Castiglione del Lago, Cortona and the Festa begins

This week-end is the lead in to next week-ends Festa dell' Uva. This morning there was a display of old Cinquecentos (Fiat 500s) and motorbikes in the piazza.

After lunch we drove to Castiglione del Lago for a closer look at the lake.

Then we drove on to Cortona in Tuscany. Cortona is best known by many as the place where Frances Mayes restored an old house and wrote her best seller ' Under the Tuscan Sun'. We met Frances and Ed in Melbourne about 15 years ago, and also saw them in Cortona a few years ago, but we had never been able to find the house 'Bramasole'. Well, we finally did it!  

The leather shops extracted some funds from Cate and Kelly before we had a drinks break in the gorgeous setting that is Cortona. The ceramics shop also caught our attention before we headed for home.

At 6 pm the launch of the challenge between the four riones of Panicale took place in the piazza. It started with a thunderous presentation of drumming then the four riones paraded in with their banners, the challenges were laid and the Festa dell' Uva (Grape Festival) was declared open. 
The party atmosphere continues into the night - these people certainly know how to make the most of life.