Tuscany Traveller organises the "Cortona Art Group". Members of the group stay in Cortona and discover its art and history in a 7 day very affordable holiday. For details click the sunflower.  

Siesta time in sunny Cortona

Traveller's Book Review
A Vineyard in Tuscany by Ferenc Máté, 
 published by Norton                                          

In his classic memoir, Ferenc Máté vividly describes with both humour and poetry, his herculean labours to both renovate a 13th century friary near Montalcino and establish a successful wine estate. With searing honesty in recounting their mistakes along the way, Máté relates the years 
that he, his painter wife Candace and their son 'Buster', lived with a houseful of resident builders, masons and assorted wine experts, in primitive conditions, while spending their days in hard labour in either intense heat or biting cold.  Although everything they touch ultimately seems to turn to gold as the wine is immediately award-winning and of exceptional quality, their story shows the tenacity, patience and inner strength required to achieve the clichéd 'Tuscan dream'. Candace studies in Rome for two years to attain Sommelier status and the couple now have a thriving vineyard in a breathtakingly beautiful landscape. Along the way they make extraordinary discoveries on their sprawling acres of land, including the remains of an Etruscan village and a hidden creek complete with waterfall. Throughout the book there are numerous examples of the generosity of the Italian people and Máté's exploits will have you crying with laughter. 
This is a book that one does not want to finish, while at the same time being a real page-turner that bears numerous re-readings thanks to the quality of Máté's prose. Loved it - again. 

(Watch out for a new edition of Máté's A Reasonable Life this month).
Last Sunday of each month, the antique market in Piazza Signorelli, Cortona
Something for everyone at the Cortona antique market, held on the last Sunday of each month, in Piazza Signorelli. Lunch at Bar Sport, makes the day. Great pizzas, salads and pasta dishes and the house wine is excellent.

The sun is shining and Cortona is a little
busier. Even Frances Mayes takes time off from writing her next book to spend an hour or two with friends in the late morning sun at Bar Signorelli in  Piazza Repubblica.
Severini Mosaic in Cortona
 I share two most favourite places with the artist Severini. In his own words "The cities to which I feel most strongly bound are Cortona and Paris: I was born physically in the first, intellectually and spiritually in the second." He was born and educated in Cortona but lived in Montmartre where he dedicated himself to painting. Cortona and Montmartre inspire for different reasons, but they both suspend the reality of surrounding mediocrity and make creative thought more likely.

Severini was born into a poor family in Cortona in 1883. His father was a junior court official and his mother a dressmaker. He studied at the Scuola Tecnica in Cortona until the age of fifteen, when he was expelled from the entire Italian school system for the theft of exam papers. For a while he worked with his father then moved to Rome with his mother. It was there that he first showed a serious interest in art, painting in his spare time while working as a shipping clerk. With the help of a patron of Cortonese origins, he attended art classes, enrolling in the free school for nude studies (an annex of the Rome Fine Art Institute) and a private academy. Severini met Umberto Boccioni, who had also arrived in the city recently and who would later become one of the leading
exponents of Futurism.
Tuscany Traveller organises the "Cortona Art Group", members stay in Cortona and discover its art and history
 in a 7 day very affordable holiday. Contact Us

San Casciano dei Bagni is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Siena, located about 110 km southeast of Florence and about 70 km southeast of Siena. It is famous for its springs at 42°C. The waters were at the height of their fame in the period between the Renaissance and the middle of the 18th C. Today, the same sources feed the ultra-modern Fonteverde Spa centre. Medieval San Casciano is a maze of narrow vias and piazzas that wrap themselves around the hill and wind upwards towards the church of Santa Maria della Colonna.

 
 





q.b. Quantobasta,
  Via Ginori,10/r, San Lorenzo, Firenze
Opened in 2008 and run by two dynamic sisters, Elisa and Alessandra. Traditional boundaries between restaurants and bars have gone. The modern approach means you can regard it as an enoteca or ristorante, it even serves tea and pastries. The large area that recedes from a modest frontage has a canteen feel about it, a delightful and stylish ambiance has been achieved. We had early dinner - the service was faultless, as was the food. The table behind us was occupied by two attractive Italian families and as the evening progressed, very stylish Florentine city diners arrived for the buffet in the enoteca. The evening buzz was punctuated only by the attentive young Italian waiter who was efficient, very friendly but in no way intrusive. 
Tuscany Traveller Recommends Eating Here

The food and wine were superb, we will return and write in more detail. (We first learned about q.b. from this great blog).
Tuscan Art & Artisans - Traveller Featured Artist/Artisan :
 
At the Piazza Garibaldi end of via Nazionale in Cortona is a long hidden
"gallery" of  exquisite clothes designed and hand-decorated by
Ersilia Monacchini. Hand painted jackets and delicately embroidered
dresses are complimented by her daughter's handknits. Don't miss.
   
Tuscan Food  -
Traveller Publishes Recipes:  
 and recommends others
Tuscany Traveller's Photo Gallery:
Pamela, is this where you sit in Cortona to People Watch?                               
 
All vias in Cortona lead to the Piazza Repubblica, where lunch is usually a very social event    
Family BMW car from the past
 From my first floor terrace I see a Cortonese family setting off on a classic trip, with good luck waves from Nonna. Not sure what car this is but the owner/driver also has US jeeps and military motorbikes with side cars, that his family also trip out in with him.

From my vantage point I can take a break from reading in the sun or viewing the Val di Chiana, and see them being waved off in whichever restoration gets a spin today.

Cortona, where traditions and people qualities still matter most of all. Strangely enough, for those who don't know it, Cortona has very limited car access.

 
Cortona pays tribute to war heroes 








  
Let's get these off!

Wedding watching in Cortona's Piazza Repubblica

 

Buying fresh seasonal produce in the market
This photograph, taken a few years ago by Tuscany Traveller, of a family in the via Nazionale in Cortona, is one chosen to appear in the progress report publication of the Comune di Cortona - "Azioni Fatti Cifre 2004 - 2009". We are pleased and complimented that our pictures of Cortona represent how the Comune wish people to see Cortona and Tuscany.
 

This, the most famous of the 20 regions of Italy is in central Italy, its western edge is coastline, but to the north, east and south it borders with five other regions: Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Umbria and Lazio. Tuscany is celebrated for its wealth of art, illustrious history (Etruscan and Roman) and richly evocative landscape. It's a place where the past and present fuse into a delicate harmony. Whichever part of the province you choose to explore, you will find an ancient land every bit as captivating as its reputation promises. Your only problem is deciding what to leave out.  Traveller gets behind the tourist exteriors and finds the real Tuscany to make your choices easier and your travel even better. There are different types of holidays: you can laze by a pool or learn to cook, paint or take photographs, all such holidays are available. See Etruscan artefacts and Roman architecture, ballooning, bike tours on beautiful roads and sports, including fencing and rowing. Let us tailor-make your stay or find the best villa or farmhouse with pool or hilltown apartment for you to stay in.

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Bringing Tuscany to you in 2011