Celebrating The Magic Of Cortona Italy!

Last June, my wife Alex and I spent a week in Cortona Italy – nestled in the eastern edge of Tuscany, bordering Umbria…here’s a look at the map:

Cortona is located about 90 minutes southeast of Florence by car – and surprisingly, only about 2-1/2 hours by car or train from Rome!

This beautiful hilltop town is one of the main artistic and cultural hubs in the Val di Chiana area, which also includes the town of Arezzo.

Perched on a hilltop, the view from the town is amazing – as you stand near a wall that surrounds the town…

My son Jeff gave me this incredible pasta shirt, so I had to show it off…you park in a lot at the edge of town, and you can grab shots like this as you gaze out at Tuscany below:

Alex’s brother is excited to show off the area…then you walk up and into the center of town…we did just that with our friends:

That’s Alex’s Sister Lauren on the left, then Chris, James, me, Kareen, Alex, Nicole, Merah and Bill – time to explore Cortona!

Yes it’s a bit steep, but I did say it was a “hilltop” town! James and Bill still had time to check their phones – maybe looking at just how steep it was?

We were there to explore a town that is central to Author Frances Mayes’ memoir “Under The Tuscan Sun”:

This terrific memoir was turned into a smash hit film – which I will discuss in a moment – and Mayes tells the story of renovating an abandoned house in Cortona – here is how she describe the town in her book:

“The centro consists of two irregular piazzas, joined by a short street. No town planner would design it this way but is Is charming. A fourteenth-century town hall with twenty-four broad stone steps dominated the Piazza della Republic.”

Here it is:

Cortona’s Piazza della Republic!”

It’s a magnet for tourists – like us, as I got a shot of Alex with our friends Yvette and sister-in-law Cherie:

Then Alex’s brother Derek joined in for one last pic of the steps – and here are the winding, narrow streets of the town that our group explored:

As you can see, there were plenty of restaurants and cafes to enjoy. In fact, Mayes talks about one in particular.

Here’s a bit more on her love of Cortona from the book:

“The steps serve as ringside seats at night when everyone is out having gelo- a fine place to take in the evening spectacle below. From here, you can see a loggia on the level above across the piazza, where the fish market used to be. Now it’s terrace seating for a restaurant and another perch for viewing.”

Here is that terrace – note the steps are to the left of this shot:

I’m showing you this because we all ate here!

After touring the town, we headed up to the terrace for a meal!

That’s Merah on the right getting a shot of Cherie and a fast-moving James.

Of course, I had to have a pasta dish and they delivered a creamy delicious one!

Sitting up above, I noticed that there are a lot of birds who love to soar around the Piazza:

After dinner some of us posed for one last shot while Derek bought gelato for us – looks like an album cover!

Bill and Nicole are on the left with Derek’s wife Cherie in between, and Kareen and Chris are to the right of Alex!

One last magical moment: we came across a live performance in the Piazza as we were leaving!

What a magical town!

For those who read my earlier post, my wife and I stayed in Cortona – at the house used for the filming of Mayes’ memoir, “Under The Tuscan Sun!”

Yes, this is the exact house where the movie was filmed…and we had people stop by and knock on the gate to see it because they were such fans of the movie!

When walking down from the center of the historic town, you pass this classic stone wall and entry – as well as the shrine immortalized in the movie – although it’s not across from the house as shown in the film.

That’s Alex’s sister Lauren waving to us in the pink top while Kareen, Bill, Alex, Nicole, Merry and James put up with my selfie!

Here a look at the road outside the house – the one used extensively in the film:

Click here to get a tour inside with more video from inside the house and more!

This was all part of a whirlwind “planes, trains and automobiles” adventure..a plane first to Rome for a few days, then the train to Florence for two days, then a rental car to take us to Cortona, then on to Burgundy France!

We stopped for a night in the tiny village of Guarene, and stayed in a castle!

Click here for a tour – and a visit to the wine town of Barbaresco too!

After we left this charming area, we drove THROUGH the Swiss Alps – literally!

Yes, our road to Burgundy France took us through one of the longest tunnels in Europe – until it didn’t!

Click here to see the wild adventure that was our journey into Italy’s Alps!

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Leave me a comment on your thoughts on Cortona and if you like this story, please share with friends on social media!

Categories: Art, Exotic Travel, Food, Italy, Memoirs, nature, Real Estate, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

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