Our first stop was Lucignano, a pretty hilltop elliptical-shaped Medieval town located about 70 kilometers southeast of Florence. After lunch, we went to Cortona, where we stayed long enough to admire a breathtaking sunset…before heading back home to our kitties, who greeted us at the door, chattering excitedly, telling us they’d really appreciate some tuna with aloe for dinner, thank you… 🙂

But let’s get back to Lucignano. The first thing we did when we got there, in mid morning, was head up to the tourist information office to get a map. I love maps. These modern navigation devices are great, but they will never substitute paper maps for me. Wherever we go, I always have to have a map in my hand…

Lucignano’s tourist office is located inside the Museo Civico (= Municipal Museum). After asking for a map (!), I began chatting with the tourist office rep, a very  helpful woman who told us about the museum’s famous reliquary. If she hadn’t, we’d have missed it. (As I mentioned, our little trip was spur-of-the-moment…)

Now, even though I’m an atheist, I found what she told us about the reliquary quite charming. Lucignano, you see, has a strong tradition based on the “super powers” of this odd “tree”: every couple that swears eternal love in front of it (see photo) will stay together…forever. So if you get married in Lucignano, e.g., you have to go to the museum and swear eternal love in front of the “tree.” There’s no getting around it. Or rather, there is. In the end she added, chuckling, that she’d been married for five years, and she still hasn’t been able to get her terrified husband to do this eternal love thing… 

So I looked at Stefano and said: let’s do it.

And we did!

We were the only visitors in the museum at the time. Standing in front of this tree (which is quite high: 2 meters and 60 centimeters), smiling and holding hands, we swore eternal love to each other, sealing our “vow” with a kiss. “You’re stuck with me NOW!!!” I told him. 🙂 A silly thing, yes, but it was sweet…and fun, too…

We had a fabulous lunch in Lucignano. Boy was it good. That was the only planned part of our trip, actually. Before leaving Florence that morning, we’d looked for the best place to eat in town. Stefano and I like to eat well, and, I admit, we do sometimes plan our trips around where we’re going to eat. 🙂 As it turned out, I had one of the best meals I’ve ever had anywhere, and believe me I’ve had some grrrreat meals, so this is high praise from me. My risotto with pumpkin, sage and a ball of Parmesan “ice-cream” was absolutely first-rate! 

And the wine, mmmmh…Red, of course. We ordered a bottle of Rosso di Montepulciano, which was the best Rosso I’ve ever tasted. We didn’t finish it off at the restaurant, of course (otherwise we’d have never made it to Cortona, hehe!) but took the rest of the bottle (most of it) home with us.