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Cortona Town Guide: Cortonaweb

10 Jun

Each year in Cortona, we are fortunate to befriend more and more locals, one of the reasons we return to Cortona. This year, two of those people are Luca Tiezzi and Simone Rossi, founders and publishers of Cortonaweb.net. Pictured below with Len, they introduced us to Le Celle, one of the most beautiful places in Cortona. (Le Celle to be covered in another post!) While we knew of the monastery’s existence, we thought the grounds were private, so we never entered the monastery of St. Francis of Assisi. But for now, back to Luca and Simone and Cortonaweb.

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Len, being a business professor of Entrepreneurship, loves meeting with young entrepreneurs and discussing the challenges and opportunities they face. Here in Italy, there are many challenges for the young as unemployment  is well above 20%. With Luca and Simone, our conversations dance between English and Italian, and include everything from local and national politics, their business goals and challenges, food, wine, historical sites, travel, and whatever is happening in town. Being natives of Cortona, their depth of knowledge and appreciation of the historical area is evident, not only in their conversation but also in the relevance and thoroughness of their work.

While Len and I have many books and maps on various parts of Italy, Cortonaweb is a Cortona tourist’s friend, offering a detailed website that includes local events, weather, local attractions and historical sites, and some recommendations for shopping,  dining and accommodations. While not all-inclusive, it certainly is a great place to start.  In addition, from the website, you can order a small but concise Town Guide and an interactive map with GPS coordinates and links to video guides and podcasts. The photo-filled small guide, available on Amazon through their website, is light and easy to carry, unlike so many others. If coming to Cortona, a must have!

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Grazie to Luca and Simone for introducing us to one of Cortona’s best treasures, Le Celle, and sharing their knowledge and expertise with us.

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New friends, new finds…we are always open for the unexpected as we experience all that Cortona has to offer!

Ciao,

Judy

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From Cappucino to Vino and More!

19 Jul

This year, we added a few places to our morning routine. Bar Sport Caffe Sandy sits on a corner strategically between the two main piazzas of Cortona. It has two entrances, one facing each piazza, a large outdoor seating and two inside dining areas. The owners, Mirko and Elena, son Nando and wife Pia, are always there to greet with a smile, although they were looking rather serious for this photo! They make great cappuccino, and it’s only 1.1euro, or about $1.30 a cup, and NOT served in a paper cup! Civilized. The name Sandy actually refers to the coffee brand.

One of the great things about cafes in Italy is that they are full service from morning till closing. In the morning, people order their preferred form of coffee…espresso, cappuccino, café latte, etc., often accompanied by a dolce, or pastry, or a panini. They can choose to sit inside or out, or stand at the counter, as they read the paper or talk to friends about the latest news.

 

Typically at Italian cafes, the drink menu is not limited to coffee. Bar Sport Caffe Sandy has a full bar and a huge variety of liquors, which some people, more often tourists, choose as their morning pick me up. In addition, lighter menus are available for lunch and dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes after dinner, we stop in for a glass of wine, chat with people we meet, or just enjoy people watching in the piazza. If you stop at Sandy’s for a nightcap, don’t be surprised if a lovely plate of bruscettas accompanies your drink… on the house. All part of the experience, all part of the fun. All in all, Bar Sport Caffe Sandy is a great casual spot, day or night!

Ciao,

Judy

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Home Again!

25 May

Cortona. We arrived yesterday, tired but invigorated and anxious to see people from last year.  Ti ricordi di noi? we asked, wondering if they remembered us. The warm embraces, big smiles and wonderful double cheek kisses let us know they did. I learned recently that the first kiss goes on the left cheek…funny I never knew that!

Benita L-front), Judy, Len, Michael, Sarah

Sarah, Davide, Benita

We had dinner at Taverna Pane e Vino. Unlike last year, when it was just Len and me, this trip we have a cast of characters including son Michael, daughter Benita,  and her friend Sarah. Benita and Sarah are both minoring in photography and will graciously lend some of their wonderful photos to my posts.

Also, a photo with our server Davide… the girls attract a lot of attention!

Afterward, heading out for gelato, we bumped into a group of professional photographers we had met earlier. They are doing several photo shoots throughout Italy for a travel company…a dream job! They answered my Mac converter questions and I provided some info about Cortona. In Cortona, strangers seem to easily become friends.

Clay (L-front), Cornelius, Marco, Barney
Dining al fresco on Via Nazionale

Talk about feeling home again. This morning, while the others slept, Len and I went to Trattoria Taconi for our usual morning cappuccino. This is the five-table teeny restaurant where we enjoyed cappuccino each morning last year. They actually only serve pranz0, or lunch, and you eat whatever Graziella is preparing for the day, on crisp white linen table cloths, of course. Yesterday we stopped in just to say hello. This morning, while having cappuccino, I noticed four of the five tables had reservation signs on them. I asked Angelino if something special was going on, and he pointed to the largest of the tables and said, per voi…for you! Of course, a table set for five. They were expecting us for lunch. Home again!

Graziella preparing our lunch

Pasta ragu

Lingering at Trattoria Taconi (panorama courtesy of Benita)

Happy to report that the sun is shining and we are all rested and ready for adventure.

Ciao,

Judy

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Trattoria Toscana

14 Apr

I just received the renewal notice for my blog site and must confess that I hadn’t looked at it in some time. I knew I’d resume writing late this May, when we return to Italia, but the notice caused me to read some of last summer’s posts. Doing so brought a smile to my face and also the realization that there are several posts I never had time to finish. In the next few weeks, I hope to be sharing them.

We are eagerly anticipating our 2012 trip, a return to Cortona and the friends we made there last summer. In the meantime, hope you enjoy reading about Trattoria Toscana. When I close my eyes, I can still smell the spaghetti con porcini!

From 2011 Summer

One of our favorite restaurants in Cortona is Trattoria Toscana. The owner Sara, chef  Santi and waiter Enzo are all very accommodating and fun! This restaurant is on Via Dardano, just down the street from our house on Via Mazzuoli. They exhibit local art work, paintings and photographs on their walls – one of the pieces shown by Len below. We have tried the fix prix menu as well as a la carte, and all have been delicious. Tonight we couldn’t resist spaghetti con funghi porcini freschi, or spaghetti with fresh porcini mushrooms…truly a local favorite!

One of the wonders of Cortona is the close proximity yet efficiency of pedestrians and motorized vehicles. During dinner, we realized that something was going on in the main piazza at the end of the street, so all vehicles had to make a sharp right turn on the street directly perpendicular to the Trattoria. The old cobblestone streets are so narrow we feared a few tourists might be crushed or a few cars might join our table for dinner, but alas, no problem for the Cortonese.

Ciao,

Judy

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Montepulciano

22 Jun

Driving through the hills of Tuscany, about one hour outside of Cortona, one views the majestic city of Montepulciano. The main monuments, pictured here, were built between the 1300-1500s. As you can see, the city  was not very crowded. Perhaps it is because one needs to have very strong knees to ascend the steep hills! The panorama from the top is amazing, with vineyards, wheat fields and sunflowers as far as the eye can see in the ever stretching azure sky.

We lunched at Osteria del Bargo on the sweetest melon and just carved prosciutto overlooking terra cotta tiled roofs, towns and cities miles away, and the ever present red geraniums.

Among other things, Montepulciano is well known for its Nobile wines. What we learned today is that a wine that we have been drinking,  Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, is of the Montepulciano grape, but from Abruzzo, not Tuscany. Conversely, Montepulciano Nobile, is by law, a blend of  80% Sangiovese grapes from Tuscany combined with other varietals. Afterward, we sampled wines at Poliziano and Contucci. Poliziano sells wines in the U.S., and we particularly liked the Rosso for an every day table wine and the even better Nobile.

Perhaps the best part of the entire trip was Len enjoying the countryside sites and singing “The hills are alive with the signs of vino. With vines they have grown for a thousand years. The hills fill my heart with anticipation...” well, you get it…no comments about my driving, which I take as an extreme compliment! And actually, through all the hills and all the curves, we made it back to Cortona easily and found a great spot to park.

Our best dinner yet was tonight at Toscana. Benita would have loved it, but beware to all my vegan nieces…we had an amazing bistecca!

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Till next,

Judy

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First Full Day

20 Jun

Our home is on a quiet street just around the corner from Piazza Signorelli. This morning, however, we awoke to a loud conversation between a man and woman. It felt like we woke up in a movie trying to understand what they were saying yet not wanting to pry. She was loud and agitated; he remained relatively calm. Their banter was so hypnotizing that we both fell back asleep and awoke to it again later. It was not an argument about love – there was not enough emotion. And then I understood…  he called her Signora. He was a contractor doing some work for her. Obviously, she was unhappy. But as I write, all is quiet so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

After a great night’s sleep (despite our “movie”) and lots of fresh air, we headed out for cappuccino in the morning sun. The weather here is perfect…sunny and 80’s daytime and 60’s at night. We wandered through town noting things in our calendar we want to do while here. An early lunch at Trattoria Dardano consisted of fresh porcini pasta and the usual glass of vino. I love how the clean laundry hangs above the restaurant entrance. It’s also interesting that there are always tables of Italian men eating lunch together, but rarely tables of Italian women. Len thinks they are busy cooking…I hope they are shopping.

Several hours later, after taking in some sites, we headed back to Il Cacio Brillo for an afternoon snack. We sat outside and shortly after, a family of 10 from Pittsburg, representing three generations, took the rest of the tables. This was their first time in Italy. Len began speaking to them in English with an Italian accent, as if he were an Italian native speaking broken English. It was totally hysterical and I just sat quietly wondering where this was going. After about 10 minutes, he confessed, and they all roared.

Dinner tonight was pizza and a salad at Trattoria Fluflins, which we are told is named after the god of wine, but we always thought that was Bacchus. Oh, well. At 10 PM, we sat in the piazza watching kids play soccer. No grass, so good, so young, and very willing to have their picture taken.

Till tomorrow,

Judy

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