The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
April 23 - Montepulciano and Cortona

Being old hands around this neighborhood, we played tour guide today and took the group to two of our favorite hill towns -- Montepulciano and Cortona -- just over the border into Tuscany. I won't go into long descriptions of these places, but will let the photos tell the tale.

I didn't expect much traffic at this time of year but both places were jammed with Italians. The cause, we came to learn, is that Tuesday is a holiday and many (most?) Italians take it as a four-day weekend. We have never run into such mobs, even during the summer tourist season.

The first stop was Montepulciano, about an hour's drive from the house. After wandering through the back streets, we finally found parking. You must understand that driving the back streets of an Italian hill town is a lot like threading the needle. Fortunately all the streets are one way ... and given that they are at most about ten feet wide, that is a good thing!

The first trick is finding parking. The second trick is actually being able to get back in your car and leave. When we returned to the cars, I had people parked so closely on each side of me that I couldn't get either front door open more than six inches. I was able to open a back door just enough to squeeze inside. Then I just had to figure out how to get my rather substantial bulk over the seat backs and into the front. Somehow I managed it ... although I wasn't walking right for the rest of the day!

Cortona was just as crowded. Dieter and I dropped the others in town then went looking for parking -- also not an easy thing to come by. After a couple of hopeful spots in what turned out to be tow-away zones, we did luck into two parking spots just outside one of the town gates. Then all we had to do was climb (a more accurate description than "walk") up the street to the main part of town.

All the restaurants were full and seemingly uninterested in trying to accommodate us. Finally one place did it right. The waiter said, "we are full right now but I can seat you in about five minutes." It took longer, of course, but it kept us from wandering out. In about the time it took to finish a cold beer, we were seated and enjoying some excellent regional specialties.

By late afternoon we were done in and ready to head back to the house and relax. Lunch proved to be filling enough that we passed on dinner and instead just did the picnic thing at the house, helped along by a bottle of Austrian wine that Dieter had brought with him. We don't see much Austrian wine in the US but it is excellent, especially the whites.

A bit more socializing and we called an early end to our Sunday. I even gave up on the idea of trying to finish this before I went to bed. In Italy there is always domani.

Coffee in Montepulciano

Lunch in Cortona


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