Day 6- A Toscana!

Day Six. Tension was building at this point in the trip. Six whole days into the Italian adventure, and Emily had yet to experience that which is old, quaint, and lovable. Where Chianti and Montepulciano ARE the house wines, made behind that house! That's correct...I'm talking about Toscana (Tuscany). Not to say that the Amalfi coast, that Rome weren't spectacular and wonders of their own...but to one biased writer, nothing speaks of la bella vita like Tuscany.

And so, after circling the Colosseum and forum one last time, 

we made ourway to the train station where we picked up our new ride. 4 letters for you, F-I-A-T. No, not the dusty convertible hiding in the (Hershey) Battista driveway, but a small little "Punto" representing the Ford of Italy. 

Never rented a car or drove the Autostrada of Italy before? Got your lovely, navigational expert wife next to you? No problem!

Without (much) problem on the highway, we made our way across the border into the tuscan countryside in the mid morning. By early afternoon, we were pulling into Il Sole Del Sodo, 

our villa where we would spend the next 4 nights (and They said there were none left in tuscany!). 

Anywho, after settling in, we drove up the hill to old-Cortona to take in our first hilltown together. It was everything Emily had hoped for and more...with dinner reservations over an hour away, we had to try the town's gelato, which was the best yet. 

We then perched above the main square to people-watch and comment on all the activity going on- the old men gossiping on the benches, the teens gathered by gender daring each other to talk to their crush, and one or two people who wandered the square appearing quite lost.
Dinner was exquisite (though we don't remember what exactly we ate) and the wine was quite...fulfilling (that's why we don't remember what we ate). We nestled down in our room with a view that evening thinking, we're here...now, we're really here :)