Campo, where the famous horse race (the palio) is held every July. I actually had the privilege of watching the palio back in 2000. Holden really enjoyed running through the piazza chasing pigeons. Then we walked all through Siena on a scavenger hunt to find the crests of the 17 different contrada, or neighborhoods, each represented by a different animal. The crests are placed on the buildings in each neighborhood. After hunting for the contrada, we went for a group dinner with all of the students and headed back to our hotel. I'm not sure what it was about the air quality today (humidity?) but this entire day carried an extreme sun/shade contrast which created some amazing and totally surreal views.

Piazza del Campo in Siena

Torre del Mangia in Siena

Siena

Piazza del Campo in Siena

sunset from the edge of Siena

The next morning we enjoyed the town a little more, played on the playground, and took the bus to San Gimigniano. It was my first time seeing San Gimigniano and it was beautiful. We spent a few hours touring the town, painting, eating panini, and exploring the breathtaking views. It was geared a bit towards tourists and was not as authentic to me as some of the other Tuscan hill towns. We bought some olive wood souvenirs here though, and then left for Firenze.