We have a home in Castiglione del Lago and love the food, wine, people, culture, etc. The oldest culture visible in Southern California is Disney Land. A lot like American politics these days. . . . but that’s for another blog.

We like Cortona and have looked at the Borsalino hats many times. (You may have noticed my nose smudges on the window.) Last spring an old friend from California got tired of hearing of us talking about Italy and decided to go with us. He bought his Borsalino on the internet before the trip. While sitting on the church steps sipping a glass of vino rosso from Molesini’s Anoteca, my friend spotted the hat shop with the Borsalinos. My wife (ordinarily a woman of common sense)and my friend insisted that we just go in and look. The owner said that the felt hats were giving way to the summer line and could offer a discount. The long and short of it is that I bought my Borsalino at a 5 euro discount. That brought the price down from outrageous to . . well . . . outrageous. If I ever offer any shopping tips on this blog, you should ignore it!