Day 4 - To Cortona- We leave Umbria and enter Tuscany

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After a moderate descent leaving Torgiano, our ride today started with a steep uphill that took us through the town of VILLANOVA! The town is nothing to write home about, but I just did, except for a photo. We then descended to Lake Trasimeno, famous for Hannibal's victory over the Roman army in 217 BC. We rode along the coastline of the lake stopping in Pasagnano. At this point, I had been riding with Mark, one of the tour leaders. We had a very nice chat over lunch. He is American, but as a youth lived in both Africa and Italy because his father worked for the UN. He is married to an Italian doctor and lives on the coast of Tuscany. I left Mark, who needed to stay in Pasagnano and make sure everyone was accounted for. I reached our final desination of Cortona at 2 PM, plenty of time to clean up and tour the town. I obtained a map from the front desk of the hotel and set out. I walked the main street, Via Nazionale to a beautiful lookout over the countryside. I then visited the Etruscan Museum, a must-see according to our guides. I enjoyed examining numerous pottery shards. Rachel and Brian, you can guess how long it took me to get through that museum. I continued on to the Diocesan Museum where I admired works by Fra Angelico and Luca Signorelli, the Renaissance rock star of Cortona. After all that culture, I sat in the Piazza Republica to enjoy some music and a prosecco. I was joined by Joanne and Gord from Canada. Paul, Joann has also walked the Camino Frances and very much wants to walk the Portugues Camino that you did. We ate dinner as a group in a restaurant that was originally a horsebarn (the stalls were removed) with an original Roman floor.

Ciao!

Ride Stats:

Miles ridden: 46

Average: 12.9

Total Elevation Gain: 2,339

Food Journal:
Lunch: tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwich?
Dinner: Appetizer - cake of sausage, cheese and spelt?, Pasta- tagliatelle with wild boar?, Main- pork belly with peppers?, dessert-bisciotti?

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