Our second day of class was short and sweet, two lectures in the morning then we were done for the day and weekend by 11 am. We went down to town for lunch, where I split a sandwich with a friend, grabbed some fruit from a little fruit stand, and finally got some gelato. After walking around and exploring the streets a little more, we came back up The Hill to the dorm. We had a little free time, so I went on my first jog outside of the city walls (where it is actually flat) to see a little more.
We went to an Italian class in the afternoon before cleaning up for a free wine tasting offered at the main wineshop in the piazza for anyone who wanted to try their newest wine. One of the restaurants wanted to throw us a “Welcome to Cortona” party, complete with free pizza, beer, french fries, bruschetta and a bottle of wine. The owner’s were the sweetest people, constantly coming over the make sure we loved the food and the town so far. They even brought out an extra pizza for us. We sat at dinner for a while, just hashing out embarrassing stories and enjoying the atmosphere.
Following dinner was another walk through the town and maybe a second gelato stop. We had plans to go to Florence today, but the train doesn’t run on Sundays so we are stuck in Cortona…..darn.
Culturally, I think one of my favorite things about Italy and their outlook on wine that I’ve learned so far is that they don’t drink it just to drink it, but they always pair it with food or a meal. You don’t see anyone with just a glass of wine. Our classes don’t just focus on wine tasting either, but the history of wine production, the different grape varieties, and how they are affected by the weather and climate of different areas across the world. Bet you didn’t know that one of the first areas that wine production was found in was actually Georgia…the country. Our lovely peach state of Georgia is also known to grown muscadines for the sweeter muscadine wine, though. Cheers to that
