| TUSCANY
Part Four -- Sovana,
Pitigliano, Sorano, Orvieto,
Cortona |
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Fri May 16, Sovana So next we set out for Sovana. Uli had clearly hit overload -- with me, with the trip, with everything. He wasn't being helpful with the navigating at first (I was driving), and he really didn't care where we went. It turned out that the Cathedral that we ate lunch next to was built in the 12th Century. Unfortunately, it closed for siesta while we were sitting there.
Our lunch consisted of the usual salami and cheese, but since we finally knew to ask for the meat dry, the bread with salt, and pecorino cheese (a regional specialty made from sheep's milk), it was the best yet. Fri May 16, Pitigliano Next came Pitigliano, which was very charming. At first I led us in the wrong direction, where we found all modern buildings and some people who didn't understand what I meant by, "Dove centro?" But we did watch some kids playing jump rope on a schoolyard, and there was a most amazing statue of a winged figure in the hand of another angel-type being who was embracing a mortal. Back in the older, dare I say ancient part of town, I was delighted to find a sundial that was exactly an hour off. Ancient Daylight Savings Time? As I'd forgotten my water bottle in the car, I was also happy to see an abundance of public fountains. That's the great thing about these places -- free-flowing water with not a care for water conservation in sight! I wouldn't be surprised of the Romans installed water circulation, but I just don't see any evidence yet. The old part of Pitigliano seemed to have only one main road, very narrow, very crooked. At the end of it there were some very scenic stairs which afforded a great view of the town's cliffs and of the valley.
Once again, Uli and I accidentally separated. I saw him only 60 feet in front of me, and I tried calling him three times, but I didn't get any response. After 30 seconds of yelling "ULI!" in a public place, well... you might as well be yelling "LA LA!"
Back at the car Uli said he wanted to find a bank, and I told him I'd seen a sign. When he returned saying he couldn't find it, I drove us there. But instead of a Banca di Pitigliano, it was a winemaker: Bianca di Pitigliano. My bad. Fri May 16, Sorano Next we went to Sorano (not to be confused with Sovana, but I did -- several times). Along the road there appears to be an official tourist, center-of-town lot. But it's only to the fortezza, inside of which there's now a hotel. In actuality, Sorano is another scenic cliff dwelling town. However, the woman working the museum next to the hotel showed me a postcard of the Canyon of the Etruscans, and I knew where we were going next. Not that it was easy to find. I had to ask another woman, this one at the tourist office, and she was kind enough to walk out of the office and over to the lookout point in order to point out the hilltop directly opposite Sorano which we needed to drive to. Missing the sign the first time, we finally parked and paid a man two euros each for entrance fee. The hilltop had a nice view of Sorano and some Etruscan burial caves, but nothing worth two euros. But then we walked down the path next to the church, and that was something. Amazing canyons lined with moss, covered in trees, and at the bottom a river with a great view of the buildings above and some unmolested burial caves in the cliff walls. Well, not unmolested -- strike that. The urns are long gone. But the shelves for the urns are still there, dug into the tufa.
While it was 2 euros well spent, it's not necessary to pay. One could simply park at the rover and walk up. I mean, the guy who took our money was sitting in a car, listening to the radio. If it weren't for the fact that we were utterly alone there (until the end of our hike when two people I recognized from Saturnia showed up), that would be a pretty good racket.
So with 2 1/2 hours until sundown we decided to skip Montelpulciano, only buzz by Lake Trasimeno, and head straight for Cortona, home of the Frances Meyes book I was reading prior to my trip. But then we saw the attractive town of Orvieto from far away. Orvieto was off our map since it's in Umbria, so we weren't planning on going. And we wouldn't have had Uli not asked earlier for a supermarket, and had I not decided to pull over at a quasi-supermarket looking place. Fri May 16, Orvieto In front of us in line was a very nice American named Daniel who offered to show us the town. So we drove him to the top, and he showed us a free place to park, found us a room at this monastery across from the beautiful Duomo, and then took us to this great restaurant that was cheap with large portions. He suggested the carbonara, and I got the tortellini with bread crumbs. I should have gotten the carbonara.
Daniel is attending a Christian University in Indiana, and studying abroad here. He signed a contract that he wouldn't drink, do drugs or have sex while in school, and he's not, even though in Orvieto he's not technically in school. More power to him, I say. Since his school year's up in June, he plans to drink a lot of wine then. And again I say more power to him!
I really love Orvieto. It's
a big town, but it feels quite small. Again, our good timing brought
us here on a Friday, so we got to see everyone hanging out at night,
talking, smoking, eating gelati. This place has an incredible vibe.
So much openness.
Okay, it's way past my bedtime since I have to get up at 7 for the drive to Fiori where Uli's plane departs from. It leaves at 2, but he wants to be there by 12. Which is fine since I'm going to keep the car another day and want to hit Montelpulciano, Cortona, Ravenna, and then drive to Naples or the next most southern town to return the car by 1pm the next day. Should be fun driving stick on my own!
Sat May 17 7:03pm, by the autostrada above Lake Trasimeno Well, it has its moments. Said goodbye to Uli today, after a harrowing adventure through the mountains -- Passo dei Mandrioli to be exact. Uli only looked at the Toscana map for the best route back to his flight in Fiori, and since the map stopped just to the east of that pass, we didn't know there was a fine, free autostrada that could have gotten us to Fiori lickety split. It's the same one I just got off of to head towards Cortona. But I'm equally to blame for forgetting to look at the Italy-wide map from the rental agency until we were high up in the mountains. It's not at all detailed, but it's working so far.
Uli made his plane with about 10 minutes to spare, I got some travel advice inside the airport from a seasoned traveler, then headed for Ravenna, which I assumed to be on the water for some reason. So I spent 2 hours walking around trying to find the coast, eventually inquiring at a cafe and learning my mistake. Thinking the beach was just around the corner there is like someone going to downtown Culver City thinking the beach is just in back of CIty Hall. Dumb. So for the past 2-3 hours it's just been me and Tina Turner. I found a tape of her and Ike while pissing on the side of the road outside Orvieto. Good stuff. Since Uli was freaked out about his flight -- and with good reason, it turned out -- we got up at 7 and were driving by 8. And I'll be doing the same thing tomorrow morning so I can return the car in Napoli by 1pm. I'd like to just sleep in the car tonight, but I'm gonna be so exhausted. We'll see what Cortona (and possibly Montelpulciano) brings. Sat May 17 8:48pm, Cortona So I decided to stay in Cortona. Why? Well, the hostel made itself known, it was cheap, and it was nightfall. The proprietor said I could make Napoli in 4 hours. Which means I need to leave by 8am. Better get some sleep tonight! Immediately after booking my room I walked up to the highest point of the town. Due to rain on the autostrada earlier and the general cloud cover, I wasn't expecting a sunset tonight, but lo and behold, there was a beautiful crimson spot in the sky where the waning sunlight broke through the clouds for 2-3 minutes. Again, what fine timing!
I'm sitting in a very cheap and good restaurant -- Trattoria Etrusca -- and my ignorance is practically glowing. I just ordered a bottle of wine which I thought was a red, but it wasn't, and I'm rarely in the mood for white. So I switched to the house wine, which just arrived. Let's try it together! Quite nice. Not all that complex but tasty. There's a TV on in the restaurant. Here's what's on: A goofy talk show with dancing girls and two men practically hidden behind a desk. Commercial for cookies that include Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron war paint in every box. Little blonde kids smiling as streaks of red and green are smeared on their faces. The drunker I get the weirder the commercials. A bizarre show with a big puppet guy who looks like a thinner cousin of Grimace with extremely animated arms and hands. Bizarre. A variety show with a musical number, "Luck Be A Lady Tonight". I think it was in English, but the accent was very forced. Fun-nee. Combined with the variety show is a mother/daughter beauty contest, complete with dance off. Awful, just awful. I just realized what the saltless bread here in Tuscany tastes like: matzo. Ohhhh, my God. the mother/daughter contest was to decide which ones got to go on a date with a middle aged guy. Icky! No, I was wrong. The first 2 pairs voted out got the dates. Booby prizes, as it were. There's an American working here who's been here for 3 years. She's been here during the tourist boom due to Frances Mayes' books, and also for the filming of Under The Tuscan Sun, which comes out this fall. She said they used her real house for some of the exteriors, but built a new Etruscan wall, even though there's plenty of the real thing here. Also, they put a statue in the Piazza, which tourists were unsuccessfully trying to identify using their guide books. Ugh. Ate so much I'm sick. Started with gnocchi fume, which is an orange cream sauce made with rosemary olive oil and crumbled smoked bacon, panna (cooking cream), peeled tomatoes cooked slow for 2 hours. Then I had asparagus, which was boiled and topped with Parmesan shavings, oil and lemon. And finally osso buco, which is tender beef stew, basically, with carrot, celery, onion and tomato sauce. The owner was kind enough to take it away before I finished it all.
email:
ryan[at]monkeyduck[dot]com
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Accommodations: Orvieto There was a fantastically clean, well-organized and cheap monasterio right next to the Duomo that we stayed at. Not only did they offer towels and soap for free, but the place had an elevator! Amazing. I'll try and dig up the name.
Cortona Hostel
San Marco I'm pretty sure this is the one I stayed at. There were easy to spot signs at the entrance to the town with the familiar HI symbol. They've got their own parking lot just past the place on a steep hill, so if you've got a car and you want to avoid hiking up with your luggage, drive up first.
Eating
Out:
Cortona Trattoria Etrusca Hidden, out of the way place at the end of the main drag. Owner is fluent in English. All of the food I had was tremendous, esp. the osso buco. Gnocchi
fume |
