Goodbye Assisi, Hello Cortona!

On Wednesday morning, we pack up and head down to breakfast.  We are served by Martin’s wife, Greta, this morning and she assures us that her cappuccino is special!  She affirms that her sister will be here today, but she won’t see her until late tonight.  While we are eating breakfast, we see the owner, former soccer star Andrea Ranocchia, meeting with some of the employees.  He also walks over to the grassy area to work on the sprinklers.  While Shawn and I have a love for meeting people, we also use our intuition and today, we decide it best to abstain from introducing ourselves.  Looking back, I’m not sure that was necessary.  I’m sure he would have loved to have heard how much we enjoyed this beautiful place.

We take a taxi ride to the train station and once again, journey across the beautiful Italian countryside.  When we arrive to our destination, another taxi driver helps us into his car and takes us to the absolutely gorgeous Monastero Di Cortona. I may have shared in a previous post, I feel absolutely and amazingly privileged any time we get to stay in a monastery. I know I shared that to stay in luxury is just, truly divine and appreciated.  Here, we get both.

As a nurse, I’m sure they must assess their visitors for any health problems before assigning them to the room that we find ourselves in.  The room is incredible but once we unlock our door, we pass a lovely entryway with beautiful, old Italian art.  We climb a very steep set of lovely, old concrete stairs before arriving to our actual suite.  When we get to the top of the staircase, I am in awe. 

I love our room with its spacious bathroom, inviting sitting area and expansive, airy bedroom.  There are windows opening out to many different views of the area, including a little street shared with neighboring families.  There’s also a welcoming balcony where one can enjoy morning coffee, afternoon sunshine and evening sunsets.  We bring out the champagne and fruit that is waiting for us on our arrival and sit at the little table and chairs in the shade.  My heart is bursting.

After unpacking, we go down to the hotel restaurant and order a Caesar salad and pasta for lunch, after which we head out to the very elegant and grown-up pool area.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  We love children.  We have four of our own and four, incredibly beautiful grandchildren…but…when vacationing, being around other people’s children is not particularly desirable.  We have yet to see anyone’s children…or grandchildren…and this is nice!

At the pool, we meet the first of our lovely, new group of friends here in Cortona.  Angela works in the energy business and her husband Carl owns a packaging company.  They are two years from retirement, and it is evident that they both love their work.  She is joyful and has beautiful, green eyes.  Carl is also delightful and most of the time, stays quietly in the background while Angela chats cheerfully to share the things she knows about this city as well as other travel destinations.  They have driven here from Germany.  It’s an hour drive for them but they stopped midway for the night before arriving here.  As it turns out, we will see them every day that we all are here at Montessori Di Cortona.

In the evening, we head out to find a place for dinner and land at a restaurant called Tonino, which has a view from the patio of the whole valley below.  It’s a warm evening with a little breeze and dinner is delicious. We share a cheese plate, risotto, and a tomato-based dish with bread rolls before we are each served a beef filet.  We probably could have shared one filet…lesson learned. 

Cortona was not originally a stop on our European vacation, and honestly, I can’t remember why.  I can tell you that our first plan was to leave two weeks open to explore Tuscany, without reservations at any hotels.  We had an undesirable experience with a private apartment rental in Paris at the beginning of our trip.  Once that happened, we decided to play it safe, and Shawn booked reservations at beautiful places for the rest of our trip.  Have I told you how much I adore him?

After dinner, we walk the streets of Cortona and once again, I fall in love with the architecture, the many steep and narrow streets, hidden staircases, stacked one upon another and as you will find out, this most unusual group of people.  I can’t wait to share!  Good night!