Cortona, Italy
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Our day began at Borgo del Frattore B&B just outside Foligro, Italy. Breakfast was included in our stay at the hotel, so Andi, Tory, Aden, and I went to the dining room around 9:00am to eat something before departing. For whatever reason, we were all a little feisty this morning.
We were finished with breakfast and checked out of the hotel by 10:00am. Today, we planned to visit the town of Assisi, before continuing onto our final destination of Cortona, Italy.
We asked several locals where we should visit while in Italy’s Umbria Region, and they all mentioned Assisi. In addition to being the birthplace of Saint Frances (the current Pope Francis choose his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi), it is also the location of the Basilica of San Francesco, and where Saint Frances is buried. Over 5 million people visit the tiny town of Assisi annually to pay homage to the religious leader.
Andi parked our rental car in a public parking lot outside the historical town centre. Supposedly, there was another one of those outdoor escalators that carries visitors to the top of the hill in town, but the one in Assisi was out of service.
You might want to change your footwear, Andi suggested to the kids, “looks like we’re walking to another castle!”
“Another castle?! Why?” they both whined.
“On your left, my right, more old shit,” Andi quipped, in his best tour guide impression.
“Dad!” both kids shouted, flabbergasted Andi said that. We all busted out laughing.
We laughed because it’s kind of true. Castles and cobblestone alleyways are becoming waterfalls of Central America. (Oh look! There’s another waterfalls, kids! … Yeah, cool.)
To the top, we go!
A small antiques market was set up in one of the Assisi town piazzas. We walked through the vendors, but didn’t see much of anything that peaked our interest — mostly old tea cups, cutting boards, paintings, and kitchen towels. Andi spotted a vendor selling candy and told the kids they could pick out a few pieces to help fuel them on their walk through town.
“How much can we have?” Tory asked.
“Whatever you think is fair,” Andi replied.
€16 later —cough, cough — Tory and Aden had two bags of candy in their hands. “You said I could have as much as I thought fair,” Tory said with a smirk. Yeah, but not €16 worth!
The four of us strolled through the town of Assisi following its many narrow cobblestone streets. So much character in the building facades, so much history. My favorite thing to do is wander through the maze of alleyways and look closely at the bricks — past layers of history often show through, old doors that have now been filled in with bricks, and steps have been worn smooth from years of foot traffic. I wonder where they led to? Who was here before us?
Soon, we found ourselves walking through a half semi-circle arch into a large piazza. A small crowd was gathered there, sunning themselves on a long bench that followed the wall of the square. Sunshine and cigarettes is what Europeans love. This is the piazza where Basilica of Saint Clare is located. We’re not Catholic, so I don’t quite understand the homage to saints within the church, but this basilica honors Saint Clare of Assisi, one of the first followers of Saint Frances. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women. This morning, the church was filled with visitors praying and paying their respects to the saint.
It is said the Basilica of Saint Clare mirrors the Basilica of San Francesco on opposite sides of town, and is thought to be encircling visitors to Assisi between them.
The four of us continued walking through the streets of Assisi, window shopping and admiring its historic charm. Eventually, we made our way to the Basilica of San Francesco set on the edge of town overlooking the valley.
The Basilica of San Francesco was busy with tourists. There wasn’t a line to get inside the church, but a steady stream of people flowed in and out of its doors. Inside the basilica, we admired the decorated chapels. Visitors can pay their respects to Saint Frances’ tomb on the lower level, so we followed the crowd of people through the space. Andi said he could feel spiritual energy in the room as people were seated on the floor or in the pews surrounding the tomb praying and meditating.
After touring the basilica, we made our way back to the main piazza of Assisi. The kids were getting ansty, so it was time to make our way back to the car. Andi gave Tory his iPhone map and told her to navigate us there. Google Maps suggested we take a right and walk outside the historic centre. Personally, I thought we should return the way we came along the historic cobblestone streets, but Andi put Tory in charge of navigating.
We were no longer walking in the pedestrian part of the old town, but along the main road used by cars. Something that Google Maps didn’t tell us was that the walk back to our car was all uphill. The four of us stripped off layers of clothing as we walked, heated up by exercise and the afternoon sunshine. Tory was not pleased. “Hey, you’re navigating!” Andi teased her.
Next stop was to find some lunch and gelato. Andi’s friend Dave recommended we stop at a spot with the “best gelato he’s ever tasted” while we were in Assisi. Andi navigated us to several restaurants that looked like they would have been amazing places to eat, but they were all closed. We’d left the main area of Assisi and were now in more of the countryside.
As we navigated closer to the gelato shop, we realized that there wasn’t much for restaurants in this area. The only one we found open for lunch was called Osteria di Cambia Trattoria. This was a typical small town Italian family restaurant. The host who greeted us at the door didn’t speak English, but she non-verbally asked us if we had a reservation. We told her we didn’t, and she left to go speak to another person in the kitchen. Sorry, she motioned to us {shoulder shrug}, when she returned. Apparently the restaurant couldn’t give us a table today, even though half the tables in the restaurant were currently empty.
Andi and I decided we’d go to the grocery store and buy the makings for a picnic lunch. Restaurant options seemed hard to come by in this area, and we’d promised the kids we’d go to the gelato shop before we left here.
Inside the small-sized supermarket, Andi ordered sliced meat, cheese, and bread from the deli counter. The woman working behind the counter didn’t speak English either, but she was very helpful in trying to communicate with Andi. We also bought chips, soda, grapes, and bell peppers in the grocery store to eat during our picnic lunch.
Tory and Aden found a cement step to sit underneath the shade of a small tree. In the end, this lunch worked out perfectly — it was quick, easy, and simple. A stray cat kept trying to steal our food while we ate. It’s interesting how many stray cats there are in Europe. They’re everywhere! In South America, it’s stray dogs that wander the streets; in Europe, cats.
Tory and Aden finally got their gelato from the “best gelato shop” after our picnic lunch. Tory ordered chocolate, of course, and Aden picked a Kinder Joy ice cream flavor. Andi tried the lemon flavor per his friend Dave’s recommendation, but we found it too tart for our taste.
This was a bit of a weird spot — half bar, half gelato shop. Several men were gathered outside the cafe having coffee, wine, and beers together.
From Assisi, the four of us continued traveling one hour northeast to the town of Cortona, Italy. The town of Cortona is ranked as one of the best small towns in Tuscany. It was a pretty drive as it ascended into the rolling hills of the Tuscany Region.
Literally six miles before we reached the town of Cortona, Andi said from the driver’s seat, “OMG, he’s puking!”
“What? Who?” I asked.
Apparently, Aden felt nauseous and threw up all over himself in the backseat of our rental car without giving any warning. There wasn’t a good spot for Andi to pull the car over because there were cliffs on both sides of the road with no shoulder, and several cars trailing behind us. Several minutes passed until Andi found a safe spot to pull the car over, all the while Aden continued puking in the backseat.
As soon as Andi saw the mess, he immediately walked behind the car and threw up himself. Tory was so grossed out, she started walking down the road in the other direction of our car! When I opened the car door and saw Aden sitting there, the only thing I could say was, “What happened?!”
Oh my gosh, it was everywhere. What a mess! Poor Aden. He just sat there, stunned.
Since Andi was barely keeping it together himself and Tory was sitting on the side of the road with her hand over her nose, I had no choice but to clean up the vomit by myself. I told Aden to undress by the side of the road which he was embarrassed about, and got him into fresh clothes. Then, I used a pack of baby wipes to clean up the mess as best as I could in the backseat. Luckily, it didn’t get onto any of our belongings — just Aden and the spot where he had been sitting.
With the mess mostly cleaned up, we continued on to the B&B. Tonight, Andi reserved us a family suite at Locanda Del Molino B&B. The hotel was rustic, but charming encompassing the true feeling of the Tuscan countryside.
Andi thought he’d communicated that we needed three beds, but the man working behind the desk seemed confused by Andi’s request. “Yes, sleeping for four people,” he kept saying, pointing to the two double beds in the room.
“No, we need three beds. The children do not sleep together,” Andi told him again.
Unfortunately, we had no other choice but to make Aden and Tory sleep together in the same bed for the night. That’s definitely been a travel headache when booking lodging on this trip. Most European hotel rooms are not setup for three beds, and hoteliers always assume the children will sleep together. In fact, they’re shocked and (as in this case) can’t understand why we’d want two separate beds for the kids to sleep.
The second bed / fold-out couch may have been the most uncomfortable place I’ve ever sat. Andi bribed Tory with €10 if she’d sleep next to Aden and not complain about it.
Locanda Del Molino B&B also has a MICHELIN star restaurant attached to it called La Baracchi, and they make their own wine by the same name. Andi sensed we needed a little time to recoup after the last 10 minutes of that drive, so he ordered a bottle of wine and two glasses to sit by the fireplace together.
I had no idea he took this photo, but it makes me laugh because it accurately sums up the travel moment —
Long travel day. Kid puked in the backseat of the car. Are we having fun yet?
Andi and I decided to take a walk through the countryside while Tory and Aden hung out together in our family suite. Aden seemed perfectly fine now, and said he felt nauseous in the car from twisty roads. He asked for crackers and finished off what was left of the grapes and bell peppers leftover from lunch.
The area surrounding our B&B was quiet and peaceful. Andi and I enjoyed a nice walk together, talking over the next logistics of our European travels.
Tonight, we made plans to eat at the MICHELIN star restaurant inside our B&B. How could we not take advantage of its proximity? Aden seemed perfectly fine and begged for us to order the tomahawk steak on the menu. The large piece of meat would feed our whole family, so we all agreed to split that entree with a few sides.
The ricotta cheese gnudi dish tasted amazing, as did the tonno della valdichiana (fresh tuna with cannellini beans and pickles), and tortino (vegetables with parmesan fondue. Our service was fantastic, and such fresh, complex flavors in the food.
Toward the end of our meal, a couple was seated next to us with their tiny lap dog — that was a little strange. They put a blanket on a chair and fed the dog from their plates at the table. There was also a big group of 20 that came to the restaurant around 9:30pm. They were a boisterous group, singing and cheers-ing glasses. I could tell it would not be a quiet night’s stay in the hotel.
As predicted, it was a very noisy night of sleep. I put my earplugs in around 11:00am, and fell asleep fine but Andi and Tory said the crowd partied until 2:00am — with kids in tow! The loudest part was when the group stood outside our hotel room window to smoke cigarettes. Andi said when the crowd left, he heard lots of “ciao, ciao!” (kiss, kiss)
Tomorrow, we’ll start heading south again toward Spoleto where we will return our rental car on Monday. We have one more day in the Umbria Region, but we’re not quite sure where we’ll go yet. There are still several more medieval towns in the area to see.
