Monday, September 23
A “Pear-fect” (the Italian way) day and, it’s my birthday! I met Hannah at the airport without any issue. Ahhhhh, we had both been a little nervous about that. Thank god there is only one passenger exit in the Rome airport. We found our little white Fiat 500 and with google paper directions in hand, we were off. The signage early on was a little sketchy, and so we thought we had missed our turn, and then took another wrong turn, which made it all right!!! Before we knew it, signs along the highway, along with the sun, were showing us that we were on our way, heading northeast from Rome.
After two and a 1/2 hours we were driving toward the sky! Roads were getting tighter, cliffs were getting longer, and we were climbing higher and higher toward Cortona.
After moving in to our new home for the next week, thunder rolled in, and the skies opened up. The sound and smells of rain, wet grass mixed with wood fires and baking bread engaged all senses. I have been on the hunt for the last month for the Pear-fect fragrance. And as we walked up into town last night, I said, ohhhh if I could bottle this, THIS is it!
Back to the rolling thunder storm……it was christening us into our week here. As for Hannah, she became drenched in welcomes from a place that was once her home.
Rain is such a nurturing symbol. As it fuels and feeds the earth here, it releases that earthy Cortona olfactory essence while cleansing and birthing new beginnings. Today is a fresh start to something wonderful. A coming home of sorts perhaps through different lenses.
The rain stopped some blue drifted into our piece of the sky and we headed out for a walk around town. Before we had barley started our climb, the skies released another baptismal round. This time even with an umbrella and rain coats we were drenched in rain and in laughter.
Pants soaking wet, to well above our knees, and hair a little worse for wear we ducked into one of Hannah’s favorite restaurants, Caffe la Saletta; Sangiovese local wine, a salad of greens and tuna, olives and capers and their homemade tagliatelle porcini mushroom pasta. And so, our mouths were now officially baptized. The waiter was the same gorgeous guy he was back in 2014, Severio. He has a way of leaving his slightly bashful smile lingering right on your table.
After dinner, a blue mist of cloud vapors danced around town and up to its tip. We followed it around and all the way up. There amidst the open grasses live some ancient Etruscan ruins, and its fortress along with a very old church. Selfies and sleep deprived laughter ensued for the rest of the evening!
Welcome to Wonder 