Days 13 and 14 (The Weekend!)

            Finally it’s the weekend!  This was the first semi-relaxing day so far!  Saturday, my lovely roommates, Jeanette, Meg, Jordan, Tessie, and I woke up to go to Cortona’s market that they have each Saturday.  We wanted to take advantage of this particular Saturday, because during the rest of our Saturdays, we go on field trips to various Italian cities.  However, the market ended up being a bit bizarre.  There was one tent that was kind of like an outdoor Walgreen; it had all your toiletry essentials.  There was another tent that was selling pajamas, socks, and underwear.  Seriously, lots of underwear.  There was another tent that sold random odds and ends and a couple others that were selling fresh meats and cheeses.  We ended up spending more time in a little thrift store, where I found the perfect oversized, crazy-patterned, super colorful button down shirt to be my painting smock.  I am still very excited about this.  I of course also visited all my essential fruit and vegetable markets, because they would be closed on Sunday.  It is my goal to befriend all the owners of these markets in the next few weeks.  And the guy who owns the pastry shop.  All of these people will be excellent friends to have. 

            That evening, a group of us decided that we wanted to experience a nice authentic Italian restaurant in Cortona for dinner.  I am actually not positive what the name of the restaurant was that we went to, but it was very adorable and hidden away in one of the many alleys that extend off of all the Cortonian streets.  The owners spoke very little English and the menus were completely in Italian, so it was a challenge to order dinner.  Luckily, the one word I knew, “Vegetariano,” came into good use, and I ended up ordering a lovely zuppe (soup) and a delicious spinach side dish.  Yay!  That night, in honor of Valentine’s day, there was a romantic film being played in the quaint little theater situated in the middle of Cortona.  We were all very excited to see our first movie in an Italian movie theater.  It ended up being a very cool experience; even without subtitles, we were able to figure out the underlying story (and it was a very bizarre one!)

            Sunday of course is Valentine’s Day.  Cortona takes Valentine’s Day very seriously.  Every shop window and café window is decorated with Valentine’s Day decorations.  It was the busiest and liveliest that I had ever seen Cortona so far.  Everyone was out and about the entire day.  During the morning, there was a painting competition, which I decided to enter.  How it worked was that you had to get your canvas or paper stamped by the curator of the competition, and then you had three hours to create an artwork before submitting it by the 12:15 p.m. deadline in the town hall building.  I was eager to participate, especially because there were really nice prizes of expensive art supplies.  However, I was not aware that we were supposed to create artworks with a romantic theme.  When I arrived to submit my piece, I realized everyone was turning in these romantic landscapes of Cortonian streets, with flowers, doves, couples in love, that kind of thing.  Because of the time limit, I decided to create a quick self portrait using bright Valentine’s Day colors, but applied in an aggressive and textured manner that created a rather creepy and scary painting.  I was pleased with my result, but it was not exactly what the judges were looking for.  Needless to say, I did not win any of the prizes.  Next time, I will make sure to understand the parameters of the next painting contest I enter.  There was also a small chocolate festival taking place in one of Cortona’s main piazzas.  It was nothing like the chocolate festival I stumbled upon back in Florence, but it was still adorable and romantic and I decided to buy a heart shaped biscotti dipped in two kinds of chocolate.  That afternoon I went on the most dramatic two and a half hour walk deep into the mountains.  The walk was dramatic because of the intense view of the world that I was admiring the entire time.  It was so inspiring and overwhelming to see the entire Italian valley below me as I went farther and farther along on the walk.  I do have to warn you that this walk would not be pleasant to anyone who has even a slight fear of heights.  There is nothing to stop you from falling off the mountain, and the winds are very harsh.  I am careful though, so no one needs to worry.  I hope everyone has the most romantic Valentine’s Day!