Tuesday was bittersweet as we knew it was our final day together and we enjoyed each other’s company so much! Fabio whisked us away to il Falconiere, which is a luxury resort just outside of Cortona, owned by Riccardo and Silvia Baracchi. Silvia taught today’s cooking class and we learned about the art of cheese…
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St Francis was very special. We got to go to Assisi and see the original little chapel (known as Porziuncola) that he built, which is housed in the Basilica dedicated to St Mary of the angels. This is the 7th largest church in all of Christianity, and the 4th largest church in Italy, so you…
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On this Italy adventure, as in life (albeit extremely magnified) each day holds special gifts. This morning we were supposed to have gone on a truffle hunt in the Tuscan countryside, and then have a lunch featuring that fine fungus. The weather here has been very dry since May and there are no truffles to…
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I hope you will forgive me if my brain is mush; I just had the treat of a massage and It was rather a good one. Today was a very special day and relaxing in many ways, which I will get to in a minute. But first, Orvieto! Yesterday was my first visit to that…
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Well hello there! It has come to my attention that I have been entirely remiss an not mentioned our tour coordinator. Doumina Whyman, The Enthusiastic Traveler, La regina d’il mio cuore (the queen of my heart), the entire reason we are here in Italy. How can I take it for granted that you all know…
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The group grew by 2 for today, as we picked up a fun couple from Seattle to join us in Pienza and at our winemaker’s, Perezetta. Pienza is a very scenic town and they filmed the English Patient there. A hill town surrounded by fields of sheep (this is the heart of pecorino country) and…
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Well I can officially say that Italy is a big hit! We have a fantastic group and they are all loving this place as much as I do, which is so completely satisfying. Yesterday was day 1, we went into the walls of Cortona and had about an hour to wander the streets and shops.…
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Monday October 15 Up, but not quite as early as we planned. We had a big day of site seeing ahead and were ready to roll. After our morning macchiati, Mark and I headed across the street from our apartment to check out the neighborhood church St Eufemia. I thought it would be a little…
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Saturday October 13: We began the day with espresso of course! We explored the neighborhood this morning, found mom and dad’s B&B, took the bus to the train station, then the shuttle to the airport and waited for their arrival. They were tired and happy to see us! We whisked them away on the shuttle…
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Well I finally got a strong enough wi-fi signal to sign into the blog! Of course my connectivity did not go according to plan, but here I am and hello! Welcome to Italy! I will be able to keep you more up to date from now on, so these first entries are a bit long,…
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