Oct 9
Decided to take a drive around Lake Trasimeno and then go to Cortona since it was so close by and we had never been there and maybe we'd see what Francis Mayes was talking about. It was a pleasant and picturesque drive. We didn't see the Mayes home but we did wander around Cortona which seemed to be a popular tourist destination for Italians as well as other tourists. It's a lovely Tuscan hill town but there was nothing that particularly distinguished it from other lovely Tuscan hill towns. (But did find some scopa cards.)We decided to go to Spello for lunch since the restaurants there had appeared so appealing. Apparently, most of Umbria thought it would be a good place for Sun lunch also and after looking for parking for about 20 minutes, we decided to move on to Bevagna which we had visited briefly but abandoned because of heavy rain. I asked the local police where to eat and he pointed at a place directly in front of us called Osteria del Podesta'. We were told there was one table left if we wanted it. There was a party of about 20 at a long table celebrating a "cresima" (confirmation) and a couple other small groups including a couple with three young children sitting about 6 inches from us who promptly offered us a taste of their bottle of wine while the children attempted to engage us in an Italian conversation. The wine was great, the conversation with the kids less successful so they gave up on us.
This was the best meal yet for me of a series of really good meals. I had coniglio in porchetta...basically roasted rabbit prepared like porchetta, that is, stuffed with herbs and roasted. It was accompanied by roasted potatoes. These may be the dishes I will request as I lay dying (along with gelato, of course.) A nice Montefalco wine went with it perfectly. Had an easy drive back to our place and watched a gorgeous storm cloud fueled sunset. Tomorrow on to Rome with a couple stops in between.
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