Us-In-Italy

We had another amazing day today. First thing this morning we explored the town of Piegaro. Met Arnika, the local cafe owner and had a cappacino at her shop. We visited with the butcher, and also went to the local produce store to pick up ingredients for tonights dinner.

Colleen and Tom once again offered to show us around and today took us and their other visiting friends, Dave and Kelly, to Cortona, one of the 13 original Etruscan Villages. We did some shopping in one of Colleen's favorite leather stores and everyone came away with something to love. Each of us picked a wonderful purse and then a silk scarf. We'll be so chic when we return to America. No?

After a lunch of margharite pizzas and salad, we headed towards Tuscany to a second Etruscan village, Montepulciano and found many more treasures to consider. A few more hours of browsing and we were in need of refreshments and a swim so headed home. We put our heads together (as well as the contents of our fridges) and made a meal that we all shared. Deliciouso.

Ardel is officially driving her Fiat in Italy and could probably find her way to these treasures with much help from the guidemaps, but would be hard-pressed to find her way home again to Piegaro. It's been such a treat to have Colleen and Tom guiding us. Dan is really a good sport to put up with so much shopping and girl stuff. And he's been really getting a feel for the building techniques used for the last several hundred years in this part of Europe. We can see the wheels spinning about how he can apply these to our projects at home. Lori is set for purses for a while and is having a great time and Lisa said she's so glad we talked her into coming along with us on this adventure. Today's shopping "made her a happy girl."

More coming tomorrow . . .

A lovely entrance in Piegaro.

Piegaro has such beautiful stone and iron work. Each village seems to have a style of it's own.

Looking over all of the rooftops of apartments as we enter the town of Cortona.

A monument near the entrance to the beautiful town of Cortona.

The craftmanship of these buildings is beyond belief. Especially when you consider their age. We loved the worn center of these stairs and Dan wonders if they werent' purposefully made this way to roll heavy objects up. Whatever the reason, they are amazing.

Browsing the streets of Cortona, with many shops and restaurants

Our pet for the day. This Cortona bulldog watched every bite we ate at a small pizzeria. Belonging to the restaurant owners, she is "loaned out" to tourists who she grows attached to and was sitting with the guests at the next table. Lilly is only 7 months old, but looks wise beyong her years.

This leather shop in Cortona had every color and style of handbag and many scarves. We all came away with a few mementos. This photo is of the shopkeeper, who helped us each pick out just the perfect bag (or two . . . )

This famous cathedral, just outside of the walls of Cortona, was used in the wedding scene in "Under the Tuscan Sun" because of it's beautiful interior.

Walking through the entrance in the town of Montepulciano, in Tuscany

Beautiful door front in Montepulciano

Bronze statue on top of a 20' pillar in Montepulciano

It was interesting in Montepulciano that each building had a unique style. In many of the other villages that we visited, they were more uniform in their use of stone, color and window treatments.

Dan, walking through the streets of Montepulciano. There were many leather, ceramic and kitchen shops that we explored, and of course . . . gelato.

The wild boar is a favorite meal in the Tuscany and Umbria areas. We tasted cinghiale our first night in Umbria and it was delicious.

These fragrant locust trees were all along the walkway leading up to the town of Montepulciano

This closeup of a the painting above the door of a church in Montepulciano is beautifully illuminated

View from our window at il Forno Uno, looking out over the valley below Piegaro

Table set for dinner at the villa. Colleen served us ravioli, greens w/ pear, antipasti and wines from our adventures. The table was built for the space, but the benches are 11th century, that Colleen found last year in at the shop where she purchased their 16th century door.