The first leg is behind us. We rode 92 kilometres. And when we arrived on a height of 500 metres above see level in the beautiful city of Cortona, we definitely had covered considerably more than 1,000 metres of altitude.
Enough bragging. It was just a wonderful day. Even departing late on the EC at Orvieta cannot change that. After all, you would have to be a jester to expect a German-Italian train to be on time. It seems that, nowadays, this is also true for night trains.
Well, it was not too bad. The last time it happened, we missed the ferry to Corsica because of the late departure from Livorne, which resulted in us having to wait for four hours and then missing the train. This time, all that happened was me standing in the bike compartment for 20 minutes in order to be able to unload quickly upon arrival at Orvieto.
What followed was just a beautiful day. As always, the landscape was material to make your soul melt. Here and there, there was a little too much traffic on the streets. However, I no longer get annoyed about this – after all, I know it will soon be over.
Our arrival at Cortona was an overwhelming experience. As many other places in Umbria and also in Tuscany, Cortona is situated right at the top of the mountain. You have to make a long, serpentine ascent. And then you arrive in a medieval town full of life.
We spent the night in the Hotel Italia. It is situated right in the centre of Cortona. I am sitting next to the very nice gentleman at the lobby (there is no wireless internet connection in my room) and can work in the internet for free.
Dinner in the Bucaccia was absolutely great, the Merlot from Cortona tastes delicious.
Back in my room, my dear wife is waiting for me – what more can you expect of life?
And tomorrow, we will start our great leap to Firenze! Good night!
RMD
(Translated by EG)
P.S.
Here are two more ideas on inflation and the EURO:
Yesterday night, on departure at Munich Central Station, I bought the SZ of Tuesday. It (still) costs 1.90 Euros (which would once have equalled 3.80 Deutsch Marks). That made me thoughtful.
When loading the bikes into the train, I had soiled the only long pair of trousers I had with me with grease. Since I do not like going to dinner in Italy wearing shorts, I wanted to buy a new pair of trousers. But, at least in Cortona, this attempt failed: the least expensive men’s trousers were 159 EURO. Well, even I have not yet adapted to inflation at quite that extent.
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