To be honest, we had such a wonderful picnic yesterday afternoon that neither of us was hungry enough to go out for dinner! Instead, about 8 p.m. we went across the street to get some more bottled water (the water in the hotel tastes terrible!) and split the last piece of pizza with prosciutto in the shop! It was great, but really all we needed – so our food expenses for Thursday were really on the low side – something like 20E for the two of us for the entire day!
Final views from San Gimignano!
Up about 7 to begin the great “reorganization” – trying to fit everything back into the suitcases from which it had come. Down for breakfast at 8, then paid the hotel bill on our way back up to the room. The day had dawned fairly foggy, but by 8:30 when we left the hotel, the sky above was clear and blue, with fog on the low spots on the ground. We took a leisurely route through Poggibonsi (Linda’s favorite new town name – she calls it Puggy Bunny, which I love!) to Castelina and Radda in Chianti. I took a few pictures at a stopping point, but mostly we just drove over hill and dale, greatly enjoying the incredibly beautiful ceiling. Finally pointed the car at Cortona, which is right on TOP of a very large hill! Our instructions had been to drive up to Piazza Garibaldi and double park, come to the B&B and they would help us with luggage and tell us where to park. Well…not quite according to plan…Jeanette, one of the owners of the B&B was not there, so Linda was able to get most of the luggage inside, but additional guidance about parking. So, I headed back down the hill and found a very tiny little parking lot, from whence it is ALL uphill to the B&B! When they opened the B&B door for me, I was staring UP two HUGE flights of steps! Fortunately, they have a lift that goes along the steps which brings baggage up to the top – otherwise not sure how we would have gotten anything up here! Lovely room on the third floor, in front overlooking the street. Lots of light through two big windows, a good sized bathroom with lots of modern comforts (like heated towel racks…) AND SkyTV! YEA! We can even get some version of ESPN here! On the downside, our little traveling computer, Gulliver, is acting up (hope he’s okay…) and we have absolutely NO cell phone reception on my cell phone! Talk about feeling cut off!!
I managed to get Gulliver up and running, and then we decided to find the local lavanderia down at the bottom of the hill. There are none in Cortona! We went a very round-about way to get there, but finally managed to find it – Starwash! Things went quickly and well, and in a little over an hour we were headed back up the hill, now having more than enough clean clothes to get us home on Tuesday! As we had yet to have lunch, we settled for gelato as we wandered through town. Cortona is amazingly hilly, and our street, Via Nationale, is said to be the only flat place in town! I would now heartily agree! Have decided to save the two museums until tomorrow, then head out of town in the afternoon, possibly to Assisi or Montepulciano!
Sorry this posting is so short, but it really was a moving on kind of day! More later!
Much love,
m
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