\u27a1\ufe0f The first introduction to Lake Trasimino was the lunch recommendation of Stefanie in little Terontola.\u00a0 She suggested Trattoria dei Pescatore in Passignano sul Trasimino, a tree-lined lake town with all the atmosphere you could ask for.\u00a0 The restaurant is located in a \u201cpedestrian only\u201d area with little shops of salami and cheese and \u201cItalian stuff\u201d all about.\u00a0 But Passignano sul Trasimino is just one of three noted towns of interest.\u00a0 The other two are Touro, and Castiglioni de Trasimino.\u00a0 All of these have a ferry (or private boat) to take you around the lake and to the one inhabited island with only 15 year-round residents.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u27a1\ufe0f Where the heck is Terontola?\u00a0 This very small village (population under 200) and is located between Rome and Florence, and more specifically 15 minutes from Cortona (best known as the setting for Under the Tuscan Sun) and 15 minutes from Lake Trasimino.\u00a0 This is an ideal location for those who want to use Rome as their airport.\u00a0 I have said, and I have heard it said \u201cI just want the Live Like a Local experience.\u201d\u00a0 And that is exactly what I wanted, as well.\u00a0 So here I am in Terontola toodling around to find the bakery, fruit & vegetable store, small market for other things like aluminum foil and trash bags, the butcher & cheese shop\u2013and of course the surprise that stores close at 1:00 and reopen at 4:00. The real find was the wine shop.\u00a0 A tiny place where you are greeted by the owner\/wine producer, Stefanie, who explains that her wines are all\u00a0organic.<\/em> She also is a great source for lunch recommendations!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u27a1\ufe0f While there is an active rail station, a car is a MUST to find and discover the many iconic \u201chill towns.\u201d \u00a0 I\u2019ll start with the walled city of Cortona.\u00a0 Outside the walls and at the top of the hill stands the Sanctuary of Saint Margherita\u2013serene and magical beginning to Tuscan life for me. Inside the walls, Cortona is much like other hill towns, cobblestone streets, intriguing alleys, shops of linen and wine and artisans, and of course the ever-present trattoria with unfamiliar pasta and liters of local wine. What sets Cortona apart is that it is small and manageable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u27a1\ufe0f Perhaps the most recognized hill town in this area is Montepulciano, known for\u00a0Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>The spectacular drive and striking landscape from Terontola is \u201cpostcard perfect.\u201d\u00a0 The road across the valley and winding up the mountain is dotted with \u201cCantenas\u201d open for wine tastings, but the goal was to have lunch in Montepulciano with no stopping along the way!\u00a0 This hill town is larger than Cortona and I look forward to visiting again to walk the alleys and discover more than a lovely lunch spot with a view.\u00a0 From Montepulciano, you can continue to Monteccellio for another smaller example of charm and vistas.\u00a0 By the way, most agree that the local wine of Stefanie in little Terontola was a favorite.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u27a1\ufe0f La Verne, a two-hour drive north of Terontola and high in the mountains is the Sanctuary of St. Francis.\u00a0 I read about it and was intrigued, as it is a lesser-known attraction than Assisi.\u00a0 Assisi is known by most tourists who visit Italy and one of the places I longed for on my first trip in 1983.\u00a0 It was November, cold, windy, and nearly void of visitors, and I was standing where St. Francis stood gazing out in his very sacred space.\u00a0 Many years later I was in Assisi again, this time the streets were thronged with loud people and lined from end to end with souvenir shops\u2013where had the sacred gone?\u00a0 La Verne would be the antidote, set in the Tuscan Apennines high on a cliff with sweeping views.\u00a0 This is a sacred place, not easy to reach, but worth the trip.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u27a1\ufe0f The first introduction to Lake Trasimino was the lunch recommendation of Stefanie in little Terontola.\u00a0 She suggested Trattoria dei Pescatore in Passignano sul Trasimino, a tree-lined lake town with all the atmosphere you could ask for.\u00a0 The restaurant is located in a \u201cpedestrian only\u201d area with little shops of salami and cheese and \u201cItalian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":566,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}