It's All About the Food (Apart From the Art Of Course)

One of the things I'll really miss when we leave Cortona is the food. For the last two nights we've been to 'La Grotta' which is mentioned in the 'Under the Tuscan Sun' books. Here is the mixed crostini I raved about in a previous post:

This dish is something I've never tasted before and am never likely to again. It's a type of ravioli made with zucchini flowers and is just heaven:

This was scallopini with porcini mushrooms and a souffle of melanzane (eggplant) which was scrumptious (sorry I'd eaten most of it before I remembered the photo):

And of course, one can't leave Cortona without buying some Vinsanto and Panforte:

Also, I'd just like to apologise to anyone who's been generous enough to offer a comment on my posts. Due to the nightmare-ish situation regarding the internet in some towns (ranging from no internet whatsoever through no USB port on computers (!) to computers simply crashing in the middle of a post), I find I don't have much time on the road for responding to comments. As ever, they're much appreciated.

The Piero Della Francesca Trail

Today, we accomplished three-quarters of what is probably our main purpose in coming to Tuscany - following the paintings on what has come to be known as the Piero Della Francesca Trail. I would not recommend this without a car as two of the towns are not accessible by train. The first port of call was to Arezzo, to see my favourite of all, the cycle of frescoes known as 'The Story of the True Cross'. One of these, depicting the Queen of Sheba, is seen in the film 'The English Patient'. Sorry about the poor quality of the images:

The second painting we visited was 'The Resurrection' at Sansepolcro, Piero's birthplace. It is called 'The Resurrection' and was termed by Aldous Huxley in 1925 'the best painting in the world':

Finally, a sentimental favourite, the 'Madonna del Parto' or 'Pregnant Madonna':

Tomorrow, we'll be finishing the trail with 'The Flagellation' at the Ducal Palace at Urbino. The trail is also mentioned in John Mortimer's excellent novel, 'Summer's Lease', and the accompanying BBC series.

Palazzo Pfanner, Lucca

This is one of my most favourite places in the world - the Palazzo Pfanner in Lucca. It was used as the home of creepy Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich) in the film 'Portrait of a Lady'. These are the steps which lead up to the piano nobile from the front entrance:

The rear view, overlooking the beautiful garden:

The dining room walls are covered in a stunning moss-green linen:

The chandeliers and ceilings are gorgeous:

I love this bed:

The kitchen is a little basic, but I think I could live with it:

Cortona, Tuscany

We had arranged a week's swap in Perugia in Umbria which fell through. Instead, we decided to stay at the Hotel Italia in Cortona for 4 nights.The town is very beautiful, very hot and crowded with tourists. Yesterday there were markets in the Piazza della Signora, where I bought a white linen pillow slip. There were many things I would have loved to buy but transporting them back home is a slight problem:


I hadn't realised that Cortona is so high. This is the view from the breakfast room of our hotel:

For me, though, the highlight of Cortona is the food. The trattoria are very reasonably priced and the home-made pasta is fantastic. So far, the highlights have been the crostini with a selection of chicken liver, mushroom and tomato spreads, gnocchi with duck and fennel ragu, ravioli with truffle sauce, and vinsanto with biscotti.