Under the Tuscan Sun ~ Bring on Bramasole!

BRAMASOLE ~ from 'Bramare' to yearn for and 'Sole' the Sun

BRAMASOLE ~ Frances Mayes’ home in Cortona, Under the Tuscan Sun

As our train carried us from Florence, Italy through the dreary, rain-soaked Tuscan countryside, the view through the dirty window had us yearning more for the sun than Bramasole . 

Dirty windows, stormy skies - welcome to Tuscany!

We were en route to Cortona, the next stop on our week-long get-away from our home in the Greek Peloponnese.  As long time readers here know, I’ve often credited Mayes’ book with planting that seed of possibility about ‘living differently’ way back when it was published, more than two decades ago. 

Having now purchased a home and moved to Europe, we can even better relate to her tales of dealing with cultural quirks; those everyday frustrations and wonders of living in a world different from that we've known.

Villa Marsili, Cortona - friends meet, location great, room charming, breakfast incredible

While Cortona has long been on the ‘bucket list’ we’d never made it there during earlier Tuscan travels.  This trip came about when a Pacific Northwest friend, Sharon, and I were discussing Mayes’ books via email and she reminded me that she would be in Cortona that following week as part of a a University of Washington (Seattle, WA) alumni tour group. They’d ‘do’ Tuscany from their Cortona base. 

What a perfect time and place to rendezvous, I thought. And how nice to have short and relatively inexpensive flights between Athens and Rome! Luck was with us, as we were able to book a room at  Villa Marsili where the UW group was staying. 

The hotel, besides having a perfect location (10-minute walk from the center of town and a walking distance to Bramasole), also offered a breakfast buffet included in the room rate that offered so many selections it required two display tables. In the evening complimentary Vin Santo and sweets were served. Everything about this four-star hotel exceeded our expectations.

Cortona, this charming walled city was devoid of huge tourist groups in May

For that matter, Cortona exceeded our expectations.

This city, founded over 25 centuries ago and continuously occupied since then, was pleasantly devoid of the tourist hoards we'd encountered in Florence. It could have been the  temperamental weather that brought rain and wind storms with few sun breaks during our stay or the fact it was still early in the tourist season. We were told that in summer the place can be packed with people. But then it wouldn't take many to pack its streets and shops.

Our footsteps echoed on the cobbled streets at night

There was also little evidence of Frances Mayes's influence, in this town of jumbled narrow cobbled roads (shared by autos and pedestrians), stairways, and piazzas.  We quickly decided she may have gotten us here the first time, but the town is what will be bringing us back.

Copies were scarce of her memoir, Under the Tuscan Sun, which remained for two years on the New York Times Best Seller list after it was published 22 years ago (how can it have been that long ago???). Two copies of her books were for sale in the bookstore. A DVD of the 2003 movie made from the book was available in another. In the wine store off the piazza a peeling poster on a back wall advertised a 2013 tasting and dinner with her. No one had heard of or seen her of late. 

The town was a maze of narrow walkways leading to expansive piazzas

Bring on Bramasole!

“It’s kind of amazing the people will travel because of a book. I admire that.”

                   --Frances Mayes

We spent our first couple of days exploring the town on foot, a rental car wasn’t necessary nor wanted on the narrow winding streets.  As our time in Cortona was growing short, it was time to ask our hotel staff how to find Bramasole. . .after all, the place has been a part of my life for two decades and I wasn’t going to be this close and not see it - no matter how 'tourist' I might sound when asking for directions.

The Strada Bianca - Cortona, Tuscany and under a Tuscan Sun!

Apparently I'm not the only one who's still interested in the place as the hotel staff quickly printed out a set of walking and driving directions to it that they keep on their computer. With directions in hand, The Scout and I set off on foot following the ‘strada bianca’ (white road) that I had envisioned so many times while reading the book. The route, a gradual uphill climb, leads past some beautiful Tuscan homes well worth the walk without Bramasole as a destination. We walked and walked and the road forked and continued to climb. A small directional sign was posted with an arrow to 'Bramasole'. 

Bramasole neighboring homes - Cortona, Italy

“No one had lived there in thirty years and the grounds seemed like an enchanted garden, overgrown and tumbling with blackberries and vines.”

              -- Bramasole, as first described in Under the Tuscan Sun

Then. . .there it was! Whoa!  Far exceeding -- in size and grandeur -- any of my conjured up images, the place is absolutely enormous. The grounds (at least from the road where I was standing) were immaculately groomed. 

Bramasole - Cortona, Italy

How had she done it?  How had she found time to renovate the place – bring it from blackberry brambles to such beauty – AND still find time to write a best selling book about it??  Then to keep it looking spectacular and keep writing even MORE books?? I am finding renovation and upkeep of a much, much smaller home and grounds to be an all encompassing task.  How did she fit in all that research and writing and reading?  

Close up of Bramasole entryway niche

BTW, She wasn’t in residence. I'd never have posed like that had I thought she might be looking out of one of those many windows. (I’d read her blog and knew she was on a US tour promoting her newest novel.)  I could gawk for as long as I wanted. No one else was around. The Scout wasn't as taken with this outing as I was, but he humored me and let me linger until my senses were satiated.

While soaking up the 'spirit of place' I vowed to get out that writing notebook of mine and make time to write about our Stone House on the Hill. I also made mental note to buy more clay pots and fill them with plants on our return. (I’ve bought the pots and filled them, but the notebook is still empty).

Train station is shared by Cortona and Camuccia towns 

The next morning we boarded our train for Rome, where we’d spend our final day and night in Italy.  Next week, I’ll tell you about our time there; actually there are two stories about our time there - one real and one imagined. I can guarantee that one of the two will be filled  with “Diamonds, Danger and Desire”. . . no joke!  They say truth can be stranger than fiction, but in this case, fiction will be stranger than truth! Got you wondering what I am talking about? Well, see you next week and I'll clear all that up!

As always thanks for the time you’ve spent with us in Cortona. Safe travels to you and yours ~

Linking up this week with:

Through My Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday – 
Best of Weekend