Day 13 – Market Day in Camucia, Lunch in Castiglion Florentino

We woke up to no rain & partly cloudy skies, so it looked like it would be a good day for the market, in Camucia. C & C were up until about 2:00 AM listening to the Blue Jays game, which turned out to be an historical one with a 57 minutes 7th inning as a result of poor calls by the officials & the fans reacting by littering the field. The Jays ended up winning the game 6-3, which gave them the division championship & continue their march to the World Series.

We were a little quicker getting off the mark this morning, since the market goes only until noon. Camucia is a town at the foothills of the mountain below Cortona. It’s an open air market stretched out over several streets & there were a lot of people there. We were told that, while the women are doing the shopping, the men congregate in one area to conduct other business – buying & selling, making handshake deals.

A Touch of Canada in the Camucia Market

The majority of the kiosks were selling clothing of one kind or another, others were purses, fruits & vegetables, flowers & meat. Pork seemed to be the meat of the day, with whole roasted pigs. Charlie bought some pork for sandwiches, but we got a sample of the ‘crackle’. Delicious!

We made our way slowly through the market checking out everything we could. Bonnie got a couple of scarves, while Cheryl bought some gifts for the grandchildren. I got a few shots of people, since the special category for the next camera club competition is ‘Portraits’. I asked permission before taking the shots; a couple of men said no, but the others were OK with it. In fact, one older lady with a big bouquet of flowers was really pleased & I thought she was going to hug me after. When I showed the long haired, bearded guy the shot of him after, his response was, “Originale!”

View of the Castiglione Countryside from the Piazza del Municipio

Back we went to the car & on to Castiglion Florentino, the town where we arrived by train. Like most towns in the Tuscan countryside, Castiglion Florentino is built on a hillside & is a walled town. We arrived there right about the time for siesta, so the streets were very quiet. We took a few pictures & wandered around.

Lunch at La Divina Bottega

One women we met, from Tennessee, who has a 2nd home in Castiglione Florentino, suggested we go to La Divina Bottega for lunch, which is located just inside the town’s main gate. It’s a combination of small grocery store & deli, with only a few tables. Most of the tables were occupied, so no room for 4. You’d think that we’d be turned away, but no, the waitress pulled out a table & 4 chairs from somewhere in the back & set it up right in front of the door, basically blocking the aisle to the cheese/meat counter & the dairy/beer cooler. The people coming in weren’t phased at all by the seating arrangement, but we thought it was quite funny. The service was great as was the food.

After lunch, we drove back to La Colonica for our afternoon relaxation. Bonnie & Cheryl put dinner together, a great pasta dish. After dinner, Bonnie & I both showered in preparation for our morning departure, & then did most of our packing. After that, I spent some time taking a few photos, inside & out. Damn, I missed the bedrooms!

We spent the rest of the evening watching another movie: ‘The Boat That Rocked’. It was about a pirate radio station operating from a boat of the England coast. The movie was set in 1966 when, apparently, rock music was allowed to be played on radio for only 45 minutes per day, while the pirate stations broadcasted for 24 hours. One government official was charged with shutting the stations down. One of the main characters was Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who played the ‘Count’, one of the DJ’s on the boat. A very stupid movie, but funny with good 60’s music.

There was one shot I wanted to get….the wall at night. Not quite as I imagined it, but OK.

Our last night at La Colonica! We’re not looking forward to leaving in the morning.