Day - 8 on the Move

Day 8 - On the Move

We packed up and headed out this morning. Finding our parking garage and getting out of the city was uneventful, unlike our entry. We did make one last repeat stop at the Piazzale Michelangelo on the opposite side of the Arno River and up on a hill. The day was sunny and clear and we took in the city sites that we had visited over the last couple of days.








Street performers. Every street performer 
we saw in Florence was good. 
Here is just a sample from this morning. 

Then we headed on to Cortona. We did make one stop before entering Cortona. Cortona is part of Tuscany, and much like the entire region, it is know for its food and wine making. So there are lots and lots of wineries in the area. Randy found a small, family winery called Fattoria CantaGallo. Translated that means "farm of the singing rooster".  Patrizia, the mom, met us at the door when we arrived, and welcomed us. Eduardo, one of the sons, was in the field working, so we waited a couple minutes for him to arrive. He then gave us a tour of the vineyard. The operation is quite small. About 8.4 acres of vineyard. The family also grows olives, wheat for bread, and fava beans. Eduardo explained the different grapes grown, the growing season, harvesting, and the wine making and bottling process. 



Baby grapes


Fava beans are grown between the rows of vines
 and left for compost after they are harvested. 


We then headed back to the tasting room, where Patrizia had laid out quite the spread. Cheese, bread, meat, chick pea salad and bruschetta as starters. Then she brought out a dish of pasta for each of us. We were quite full by the end of our visit. It was all very delicious and we enjoyed tasting the various wines made by Eduardo and his family. 











It turns out that Francis Mayes is a friend and neighbor 
of the owners of the winery we visited. 

Cortona was only about a 15 minute drive from the winery and we then checked into our hotel. After a short rest, we all headed out for a walk about town. We specifically walked to the edge of town which looks over the valley below. If we haven't mentioned it, Cortona is a hill top town. It was an Etruscan town with a long history (more on that tomorrow). It is also the site of the book, and later the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun”, which has made the town a popular tourist destination.












Dinner was at a quaint little place next door to our hotel. It was delicious, as most of our meals have been.






 
We look forward to exploring more of this town tomorrow morning before heading on to Assisi. 












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