Today's Place to Daydream About: Cortona, Italy

Cortona is a famous Tuscan town on a hilltop overlooking the Val di Chiana. The place has been occupied since Etruscan times is now a regular part of Tuscan tours.

Remains of the old Etruscan stone walls are still visible in several places.

One of the longest texts in ancient Etruscan, the Cortona Tablet, comes from here; seems to record the settlement of legal dispute.

There is a Roman villa of the Augustan period that survives buried under later rubble, open to tours.

The main piazza is quiet delightful, with its 14-century town hall.

This plain little church has a fresco by Fra Angelico, 

and there is a lovely Annunciation (above) by the same artist in the local museum.

You can climb up to this sixteenth-century church for a better view across the valley.

You can see why several movies have been filmed here, including Under the Tuscan Sun.

As I wait impatiently for my body to recover from surgery, my thoughts go to places like Cortona, where ancient pasts and modern style mingle to create delight.