We hopped off the train, and instead of walking the 7 KM (about 4 miles) straight uphill, we took a bus because we got there around 3 and had to catch the last train at 9. Once we got to the top, I couldn't believe the view! It was also perfect weather and not so smoggy so we could see really far. We quickly realized that Cortona wasn't a huge tourist town, and thank goodness Jay came with us because everyone only spoke Italian. No way would Caroline and I have survived since we only had taken about 8 level 1 Italian classes.
Cortona felt like the San Francisco of Italy: every street was straight up, or straight down, the curbs sometimes had special cement stoppers for the cars, and everyone drove an SUV. Much different from the inner city smart car! We walked around for a few hours, through the main park, down every single street, and even sat in the park and split a bottle of wine, looking at the amazing view. There were also a lot of outdoor cats, grandparents walking with their grandchildren, and stumbled upon an indoor tennis club, too! Through the park is a very wide trail with perfectly lined trees and took us to places I didn't think were legal... we hopped the fence to see their outdoor amphitheatre (again, amazing view). We soon realize there is a castle in the distance, so of course we wanted to go to that, too!
From the amphitheatre, there was a trail that went through thick grasses and by a deserted pool. We were walking over rocks, burrs attached to our pants, and eventually reached the castle. Of course on the wrong side of the wall, which was 20 feet high... we walked along it and found a tini little doorway in the wall, and since we didn't want to trek back, we opened it and found there was a big tunnel under the castle! Walked through it, and found a small opening in the wall that brought us back outside. Crawled on hands and knees (thank goodness I did not wear my boots on this trip) and found ourselves on the right side of the wall! We went up a flight of staircases, walked along the castle to the front door and realized it was closed.
We weren't bummed out for too long because we were at the highest point in Cortona, so it was quite an accomplishment in the end. Climbed on some rocks, took pictures of the setting sun, and walked along the actual pedestrian trail to get back into the main part of the city.
On our way down, there was very large Greek Church, luckily still opened, and was it beautiful! Saint Margarets was nothing short of the Duomo in Florence: Murals on every inch of ceiling, sculptured pillars, detailed and colorful stain glass windows, an organ the size of my house, and an alter that was over 400 years old, yet still in perfect condition. There was something new to this church that I had never seen before though, and it still creeps me out a little thinking about it today, but they had THE REAL Saint Margaret mummified, in a glass casket, on the alter in the middle of the church. She was very dead, nicely dressed, but still very dead. That was my que to leave, and as we walked out we saw the sunset through the trees and all of the way into town. On our way back, Jay translated a monument that said that Pope John Paul II had been to that church in 1993, and it was "a very cordial, rich, and beautiful church". Luckily for Jay and his translation skills, I would have had no clue what it said.
By now it was 7:30, and we still had to grab some dinner. Found a little bar/restaurant with two Italian brothers, and they made some amazing chicken and spinach tortellini, with the side of olive oil and bread. While we were leaving at 8:30, we found out that the buses stopped running at 8, and there was no way that we were going to be able to walk the 7 KM in half an hour to catch the last train. Jay spoke with the wife of one of the Italian men, and she drove us to the train station! There are so many great people in Italy, and we caught our train with 5 minutes to spare. Made it back safely to Florence, finished my homework, and headed straight to bed. Funny how hiking up giant hills makes people tired. Good night! Much love, AF
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