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The sun has been shining on fresh
seasonal Tuscan produce today.




 
When the rain cleared on Saturday 27 March
on the via Nazionale in Cortona the ice cream
sales improved and tonight the passeggiata
is in full swing.		 Sunday 28th March, Roberto and other locals
view the passeggiata


Talented shoe designer/maker, Tamara,  trained in Florence,
is hand making shoes in Cortona. Let me know if you  would like to contact her
 click the pic to mail me


 
Severini Mosaics 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, Italy 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. He 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. More in the free newsletter. Contact Us
Buone Feste from Tuscany Traveller










Buon Natale (Christmas) Sharing in the fun and festivity of this time of the year with friendly Tuscans.

When the harvests are gathered, the region known as the Val di Chiana and the Val di Chio may well have snow; even then, it is possible, on some days, to sit in the sun. Snow in Tuscany adds to its magic. The passeggiata will buzz as it does in summer.
Expensive stylish, heavier coats replace summer dresses, but Tuscans look just as stylish in winter and still dress as much for l
ooking good, as for comfort.

The shaking of hands and the kissing of cheeks, the strong espresso coffee and occasional wine, buona sera, ciao, salve, come va, filling the air with the sound of the beautiful Italian language and the soft Arezzo dialect. It's a softer way of life and life is loved.
 
In Tuscany, Natale is more a religious celebration than a consumer spree and the churches are splendid sights, inside and out. Christmas Eve
is the main celebration of the holiday. The Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th January and is marked by La Befana (the good witch),
who may visit your house and bring children candy or a piece of charcoal. The Epiphany" actually celebrates the three wise men who made the journey to visit the baby Jesus.
Luciano Radicati
During the summer and into the autumn/fall of this year exhibitions of the work of Luciano Radicati were available for the public to see in Arezzo and Cortona.

The exhibitions were the results of three years work using his unusual technique of tempera and pastel on paper. The paintings show an arcane and unique flavour with references and suggestions of ancestral worlds and cultures outside Europe:  the Indians of America, in runes and stone carvings, Byzantine mosaics and medieval Psalters.

During his career, Luciano has researched to gain deep knowledge and understanding of birth and creation. Genesis and Apocalypse, the biblical texts have been used to provide material for his creations
of divided iconology that fall between fantasy and reality. 

With local official support and sponsorship from commerce, Arezzo has paid its tribute to an artist known beyond its borders. Tuscany Traveller will write more about Luciano and other living Tuscan artists; there will be an article in the next subscribers newsletter.
 
The pretty town of Anghiari hosts the traditional Feast of Bringolo and San Martino on the 7 and 8 November 2009. The event is staged in the gallery Girolamo Magi, where  for the occasion it becomes the urban living room designed and constructed over a hundred years ago by engineer Tuti. At the Festival you can taste typical regional cuisine, delicious dishes such as: brustichino
(ie, the bruschetta), sausages, chestnuts and the new wines. Spaghetti Bringolo is hand-made by housewives and is traditionally served with mushroom sauce or meat as tradition. Visitors can buy bags of Bringolo as well as the products of the forest and undergrowth, olive oil mill and other specialties. So, lovers of tradition and good Tuscan food should not miss this event.

......October and still the weddings come to Cortona

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 shinning 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 on the Piazza Repubblica.
Tuscany Traveller's Events For October 2009
 Further details and links on the Tuscany Traveller website and members newsletter
How the Comune wish people to see Cortona and Tuscany



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". Traveller is pleased and complimented that the pictures of Cortona represent how the Comune wish people to see Cortona and Tuscany.

Tuscany Traveller Has been to:
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 degrees. The waters were at the height of their fame in the period between the Renaissance and the middle of the 18 C. Today, the same sources feed the ultra-modern Fonteverde Spa centre. Mediaeval 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. - More to come in the free Tuscany Traveller newsletter

Tuscany Traveller Recommends Eating Here:
  
q.b. Quantobasta, Via Ginori,10/r, San Lorenzo, Firenze
opened this year. It is 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 ambience has been achieved. We had early dinner and the service was faultless. There was a table behind us with two attractive Italian families and as the evening progressed very stylish city diners arrived for a buffet. The evening buzz was punctuated only by the attentive young Italian man who was efficient, very friendly but in no way intrusive.
The food and wine were superb, we will return and write in more detail. (We first learned about q.b. from this great blog).
Tuscany Traveller Recommends Staying Here
Weekend in Firenze (Florence) we explored San Lorenzo and San Marco.








You can also read more about Firenze (Florence) and
Cortona in the Tuscany Traveller free newsletter Contact Us
Tuscan Art & Artisans - Traveller Featured Artist/Artisan :
  

  

 At the Piazza Garibaldi end of the
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 Other's
 
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.

Free Bulletins  Contact Us Features
Cortona pays tribute to war heroes in 2009








 
Let's get these off!

Wedding watching in Cortona's Piazza Repubblica

                                     Buying fresh seasonal produce in the market.

 
Black Power Fist on a Screen in Cortona Piazza

We sat in our favourite taverna and enjoyed the
usual excellent Tuscan food and wine. Pane e Vino, in the vaults of Piazza Signorelli, has been one of our favourite places to eat for several years. Only one table was empty and soon a family sat at it and stood out as they were the only African or Afro Caribbeans there, they were also the most formally and
well dressed family there. A sense of occasion had already been sparked, for during the day TV cameras had been been set up and strangers were in this small hillside medieval Tuscan.....

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 5 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 holidays available. See Etruscan artefacts and Roman architecture. There is ballooning, bike tours on its beautiful roads, and sports including fencing and rowing. Let us tailor-make your stay or find the best villa,

Previewing Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 19th February 2009 Buying 22 & 23rd February 2009
 
This wine is Montepulciano, Vino Nobile, is the heart of the town.
More than 1000 wine enthusiasts and experts, plus over 100 from the world's media, invaded Montepulciano on the 19th of February 2009 and the following days to preview the 2009 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The media sampled the new wines and on the 22 and February 23 buying commenced.

The prestigious Piazza Grande in the heart of Montepulciano will host the tastings.

Many more invitations have gone out this year than for previous releases as the information machine has kicked in to inform the world of Montepulciano and its wines. The preview view is a great opportunity to sample the vintage (2008), and also the territory of wine production and, the rich social and cultural environmental of the area.

The new vintages being tasted, that will be on the market by 2009 are: Nobile 2006, the Reserves of  2005 and other selections from the various estates.

For the public and tourists there will be guided tastings at the Wine Consortium, in the Palazzo del Capitano in Piazza Grande and restaurants in Montepulciano have created special menus to compliment the new wines.

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