Blogs from Cortona, Tuscany, Italy, Europe - page 2

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Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona March 23rd 2010

23 March - Tuesday Will dragged in about 5 am from the party with his friends, and we continued to sleep until about 9:30 am. After a cappuchino and cornetto we walked along the Via Corso to finish off souvenir shopping. My son and I had an appointment with the president of JCU at noon so took a taxi there about 11:30 am. Upon arrival we learned that we had to reschedule to 2 pm, so ate lunch nearby. The meeting went well and we returned to the hotel to pick up Tamara who was near to tears wondering why we were so late...she didn't have a phone so that we could call her about the delay. We then took a taxi to the airport to pick up a rental car. We left Fiumicino about 3:45 ... read more
Interior of our agritourismo

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona September 17th 2009

After leaving Galway we travelled to Killarney, via the Cliffs of Moher and Limerick. The cliffs were spectacular, with the craggy rock faces a stark contrast to the brighter than bright lush green grass that adorned their tops. We walked as far as we could (or were allowed) and were amazed at how many people had jumped the wall and ignored the ‘Do not enter/private property’ signs, to get a closer encounter with the edge of the cliff. We were further amazed at the security guards just standing watching, but were informed by them (on inquiry) that it is not for them to police but rather the farmer who owns the property they were trespassing on, and that some days he is okay about it but on others ‘you wouldn’t want to piss him off!’. We ... read more
The Cliffs of Moher
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Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona September 17th 2009

Tuscany….ahhhh! Arriving at the Villa was everything I imagined, and more! After entering the large black iron gates and travelling up a tree lined drive-way, there it stood; a most magnificent old, two story house, set in the middle of no-where, overlooking hills, pasture land, and rows of sunflowers, cypress and olive tress. The building is an off white colour, with massive thick wooden entrance doors, and bottle green shutters on all of the white trimmed windows. There are five bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, with an array of other rooms serving as kitchen, formal dining and living rooms. Outside the back of the house is a BBQ area and wood-fire oven, where we can make our own wood-fired pizzas, and out the front, under a covered area of the house, is a beautiful ‘long-table’. I can ... read more
Taking the Plunge
The Villa
The pool at the Villa

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona September 12th 2009

Zurli Villa was absolutely beautiful. 5 days of nothing to do but just sit back, relax and enjoy the Vino. The Villa was set at the top of a hill surrounded by Vineyards and sunflower fields.. The gardens were beautifully kept and the place included our own pool, Jacuzi and woodfired pizza oven....And we cant forget the table tennis table either. Our time was so amazing and when we werent lounging around the pool and drinking we would take time to explore the local towns nearby. Day 1 Jen Jen prepared what was to be a feast of home-made pizza from scratch, which was cooked in true Italian style in the pizza oven...Yum Yum. We sampled 5-6 bottles of the local wine just to make sure that we were in the right part of tuscany....We were. ... read more
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Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona September 6th 2009

Our first night at the villa---sitting outside by the pool, glass of wine in hand (of course) sampling fresh pecorino cheese and italian bread, with a gentle breeze and the full moon rising. This is heaven! The villa is as beautiful as we hoped. Not the Ritz but lots of room, a functioning kitchen and hot water. We think we could get used to this! Shopping at a store (the Ibercoop) larger than a Walmart was an experience. The prepackaged rooster with head attached, fresh porcini mushrooms, and 10 eggs in a carton instead of a dozen, were all unique finds. The great part of today was having no plan but ending up eating lunch on a balcony restaurant overlooking the Piazza della Republicca in Cortona, home of Under the Tuscan Sun fame. And yes, a ... read more

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona September 20th 2008

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 ... read more
The markets in Cortona
The markets in Cortona
The walk up

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona September 16th 2008

On the morning of the 16th we headed out to Ciampino airport (which was a mission in itself) to pick up the car to start our adventure in 'Beautiful Tuscany' (you must say that with an Italian accent... thats very important). The drive us on the autostrade was also an experience with cars whipping by well in excess of the 120 I was doing. I don't think there is a speed limit, well I didn't see any signs telling me otherwise. Fortunately for us Conrad had lent us his GPS (did I already mention this????) so finding out villa was quite easy. I say villa but some may say its more of an apartment but they would be wrong. We arrived around 6 so headed out to get some supplies and made ourselves a nice dinner ... read more
Cortona
The Streets of Cortona
The Road up to Cortona

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona June 10th 2008

Here are the pictures of Cortona. I can't seem to figure out how to add them to the other post!... read more
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Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona June 9th 2008

Ah Cortona, land of the Tuscan sun. Well, not really. I was promised Francis Mayes' stlye "Under the Tuscan Sun" but got more of under the Tuscan drizzle. Nevertheless, the town is beautiful and I had a lovely time with some GU alums at their villa. We made pizza in their outdoor pizza oven and through the rain were treated to a rainbow over the valley. The pictures will have to wait, I can't seem to upload them!... read more

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Cortona June 7th 2008

I know I say this at every new place we go to but this place is wonderful. It’s a small town in Tuscany and it’s just delightful. So picturesque, unfortunately we’ve only here for one day/night and it’s rainy but even in the rain I love it. We arrived at lunchtime and the hostel wasn’t open so we took shelter in a little Trattoria for some cheap authentic Tuscan food, most dishes were 5-6euro’s (under $10) and the wine was only 5euro for a litre. The hostel was previously a Convent, marble floors, steep granite steps big heavy wooden doors and sparse bedrooms (thankfully rather spacious). Even though it was rainy we wandered the steep streets and exquisite shops, exploring the town, finally taking shelter in a bar for some more cheap wine. Boy have we ... read more
It's raining again
We're still keeping these gelato vendors in business
Cortona's steep streets




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