Our last few days in Tuscany

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Two days before we left Italy we woke up to a rainy and miserable day. So after lazing about the apartment for a few hours we headed out in the car to have a look around Arezzo. It was a nice city but the rain didn't help much. We headed back to Cortona so I could do some interneting and Paige had another wonder around. By that time it was getting late so we bought some nice pasta and went home for a nice meal.

The next day was again sunny and beautiful. We headed early into Cortona to see the markets that are only on Saturdays. Paige of course looked at the stalls and I wondered around people watching. It was pretty cool. The stalls were mainly clothing and shoes etc. They were more for the locals than tourists though there were some great food stalls also.

We then took a walk up to the monastery. It was about a 15 minute walk all up hill. On the way we stopped in at the main church of Cortona which ended up being a big surprise. The alter inside contained an actual piece of the cross. Paige was amazed. We made it up to the monastery just in time to see the bride rock up to her wedding. We also got some amazing views of Cortona and the surrounding hills of Tuscany. It was a really great start to the day.

We then headed back to the apartment for a siesta before taking a drive out to the nearby lake. The wind had picked up so the lake wasn't the nicest but driving around we got to see some more of wonderful Italy. The most amazing part of the trip was the birds. For the first part of the drive around the lake there were literally thousands of swallows darting around. We stopped at a particularly dense spot and Paige was scared they were going top fly in to the car.

We got back to the apartment to start packing. We couldn't believe that our Tuscan adventure was almost over. That night we headed back to Cortona for a great meal and for a medieval show. The meal was the best so far in Italy and then at about 9:30 the show started. It kicked of with drummers and trumpeters and flag bearers marching into the main square followed by the athletes, the cross bowers. After a show from the flag bearers, i.e. lots of flag waving and throwing of flags to each other, the cross bowers showed us their stuff. It was a great finish to a great day.

Well that's the end of our Tuscan adventure, we couldn't believe it was over. We really had a magical time in Tuscany.

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