A Day at La Casa Cappellina
Dining Room with a view at La Casa Cappellina
There’s a particular kind of morning in Tuscany which isn’t obvious at first, because it slowly unfolds and creeps up on you. At first, you think it’s going to be a rather overcast grey day, and then the light comes in softly, and the clouds disperse and drift away. The morning light streams in and settles across the room, across the floor, across the bed, and you wake into it rather than being pulled out of sleep.
You move towards the kitchen without thinking too much about it, still not entirely awake, and put the coffee on (Nespresso or cafetiere, your choice). Birdsong and the brewing of the coffee compete with each other whilst everything else is so still. When you step outside with the first cup, the air has a softness that doesn’t last long once the day begins, and for a few minutes, you sit in it, whilst you wake up, inside or on the terrace.
From the terrace, the view stretches across the surrounding Tuscan hills without any interruption. Fields, olive trees, and the faint outline of hills that change in colour depending on the hour and the season. It’s easy to sit here for hours soaking up the views, seeing smoke begin to head to the sky from neighbouring chimneys as fires are lit ready for the day.
Breakfast happens slowly at La Casa Cappellina where it’s all about slow living, slowing down and enjoying life. Breakfast is almost an extension of the first coffee. Bread from the day before, perhaps slightly torn rather than sliced, drizzled with our own extra virgin olive oil and sun-ripened tomatoes. Fruit, some yoghurt perhaps and, if in season, plump Italian figs.
Time slows down, and you allow yourself to breathe and pause.
By the time you reach the pool, brushing past the fragrant lavender and rosemary the sun has begun to settle properly into the day. The first step into the water is always sharper than you expect, even when you’re prepared for it, and then it evens out. The pool isn’t heated, but come May, it’s a lovely temperature, and it’s big enough to do your lengths if you’re keen to keep up with your fitness. We love the combination of a walk to Cortona in the morning (around 40 minutes), a walk around the shops and back, followed by a dip in the pool.
Swimming pool at La Casa Cappellina, Tuscany
However, it’s so peaceful here it is very easy, at this point, to do nothing for quite a while!
A book might sit open beside you. You might read a few pages, or not. The smells and sounds around you are simple and consistent. Insects moving through the grass. The occasional car somewhere in the distance. A bird cutting across the sky. None of it intrudes.
At some point, you might decide to move.
Road to Cortona
The walk into Cortona is one of those small, everyday rituals that begins to shape the days; the road curves gently, the views shifting as you go, the town slowly rising ahead of you rather than appearing all at once. Look back and you’ll see the hills and valleys and place La Casa Cappellina in the distance. As you approach the Parterre, you know you’ve arrived. Children laughing and playing, couples walking hand in hand, girlfriends chatting.
You don’t come into Cortona with a list of things to do or buy. You simply wander. You stop. You look, and more than likely, shop and stop for a coffee.
A shop draws you in because of something in the window, not because you need anything inside. A side street leads somewhere quieter, and you follow it simply to see where it goes. There are so many wonderful hidden streets and corners to explore in Cortona.
By the time you walk back, the light has started to change again. It softens across the landscape, drawing longer shadows, warming the colours that felt flatter earlier in the day. The house comes back into view gradually, and there is always a small, quiet pleasure in returning to it as you make your way carefully down the hill through the woods.
An almost daily visit to Conad in Camucia is a pleasure! It sells every kind of mozzarella and ricotta you can think of, all sorts of hams and salamis, big juicy tomatoes, huge fennel bulbs, sweet oranges, lemons from the Amalfi coast and some wonderful olive oils and the best Tuscan wines. Cooking feels different here in Tuscany. Less like a task, more like a continuation of the day and an event. Windows open. Air moving through the kitchen. The smell of whatever is on the stove drifting out towards the terrace.
Meals are enjoyed outside whenever possible, but even if it rains our al fresco dining area is under cover. On cooler mornings and evenings why not sit in the dining room with the doors open to enjoy the views. We often light the fire to not only enjoy the crackle and the warmth but to cook on the open fire.