Three days in Cortona

After reading only a brief reference to Cortona in a guide book, we decided to set our trusty Tomtom to lead us there. We found the old (Etruscan walls!) hill town with no trouble, parked our little red rental car, and hiked UP to check out the hostel which is in a former convent. But Sergio, the friendly manager, insisted that he must put us in an apartment nearby which he saves for grown ups (ie not rowdy students), for the same price of 20 euro per person per night. Further up and around some more tiny twisty streets, we were pleased to find the apartment included a kitchen, large living/dining room, bedroom, a TV to watch news, and bathroom with a washing machine in the corner. The only thing lacking was internet - so we did without. Turns out Cortona is pretty perfect. Here are a few photos to prove it:

Cortona with the valley far below.

The front door of our apartment--notice the steep street.

The oldest street in town.

The piazza in the center of town.

"Le Celle"--hermitage where St. Francis lived for a while.