Cortona Day 2/3

The weather looked ominous as we woke after our first night in Cortona, the clouds loomed and we  had a few drops of rain. We headed out and wandered up the hill towards the church at the top of Cortona. Along the way we walked along a beautiful path just inside the town walls. It was lined with trees and had cobbles with a small stone path along the middle. When we arrived at the top there was a special service as the had lolly stalls and there were cars strung down the hill for a kilometre. 

We ate lunch on a look out and found a park for the kids to burn off some energy. We spent the rest of the day exploring the beautiful village with such fantastic views. Every time you get to the town walls you are greeted with panoramic views over Tuscany and Umbria. For dinner we found a sensational, friendly restaurant. The kids voted it the best meal of the holiday so far.

This morning I was woken with a complete white out. It was raining and you were lucky to see 20 metres ahead of you. Not good when you have a car hired for the day. I caught the bus down to Camucia and finally found the car rental place. The man there was, um, interesting to say the least! He was in for a chat (even though I just wanted to get going) and told me how good Australians were but didn't like Americans or Poms! So for the first time in 14 years I was faced with challenge of changing gears with my right hand. 

After picking up the family we headed to Castiglione Del Lago for a look around (and relive the old days). It was still as beautiful as I remembered it. We were fortunate enough that the rain had cleared and the sun was coming out. We grabbed a few pics before heading towards Montepulciano. Kylie loved the drive and got a few pictures as we went. Everywhere you looked there were stunning villas on top of hills and a lot of old farm barns ripe for the renovation- oh to have the money. 

We arrived in Montepulciano and parking was stressful. The car parks are so tiny, I had to let the family out before parking it as it was too hard to open the doors safely.  Montepulciano is similar to Cortona with a great view back to Castiglione Del Lago and Cortona. 

After a quick bite we headed in search of the white road with the cypress tress that features in many movies. I had researched it beforehand and with the help of Google Maps we found the exact spot to take the photo. Although it wasn't full sun it was pretty good, especially compared to what it had been in the morning. 

Driving home we decided to take the Autostrade, it's always entertaining. Despite the 110km limit they just fly along. The impressive thing is how accommodating they are, if someone is in the fast lane and a faster car comes along, they get out of the way pretty quickly. Along the way we saw one of the Italian's huge AutoGrill (service area). I remember visiting this one about 17 years ago as it straddles both 4 lanes of traffic, we had a bit of a laugh that day and stirred up a few of the local gypsies. I must say that being on the Autostrade was nice as the other roads were in atrocious conditions. Extremely dangerous and in need of repair.

We arrived home and headed straight for Gelateria Snoopy. The kids were looking forward to it after having a Gelato free day yesterday, although I might know one person who snuck out and broke the agreement.