ETRUSCANS OF CORTONA

 This past Sunday was the official opening of the Tumulo II at Sodo which is near Cortona.  These are burial grounds of the Etruscans who lived in the area between the 7th and 4th century B.C..  It is believed that they lived where Cortona is now.  Many artifacts proving their existence are found well beneath the city of Cortona.  The Etruscans buried their dead under mounds(melone) away from the city and usually in nearby valleys mostly for health reasons.  The existence of these tombs have been known since 1929.  Only until recently have they been archaeologically dug.  The picture on the right is the entrance to Tomb II.  This has been reconstructed with the original blocks and stones that have been found there.  Because of the artifacts found in the tomb it is believed that this was the tomb of royalty.  Gold, urns, necklaces and the like have been found there and are now in the museum in Cortona and Florence.

Here are more pictures of the tomb. I am not sure if you can enlarge the picture to see it better.  Basically the sign tells us the this stairway leads to a terrace that was most likely a shrine where ceremonies were performed.  If you have more interest in this fascinating site from over 2000 years ago go to this website:  www.cortonaweb.net.  Arrow all the way to the bottom of the page and under museums click on archaeological park.  There is a lot of information there.  Or better yet, get on a plane, fly here to IL MOLINO  and go see it in person.  You won't be sorry.

Here is a better picture of the entrance to Tomb II.  You can see the detail of the staircase in this picture.  Remember this was originally constructed over 2000 years ago.  A roof was built over it to protect it from the elements.  As you can see it is still under re-construction.  You can't walk down to the stairs, but you can get close enough to get some pictures.  If you walk around the other side you will find more tombs .  This is were the "common people" were entombed. You can walk into those tombs. I have some pictures below taken inside the tomb.

Here is an aerial view of the project.  It was a massive undertaking.  A river that at one time was navigable with small boats  had to be diverted.  The bell shaped area at the top of the picture is the diverted river.  You can see the mound (meloni) in the middle that contains the tombs. 

Brenda walking into Tomb I.  Not bad for a person who is claustrophobic

Inside one of the tombs

Some of the crowd at the dedication ceremony

 

 

Stay tuned for more.  I really hope some of you can make it here to Tuscany.  It is a beautiful place, the people are great, and the food is the best I have ever tasted, not to mention the rich history of the area. If you come you must stay at IL MOLINO DI BORDONE if you really want the flavor of of a true Italian experience.  It is in the country but so close to most things you would want to see.

FORTRESS OF GIRIFALCO (or MEDICI)

This is an outside picture of the Fortress of Girifalco.  It is located on the outside of the walled city of Cortona at perhaps the highest point in the area.  Records show that the Fort was in existence around the year 1258 when it was sold to Arezzo.  Arezzo is the present province in which Cortona is located.  The fortress dominates the hill just a short distance from Cortona.  You may remember in a previous blog I pointed out the fortress in a picture taken several miles away.  To me it is amazing how they could have built such a structure with only a small path for access.  Today you could drive up there on a dirt road behind the Church of St. Margaret (the patron saint of Cortona).  The views, as you will see in this blog, are spectacular. The fortress has been through many renovations since the 1200's.  It was opened to the public in 1948 and is the subject of renovation since 1959.

This is just another view of the front of the fortress. Those stairs are extremely difficult to climb.  They lead to a massive wood door at the entrance. It is amazing as to how they lifted the door into place on its hinges.  Its weight has to be in the tons.  Because the fortress is still under renovation there is very little information there to tell you, for example, the weight of the door.  All I know, is that even with today's weaponry it would be difficult to blast away the door to gain entrance.  Inside, the fort is divided into a central core, a tower which is spread over four floors and is surrounded by four bastions and a vast courtyard.  As I mentioned before it is still in need of a tremendous amount of restoration that, I am sure, will cost millions and millions of euros.  It was still interesting to take a tour through the complex.  And, it only cost two euros.  That's about $2.80 in dollars.

Here is the door.  Notice the small door within the larger door at the bottom left.  My guess is that they used this door to let people in as they probably did not want to expose much of the fort to people who might be invaders. That small door is probably around five feet high and maybe four feet wide.  When we went in the large door was open.  I guess they trusted us even though we are "Amercanio's" and might be looking to create a massive tourist attraction and collect a large amounts of money to take a tour.  Maybe even turn the inside into a mini Disney World with gallows, torture chambers, and guillotines. Every hour we would even have a mock invasion.  Ok, just kidding.  I am sure we would preserve it as a national treasure.  The sign outside says that in 1540 Cosmio I dei Medici commissioned a restoration that began in 1556.  He commissioned Gadrio Serdelloni, grandson of Pope Pio(Pius) IV, yep grandson of a Pope, and others to do the work.  I did some research on Pope Pius IV and found that he was a Medici from Milan.  The Medici's of Florence who had all the power and money did not recognize the Medici's of Milan as part of their family until  Pope Pius IV was appointed pope.  Once he was appointed as a compromise candidate the Medic's of Milan now became part of the influential Medici's of Florence. Back then you did not even have to be a priest to get appointed Pope, you just had to have a lot of money and influence.  I guess politics played an important role even back then.

Here you can see part of a walkway.  The walkway goes from the main building and then back into the building on the other side. It is U shaped and has a great view of the center courtyard and a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.  The steeple you see in the background is that of St. Margaret of Cortona.  I am not sure what the courtyard was used for, but my guess is that it was for large events.  According to what I read, I don't think it was used to corral the enemy.  They did all their slaughtering outside of the walls. Hey, the Italians were even clean freaks back then.  Why mess up the inside.

View from the walkway.  The city in the background is Camucia.

Another view from the walkway.  The lake in the background is Logo Trasimeno. A site near there is where Hannibal defeated the Romans.

So here are the windows looking from the inside of the fortress.  You can see how thick the walls are and also all the stone used to build the fortress.  Again, it is just amazing how it was built in the 1200's with no power equipment and up on a high hill.  It would be a feat to build it today even with all our modern equipment.  Today the fortress is used as a cultural center.  The plan is to create a center of excellence for live shows, art projects and educational programs.  When we were there an art show was going on in many of the rooms of the fortress.

Partial view of the center court

Another view of the center court from the walkway.  To get an idea of the vastness of the fort, you can barely see Brenda standing in the center of that archway in the background.

I found these printing presses in one of the rooms of the fortress.  They were in an area not open to tourists, but I managed to get a picture.  They are probably going to use them somewhere for display purposes.  Behind the press are rows and rows of typeset.  I am not sure how old these presses are, but apparently they were used sometime during the fortress's history.

I found this stone at the highest point outside the fortress.  I really do not know what it says, but it looks to be written in early Roman or maybe even some Etruscan form of writing.  There were no signs there to explain and no one to ask.  It might even be a grave, but I am not sure.  I am still researching.

More pictures of the outside

A view of St. Margaret's Church from the fortress.

Stay tuned for more.  I have some great pictures of Amy and Michelle's visit and more interesting stuff.

EXPLORING ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

 It's mid-morning on Sunday and as you can see it is kind of cloudy.  It is also a little on the cool side.  Similar to some of the spring days back home in the USA.  This is the view from the porch just off the kitchen.  Those mountains in the background are in the Provence of Umbria, which is next door to us here in Tuscany.  Perugia, a major city in Umbria, is known for its chocolate delicacies. Maybe some day we will drive there to partake of some of those evil, fattening treats. Why not!  You know what they say:  When in Rome.......  Anyway because of the kind of day it is we decided to just drive around to see some of the local scenery. 

Molly is kind of looking like she wants to come also.  If you remember the blog from last year Molly is one of the dogs here at IL MOLINO.  The other dog is Bianca. Molly kind of looks at you with that lonely, sad face when she wants something.  No luck today Molly, you are not coming with us. And you're not getting any more food, I just fed you.  Molly follows me everywhere, even when I am mowing the lawns, except she is afraid of the mower so she stays far enough away.  She also waits for me just outside that door every morning.  Sometimes I let her in while I am having my coffee and she lays on the floor in the kitchen.  Sorry Caroline and Pino, but she has become a great friend. 

 One of the places we wanted to find is a B&
B called Casa Bellavista located in the town of Creti in Cortona.  Our neighbor across the street in Thomaston and their friends have spent some time there. Their friends have become friendly with the owners and usually go there every year and kind of help out. There it is at the end of a no name dirt road miles from nowhere.  Talk about peace and quiet.  It is a beautiful place.  Above is a picture of the back gardens.The windows above are from some of the rooms.  As with IL MOLINO the address has a C.S. in front of it.  In Italian that means sparse housing.  They do, however, have a number but no street name. We found Bellavista by using GPS coordinates.  Most places like this advertize their coordinates on web sites.   By the way one of the owners, Simonetta, teaches cooking classes there and I hear the class is great and delicious.

JUST ANOTHER SCENE OF THE TUSCAN HILLS

 Check out this plant we found it not far from Bellavista.  This is the first time I ever saw one of these.  It's a Carciofo.  Oops sorry, Artichoke.  It is really an interesting plant.  The Artichokes grow inside the center portion of the plant.  I think this is the season for them because you see the Artichokes everywhere being sold.  We have some but haven't cooked them yet.  Come on Brenda, what are you waiting for?  I wouldn't even know where to start.  You must boil them or something.  I'll leave it up to
Brenda.  She is a great cook so I know they will be good

Another scene with the hills of Cortona in the background

Great cloud formation

Here is another scenic view.  At the top of that hill is a compound of many homes most likely belonging to one family.  I haven't investigated this particular compound but my guess is that it dates back centuries.  Notice that it is built at the top of the hill with a view of all the fields that surround the homes.  Right now the fields are getting plowed to get ready for the summer crop.  I am not sure what they will plant here but you will find corn, sunflowers, tobacco and a variety of other crops in this area if grapes are not grown.

Another view with the hill city of Cortona in the background

A typical house at the edge of the road.

Look what we came across on our little trip through the Tuscan hills.  This is the sign post for a small winery.  Printed on the side of the truck is "vini vendita" which is Italian for wine for sale.  Unfortunately this was a Sunday so the winery was not open.  One thing we found out from our last trip is that on Sunday most things are closed.  If you want to go shopping on a Sunday out here not much is open.  My guess is that in the bigger cities where there are many tourists, most stores are open.  We have the phone number and plan to go back there to try and perhaps buy the wine.  Can't get more local than that.

So whose is game for this little spread out in the country?  Here is a fixer-upper.  We have seen many of these on our journey.  Some of these houses date back to the 17th century and probably have no utilities.  No bathroom inside, water, or heat.  I am not sure how much money this or other property we have seen sell for.  Remember you pay in euros so it will be 35 to 40 percent more in dollars.  If you can see in the background is the hill town of Cortona.  That object you see at the top of the hill protruding into the sky is the Fortress of Girifalco.  I am still working on information and pictures for the fortress but they only open two hours a day during the week so I have to time it right to get there.

This is an apartment house in the town of Camucia which if not far from us.  The town is probably the size of maybe Watertown or Westerly and has everything we need.  This particular building is right across from the railroad station where you can get a train to most anywhere in Italy.  Notice the clothes hanging out the windows on the top floor.  This is you typical Italian dryer.  We should all have one of those.  I guess Italy is really environmentally conscious.  Stay tuned for more.

WE ARRIVE IN TIME FOR EASTER IN TUSCANY

 Buongiorno to all who read my blog.  Well here is the baby who took us to Italy.  It is a Delta A330 with Pratt and Whitney engines, perhaps built in Connecticut.  We left Kennedy Airport in New York on April 13,2014 and arrived in Rome the next day at around 8:30 A.M.  All of Italy is six hours ahead of us.  The flight was great.  It was smooth and on time.  This plane is very comfortable and much more modern that the one we took last fall on American.  That plane was kind of old and did not have all the niceties this plane had. We were served the usual kiddie meal for dinner and a "bun on the run" for breakfast.  Portions were small, but the food was good.  All the beverages were free, including wine and beer.  I don't get it, we are flying to Italy, they announce everything in English first then Italian, but they serve French wine. Oh well!!!

 This is a picture I took with my iphone of the
TV screen in front of me.  We each had our own TV.  As you can see, we are almost there.  If you can read what it says, it's telling us that we have one hour and twenty-six seconds to go before landing.  Believe me by that time you want to land as soon as possible as long as it's on a runway, no matter how comfortable the plane can be.  The flight was nine hours.  It did go fast because we had a lot of choices of what to watch on the TV.  Brenda and I watched two movies each on the way over and that made the time go by fast. Once in Rome we took a train to Terantola/Cortona where Pino picked us up and drove us to IL MOLINO.

While Caroline and Pino are away operating their tours, they are graciously letting us use their car.  If you remember, Caroline and Pino are the owners and developers of IL MOLINO di BORDONE.  If you are new to this blog, Google it and you can see the beautiful place they have developed here in the Tuscan hills. We consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to "mind the store" for them while they are away.

I have to apologize here because my pictures got a little mixed up and, unfortunately I am not technologically advanced enough to figure out how to fix it.  The picture to the left and above is the inside of the church where we took Anna, Pino's mother, to mass on Easter Sunday.  As you can see it is quite small.  I don't think it holds more than fifty people, but just like back home, that day there were probably almost a hundred people stuffed into that tiny church.  The mass was beautiful and all in Italian.  No organ in the church, but they had two guitarist and a few people who sang in Italian.  Except for knowing the 

 Catholic Mass, we really didn't understand anything, especially the sermon.  The Mass took just over an hour. Hey, what can I say you are in Italy which is 85% Catholic.  If you are wondering what this picture is on the left, I will tell you about it in just a while.  It's not supposed to be there but I don't know how to move it.  The picture below, which should have been over there, is of the outside of the church.  I am not sure when it was built, but it looks like it might have been built somewhere in the 1500's because most many of the houses in the area were built around that time.  The name of the church is St. Margaret, the same as the church in Cortona that I wrote about in the fall.  It is located in the town ( you really can't call it a town) of Pergo.  Pergo has a population of 20 according to information on line, but the church boasts 516 parishioners. Who knows about the amount of people in Pergo, probably nobody.  That's the way it is out here in rural Italy. There might be some people who really don't want anyone to know they exist, if you know what I mean.

 OK, so what about this picture above.  Good Friday evening we were invited to a birthday party at Raffaele's house about 20 minutes away from us. Raffaele is Pino's brother.  It was his birthday. We picked up Anna in Pergo and drove to Raffaele's.  There were about 17 or 18 people there.  They were very welcoming and made us feel comfortable.  They are great people.  We were known as the "Amerciano's" to them.  Non of them spoke English but  because we had a lot of practice with Charades and know a few words in Italian we got along fine.  This picture above represents just the beginning of what we had to eat.  Those sandwiches were great.  I really don't know what was in them but I know it was good. There was more to come.  Lena's (pictured below on left, she is Raffaele's significant other) dough machine was broken and a neighbor was going to make the dough for the pizza.  The problem was that the dough was supposed to be picked up at 4:00 but when someone went to her house to pick it up they found out the she was just starting to make it.  Now this created a problem because there was no time for it to rise.  According to Francesca (pictured on right below) the pizza will come out like a "stone".  At this point it became funny.  Everyone started talking all at the same time about the problem with the pizza dough.  Francesca was the most vocal

ranting and raving about the problem making pizza with dough that did not rise.  If you are familiar with Italians then you know about everyone speaking at the same time.  It kind of gets louder and louder.  It was, however, all in fun because the were all laughing and talking real fast in Italian.  Actually, we were all laughing.  I have a video or Francisca's ranting and raving, however, it will not download  to this blog.  If I see you when I get home, I would love to show it to you.  It is really funny.  The dough finally arrived and the pizza making began.  They made enough pizza's for at least 100 people.  They were all great.  Believe me I know because I tried at least one piece of each one.  Actually, one was rubbed with cream, then sprinkled with corn, cheese, and a bunch of other stuff.  Different for sure, but of course, I had a piece and kind of liked it. By the way they call their dough pasta.  We thought we were having pasta until we saw them making pizza.  Apparently bread, pizza, pasta and anything made with flower and water is called pasta.  If you ever come to Italy and they tell you they are making pasta, you might be getting pizza.

This is Villa Nobile Casa Vacanza.  This is Pino's brother's place in Franeta in the Provence of Arezzo.  Raffaele has been working hard to bring the place up to par.  It is not as old as IL Molino dating somewhere in the 19th century.  When Raffaele purchased it, it was literally falling apart and not liveable.  Walls were crumbling, it had no roof and no utilities.  When he is finished, it will have over seven rental units.  The grounds will be beautiful.  So far there is a great pool with beautiful surroundings.  The pool looks to be olympic size.  There are also two fountains that create a great foreground to the surrounding hills.  We had the pleasure of having Easter dinner there.  It was a delightful gastronomic adventure.  Everything was homemade.  To me, Tuscany has the best food in Italy.  It is always fresh and tasty.

Lena is a great cook.  Here you see her in the kitchen in one of the out buildings cooking our wonderful Easter feast.  By the way cooking classes are also offered here with professional chefs from the area.  The meal was served typical Italian style.  We started with the antipasto pictured below.  As you can see it included meat, cheese, peppers, bruschetta and more.  That flower in the middle is made of mashed peas.  That could have been the meal.  It was, however, followed by the pasta which in the case was lasagna.  Then came the meat course which was barbeque lamb.  Then the dolce and espresso.  WOW!!!  You think you would be stuffed and uncomfortable eating all this.  Trust me, you are not.  The meal was served over a three hour period with plenty of time in between courses to have conversion or just walk around.  After the espresso some of us did the typical Italian passeggiata (walk).  We had a chance to walk for about 40 minutes and enjoy the beautiful Tuscan countryside.  

Antipasto

Here they are.  Our extended Italian family.  That's Raffaele in the foreground, just behind him is Bruno, his wife and child. At the end of the table is Genaro, Raffaele's son. On the left in the foreground is Francesca, Anna behind her, barley seen is Brenda and after her is some of Francesca's children with some friends and cousins.  Missing is Caroline and Pino who are away operating their tours.  Easter week they are in Sicily with a group of 15 tourists.  After that they go to Amalfi then Puliga. then back to Il Molino.  I can't express it more than to say they are great, friendly, warm people.  Brenda and I felt right at home with them. We love them.

eggiat

Brenda and Francesca helping with the dishes

The Passeggiata

Stay tuned for more to come.  I plan to show you the Fortress of Girifalco in Cortona.  It is of Etruscan origin. I am still researching it.  When I get more information and pictures I will do a blog.  See you then.

WHEN IN TUSCANY, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD

 We are busy getting ready for our spring trip to Italy to, once again, house sit for Caroline and Pino at IL MOLINO DI BORDONE  in beautiful Tuscany.
They will be away part of April and most of May operating their walking tours in Italy.  At the present time we are in a packing frenzy because we leave in just one week and will be gone until near the end of May.  There are many things to do before we leave, hope we get them all done.  The picture on the left is the main entrance to IL MOLINO.  Once you pass that gate a paradise of ten acres awaits you.  Pino and Caroline spent may years developing this beautiful property to its present day splendor. I hope you also get  the opportunity to pass through these gates soon, so you too can enjoy this wonderful place in under the Tuscan sun,


                                                                                          

 When in Tuscany, besides the great historical sites that abound the area, it is also about the food.  Here most everything is cooked fresh.  This is a picture of the Co-Op in the town of Camucia which is about 20 minutes away from us at Molino.  For us Americans it looks like the inside of Costco's or B.J.'s but actually you need not belong to it to shop there.  It is just a regular super market serving the general public. When we traveled to other parts of Italy, we found them in almost every bigger city.  We found all the meats, vegetables, and fruits to be extremely fresh.  Each time you shop there you get a free box of pasta when you check out.  You probably have to spend a certain amount of money to get the pasta, but we had no problem doing that.  They also have a great wine and liquor selection, and tons of fresh baked bread and pastries.

Of course one of the largest sections is the olive oil isle.  Here you can see some of the selections.  The bottles on the top shelf are the most expensive and the bottom shelf has the cheaper bottles.  They say the the average Italian family consumes about one liter of olive oil a week.  One liter is equal to about a quarter of a gallon.  If you tasted the Tuscan olive oil, the best in Italy, you would understand why so much is consumed.  I am not sure if you can make out the brand labels, but some of them are sold in the U.S. However, I did notice that here in the U.S. even though the name is the same the oil isn't.  Sometimes it is not the first cold press oil and if you read the label, not all the olives are from Italy.

Here is a picture of the vegetable and meat section of the store.  They have a great way of selling the fruits and vegetables.  You get a bag and put your items in it and at the end of the isle there is a scale that weighs it and prints a label with the price printed on it.  When you get to the check out counter the line goes much faster because the items are already priced.  In the background is the sliced meat section. There are many choices of meats some of which we did not recognize so we didn't buy them.  We stayed pretty much with the salami and hams. Hanging there in the background is the cured prosciutto.  They slice it for you fresh right off the bone.  How can you resist?  The best is the prosciutto from Parma.  It is the most expensive, but once you taste it you will know why. 

 This is the fish counter.  You could see there on the left some salmon.  That I recognized, but most of the rest of the fish was not familiar to me. Except, of course, the shell fish and the squid.  We never really did buy any fish there.  But, come to think of it, we never buy fish in a market anyway.  I just catch my own. One thing I found interesting is that you buy most of the fish whole, they weigh it, then fillet it for you.  You pay for the whole fish but just get the fillets.  I didn't price any of the fish so I don't know if perhaps the price is less for the whole fish.  We did buy frozen shrimp from the truck that comes to the house and that was good, especially with pasta. Hey, we had so much pasta from all our trips to the Co-Op, that we had to use it up. 

If you remember any of my blogs from last fall, I talked about the open air market in Camucia.  Here you can buy anything from meats, vegetables, fruits, olives, fish, socks, pants, underwear, T-shirts, live chickens, you name it.  It is held every Thursday from early morning to 1:00P.M..  That's when just about everything closes there.  Get there early because you won't find a place to park.  Although the marked does not re-open until the following Thursday, most other stores open again at around 4:00 P.M. and usually stay open until 7 or 8. In Europe the would be 19:00 or 20:00.  You don't use AM or PM there.  This picture shows one of the vendors selling all kinds of meats and sausage and, as you can see, several kinds of cheeses.  The best I ever tasted, bar none.

Yep, you got it, what's Italy without Porchetta.  Here you can buy it by the etto or kilo. An etto (not sure if that is the correct spelling) is about a quarter of a pound and a kilo is about 2.2 pounds.  I would always ask for "etto due"(pronounced duay).  That's about one half pound.  Or sometimes just tell him to slice it and signal him to stop when you think there is enough.  He weighs it, and that's it you don't have to worry about kilo's or etto's or anything else.  Sign language works everywhere.  I must say, though, that everywhere you go in Italy, you do not really have to speak the language.  We found the people extremely helpful.  They always try to help figure out what you want.  Sometimes it is pretty funny and you both end up laughing about the situation.

Well, here we are back at IL MOLINO. Our bags are full of food and now all we have to do is cook and eat it.  Eating it is the best part.  Here is a picture of the olive grove.  When picking you start at the top and work your way down.  The climb to the top is interesting, but you only have to do it the first day of picking.  As Pino says you start at the top and work your way down then you don't have as far to climb the next day.  I look forward to the Fall when I will be, once again, helping with the harvest.  Brenda and I hope you can come to Italy and enjoy this wonderful place with us.  Without a doubt it will be your best vacation ever.  More to come soon.