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.

Rome

Rome was overwhelming. So much to see and absorb and ponder. Here are a few of our visual impressions after three days exploring the city.

St. Peter's is huge.

Michelangelo's gentle pieta

Sistine Chapel ceiling

Raphael - School of Athens, in Vatican museum

Nice touch of inlaid stone

Double spiral staircase in Vatican

Trevi Fountain

He refused to toss a coin

Pausing for pasta at Campo di Fiori

Original doors from the Roman Senate, now part of St. John Lateran Basilica

Michelangelo's Moses

Lloyd's Romantic pilgrimage - Keats died here.

Felix, the guide, lecturing Italian students about Keats.

Cemetery for non-Catholics who must be buried outside the city walls, as was Keats.

No label needed

In the old Ghetto, where we enjoyed fried Jewish artichokes just down the street from the old synagogue which the Pope visited two days later.

Hanukkah, part 2

We strolled down to the Kotel to see the lights, passing an enormous Hanukkia outside the Jaffa Gate to the Old City. It stood waiting to be lit later in the evening by a rabbi lifted up in a cherry picker:



A view of the Kotel from the Jewish Quarter:


Praying at the wall:


Atop a nearby wall, the flames from an enormous Hanukkia:


No longer known as the Wailing Wall, the Kotel is now mostly a place of rejoicing. Here young men dance and sing in celebration of the festival of lights. For those familiar with Black Adder, you may recall the Jumping Jews of Jerusalem...



More outdoor Hanukkah lights, in their wind-proof glass boxes; people set lots of them outside doors and on window ledges all over town and the oil burns cheerily much longer than candles.


Some display electric Hanukkah lights on their cars:


We came back to the Kotel once again for the last night of Hanukkah to see all eight lights blazing:


And in our apartment too:


An atmospheric video (turn up the volume): residents of Mea She'arim, the Ultra-Orthodox area of Jerusalem, rush to prepare for Hanukkah. Men wear long black coats, tzitzit, and big black hats. Women are always dressed in long skirts, dark tights, and head coverings. We saw several families pushing groceries in a stroller while their tribe of little ones walked beside the mama and papa.