Cortona, Italy

Hey everyone!

Today we ventured outside of Perugia for the first time since arriving and headed for Cortona, Italy. It's a small town in Tuscany and about a 45 minute train ride away from "home." If you've ever seen the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, you've seen Cortona; the entire movie was filmed there.

There were about 8 of us that decided to go, and our first adventure with european transportation actually went fairly well! Considering we had to use a mini-metro, a train, and a bus to get there, we were all pretty proud when we arrived without any major glitches. 

Cortona is perched up on veeeeeery steep hillside, and we definitely got an incredible workout just walking around town. We grabbed some lunch at an incredible little restaurant that overlooked the valley below and of course enjoyed a couple glasses of wine :) I can honestly say that I have yet to have a glass of wine here that was anything less than amazing. This country definitely has its priorities straight. 

After lunch we ventured towards La Chiesa di Santa Margherita. Its an absolutely beautiful church located just short of the highest point in town. It took us about 30 minutes to walk there (which isn't too bad), but holy smokes....I thought Perugia was hilly, but it is nothing compared to this place. I might as well have been climbing mount everest. Some advice: wait until AFTER your "hike" to enjoy the vino. Ouch. 

Perched even higher than the church was the Fortezza del Girifalco, an ancient Etruscan fortress which was first used by the Goths and later by the Lombards. The view was so absolutely INSANE from here, it felt like we were on the top of the world. Check out the pictures, please...even though I know that no photo can even come close to capturing the enormity of the landscape. Seriously breathtaking. It felt like a dream. 

On our way back down to town we passed through a beautiful little park. Conveniently it was right at sunset and we ended up staying there for quite a while, just trying to soak it all in. Again, please look at the photos. Words cannot do this justice. 

All in all, it was a fabulous day. You can't help but feeling like the italians know more about having a good time than we do. It's a simple kind of "fun," but it honestly warms your soul. Despite the chaos that comes with being in a foreign country, and despite all the confusion that comes with TRYING to speak in a second language, I feel absolutely at peace here. Never before have I felt so grounded with such an enormous challenge in front of me. While I'm sure there will be difficult days in which I miss home so much it hurts, there is no doubt in my mind that I am doing something incredible. I wish you all could be here. And I can honestly say that the thing I look forward to the most is the day that my family arrives in Rome.  I can't wait to share everything with my fellow Davi :)

Love you all enormously. Talk to you soon (hopefully!!!)

Sarah

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