Moments

Bravio delle Botte

Montepulciano
The last Sunday in August in Montepulciano is reserved for the ‘Bravio delle Botti’. It’s a challenge carried out among the eight contrade of Montepulciano that compèred for a painted banner in a 1800m race in which they push an ...

Team -
My Cortona

Why SANREMO is SANREMO!!

The Italian music festival, 2024, 74th edition
The 74th Sanremo Festival is over - for the whole of Italy and Italian people, it is an obligatory watch: 30 singers (selected from 100’s - some have been refused for 25 years but still try!) compete in the festivalThe festival is ...

Nicola Burazzi -
Foiano, Tuscany

6 Nations, Italy v England

Rugby match at Stadio Olimpico
Tikets have been booked and plans to travel to Rome for the weekend have been made! Bag packed, funky hat included and off we go!It’s so easy and economical to travel to Rome from Cortona by train from our local train station in ...

Bianca Clark -
Cortona, Tuscany

Spring moments in the UK

The evolution of spring during my 3 week stay in the UK provided a brief and welcome distraction from the news...
I arrived in the UK on the 18th of February. The day of the tempest. Blowing into Gatwick was 'an experience'. Arriving in Nutbourne, the tiny little village where my parents live in West Sussex, trees lay strewn everywhere and the wind howled. ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

Catching the festive moment

This year's festive decorations and shop fronts are a sight to behold. Complimenti to everyone. Magical!!
Photographs of a festive season: wandering through Cortona since the festive lights were lit on the 27th November is a bit like living in a magical wonderland.  Pretty twinkling lights, ‘seasonal’ music, roasted chestnuts, hot spiced wine, market stalls, a ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

Autumn Moments in Tuscany

Alive with colour, Autumn in Tuscany has to be one of the most beautiful periods of the year...
Autumn in Tuscany: Nicola Burazzi often spends weekends visiting Cortona’s nearby towns and places of historical interest (often one and the same thing here in Tuscany!)  His recent trips – with an autumnal theme - took him from Cortona’s vineyards ...

Nicola Burazzi -
Foiano, Tuscany

Catching the moment - no.5

With the official start of Spring, spirits seem to be lifting. The beautiful weather we're enjoying helps...
For those who might be feeling a little nostalgic, for those who are missing their annual spring break to Cortona and for those, in general, who know and love the town we thought you might like some photos of our favourite landmarks, including ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

Moments: 2020 vision - No.3

Doumina's 2020 reflections brought back the teachings of the Plum Village Buddhist Monastery...
NO MUD, NO LOTUS FLOWER. My reflection during Covid. Years ago, I attended a retreat to participate in a week long seminar at the Plum Village Monastery, based on the teachings of Vietnamese philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh.  A recognized peace ...

Doumina Whyman -
Seattle, Washington, USA

moments: 2020 vision - No.2

Glenn Lewis writes about the re-appearance of wild animals in certain habitats they had long since abandoned…
When Alison asked me to write about something positive that 2020 brought me, I initially thought that, at best, I could manage a Haiku; 17 syllables should easily wrap up the good that 2020 brought me.Everything has stopped.Silence on the street outside.But ...

Glenn Lewis -
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Moments: 2020 VISION No. 1

With 2020 now behind us we thought it would be interesting to share people's reflections on the past year...
In this first of a new blog series , we posed the question: Can you think of one positive way in which 2020 has changed your vision of life? Sheryl and Rob Turping, Cortona residents, share their thoughts and reflections on the past ...

Sheryl and Rob Turping -
Cortona, Italy

MOMENTS: A NURSE'S DIARY 2020 no.2

In this, her second diary entry, she refers to elderly people who have had no human contact since February...
As Autumn fades into winter, distant summer memories of Cortona continue to sustain senior nurse and frontline worker Alexia Kelly in Dublin, Ireland. In this, her second diary entry, she refers to elderly people who have had no human contact since ...

Alexia Kelly -
Dublin, Eire

catching the moment - no. 4

Here are just some of our favourite dishes and ingredients caught on camera
Cooking has always been a pastime I and my family enjoy. Traditional Italian and especially Tuscan ‘slow’ cooking is at the heart of many of our favourite dishes, but having lived in the US for many years and with international friends here ...

Roberto Ghezzi -
Cortona, Tuscany

catching the moment - no. 3

Autumn 2020 here in Cortona is aptly described by John Keats' beautiful poem
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and bless  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;    ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

MOMENTS: A NURSE'S DIARY 2020

During the worst of these times, I found great comfort in escaping mentally, almost always, to Cortona
Covid entered our lives in the spring of 2020. The first case diagnosed in Ireland was on the 29th of February, a Saturday. We had been expecting it of course. There was a national curiosity, a fascination with this foreign virus; but once ...

Alexia Kelly -
Dublin, Eire

MOMENTS 2: MY CORTONA - NO. 9

Cortona...is more than the sum of its parts, more than the architecture, the setting, the winding via Nazionale...
When I was small, I assumed that everyone’s parents packed their children into the car each summer, in a time when seatbelts were just a notion, and drove for days on end to distant countries. My father loved languages and my mother and ...

Alexia Kelly -
Dublin, Eire

CATCHING THE MOMENT - NO.2

Cortona skyline: a collation of photographs catching on film the amazing spectacle of sun down
We are sure that many of our blog followers must have eye catching photographs of their own Italian experiences ‘through the lens’: whether they are scenic shots, still life’s, portraits, days out to nearby towns and cities, the alley ways of Cortona, past ...

Team -
My Cortona

CATCHING THE MOMENT - NO.1

I am no photographer, but these are a selection of photographs in which I was in the right place at the right time.
Living in the mountains above Cortona, I am surrounded by nature. When I can’t sleep, I have the consolation of amazing dawns. When I go out walking, I usually have the company of at least one of my dogs and more often ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

moments 2: my cortona - no.8

Our lives are so much richer because of this random adventure on which we decided to embark.
Why Cortona ? That’s the question my husband and I have been asked since 2002 when we bought our house in Cortona. The answer is simple but also deeply imbedded into who we are. Eighteen years ago, both of us recently having ...

Susan Luther -
Washington DC, USA

MOMENTS 2: MY CORTONA - NO. 7

The warmth, the outstretched arm of hospitality, the kindness that you could tell was intrinsic to a way of life...
During our first stay in Cortona, not really knowing much about it except what we had seen in the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun, we explored every corner of the town on foot, visited nearby towns beyond the walls, and visited properties for ...

S.Gorman - A.Holleran -
Norwell, MA, USA

Moments 2: My Cortona - No. 6

In 1981 Cortona was a sleepy hilltop town where lazy blue bottles buzzed around single light bulbs in dark grocery
I first visited Cortona in 1981. I was in Italy on a college art course and was to spend a month in the town.I will never forget my very first impressions of her:I still remember our approach – a fortified city ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

MOMENTS 2: MY CORTONA - NO. 5

It was the Renaissance painter Luca Signorelli, Cortona’s most famous son, that first brought us to the town...
For over 30 years the painter Val Archer, my ever-knowledgeable and talented wife, guided me on journeys of discovery in Italy from Venice to Naples, Milan to Mantua, to Florence, Ravenna, Perugia and Palermo and, inevitably, to Rome. Every year we planned an ...

Roger Jupe -
London, UK

MOMENTS 2: MY CORTONA - NO. 4

The sky was a clear blue and hills were scorched brown with the distant woodlands a dark grey-green...
Our first visit to Tuscany was with a group of friends in the late 90s at a villa in Chianti. There was one day when we needed some “us” time, so when our friends decided to visit Volterra for the day, we ...

Glenn Lewis -
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Moments 2: My Cortona - No. 3

After twenty one years of coming to Cortona, it has become more and more important to us...
In 1999 we came to Cortona as would be buyers of a Tuscan property and indeed that is exactly what we did. We had done a few short trips and looked at a number of houses, but in the summer of that ...

Jeannie Tognola -
Oxford, UK

MOMENTS 2: MY CORTONA - NO. 2

Everyone is included and dinners turn into huge affairs where friendships are made over local wine...
My first visit to Cortona was in the fall 2015. My husband had died the year before and I traveled the world with his ashes, leaving little bits in places he would have loved. Piazza Repubblica in Cortona was filled with people, tourists, ...

Nancy Thompson -
Laguna Beach, CA, USA

MOMENTS 2: MY CORTONA - NO. 1

...with only two hours sleep on a bench in the departure lounge, I boarded the plane for Pisa.
Have you ever had that mad moment when you do something crazy and impulsive and It ends up adding a completely new dimension to your life? Well my moment was seventeen years ago. I was idly scanning the newspaper one morning when a ...

Countess of Harrowby -
Staffordshire, UK

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 17

Cicero 106-46BC – “If you have a garden and a library then you have everything you need.”
Our plans to visit our house near Cortona were thrown up in the air due to the Covid 19 pandemic.Flights booked for February, Easter and June were cancelled as we entered lockdown. The disappointment was just awful but that's life I guess, ...

Ray Flynn -
County Clare, Ireland

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 16

However, whilst the tide of events is troubling, unexpected pleasure can materialise from the simplest of things…
As I write, seated in my Belfast garden, lazing in unseasonably strong spring sunshine, Heather and I are weaning ourselves from 13-weeks of lockdown isolation. I reflect that we can't yet bask in the dubious pleasure of being post-brexit, we definitely aren’t clear ...

Paul Clarke -
Belfast, Northern Ireland

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 15

I confess that I did go out and mumble these words in the quiet of an evening. Strange words for strange times...
We were lucky enough after our winter holiday to squeak back into our Corsican home just before lockdown. Not so lucky though that we didn't have to abandon plans to cross the Tyrrhenian Sea to our summer home in Preggio, just over the ...

Peter Brooke -
Preggio, Umbria

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 14

My Lockdown Larder list of menus is now starting its 15th week and cooking has kept me both sane and occupied…
It first hit home when my boyfriend, who was working in Switzerland, had to make a dash for the border to get back to the UK before travel restrictions were imposed.  That was back on 15th March!  Since then, the two of us ...

Fiona Koetser -
London, UK

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 12

My memory of this lock down will forever be intrinsically linked to these images, a poignant reminder...
By the time Italy was in lockdown, I was already enjoying virtual travel through images received from my daughter. After busy months tour guiding throughout Italy, she was spending time out to explore Peru. A shared love of ancient history, artefacts from lost ...

Sarah Miatt -
Cortona, Tuscany

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 11

This year the town was completely empty. We listened to the bells ringing from inside our homes.
Quarantine was to live over 50 days in an apartment with my wife, a 3 year-old daughter and two cats; considering that I am used to going out in the morning and returning in the evening, including at the weekends, it was not ...

Nicola Burazzi -
Foiano, Tuscany

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 10

Stella arrived at 1:00 a.m. on a cold and rainy morning at the height of COVID-19 in our area...
My son Gregory flew home from Texas in early March for spring break.  It was meant to be for one week but COVID-19 had arrived and students were told not to return to University.  Meanwhile, he had left Stella, his lop-eared pet rabbit, with ...

Jasmin Russo -
Morristown, NJ, USA

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 9

Hippocrates said ‘walking is man’s best medicine’ and at such an odd time, walks have certainly lifted our spirits…
Lockdown for us has meant three generations living under the same roof. My daughter Alexa and four year old Charlie, who live a short drive from us, moved in at the start, so she could work from her computer and I could ...

Jeannie Tognola -
Oxford, UK

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 8

And as for relaxing in a room with strangers! This was something we had never considered to be a luxury before...
For us, physical contact with our families is still a long way off as they live on another continent. Strict lockdown ended last week, but we skipped the first "unlocked" weekend as we did not know what to expect. On the second weekend ...

Glenn Lewis -
Amsterdam, Netherlands

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 7

Now that we are drifting back to some semblance of normality, I feel less anxious and have been reflecting...
I returned to the UK in early March with every intention of flying back to Cortona two weeks later as my husband, Robert had stayed behind with our two Labradors. Sadly, Covid19 got in the way and I could not return which ...

Caroline Brant -
Lincolnshire, UK

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 2

I was booked on a flight to Italy in Early June which, for the last 5 months, I doubted I would be able to take...
I live with one foot in the two worlds of America and Italy, traveling back and forth between Cortona and Southwest Virginia. It is not an easy life but recently with the Covid-19 pandemic it has gotten significantly more difficult.My solace in staying in ...

Rebecca Ghezzi -
Cortona, Tuscany

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO.5

what will most remind me of this period… will be the re-doing of the doors and façade of my shed and grotto
One of the things I will remember from lockdown is the long hours I spent working on my garden doing many little things, but what will most remind me of this period, even many years from now, will be the re-doing of ...

Roberto Ghezzi -
Cortona, Tuscany

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO.4

Being quarantined for 3 months in Laguna Beach gave me a chance to slow down and reflect on my life...
Being quarantined for 3 months in Laguna Beach gave me a chance to slow down and reflect on my life and what’s meaningful for me . My family tops the list and I am blessed beyond words . I chose 2 of ...

Nancy Thompson -
Laguna Beach, CA, USA

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO.3

THE MOST NOTABLE CHANGE WHEN THE PANDEMIC STRUCK WAS THE UNEXPECTED ISOLATION WITH OUR TEEN DAUGHTERS (18 & 21)...
Suddenly they were both home with no place to go, no friends to see, and no jobs. While we went to work each day it still left the four of us with a lot of time together, something not too many parents with ...

S.Gorman - A.Holleran -
Norwell, MA, USA

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO. 6

WHEN I THINK BACK ON IT OR SOMEONE ASKS ME ABOUT THE QUARANTINE, I HAVE ONLY A COUPLE OF VIVID MEMORIES...
When something ends - be it a relationship, a job, a trip, or any other experience we can mark with a beginning and an end - it's immediately over whether we like it or not. It moves from the realm of the ...

Marialena Maggi -
Cortona, Tuscany

MOMENTS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC - NO.1

THE LAST 3 MONTHS HAVE BEEN SURREAL, THE FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN, BUT EVEN IN DARK MOMENTS THERE CAN BE LIGHT...
The idea of creating a series of special MOMENTS that took place over the last three months came to me when I suddenly realised that despite or because of the menacing threat of Covid-19 in our midst as well as the worry ...

Alison Koetser -
Cortona, Tuscany

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