Autumn 2022

Arezzo - 29 September 2022

I’m not sure it did rain much last night after all! Peaceful enough once the scooter/motorbikes had finished their training.

Forgot to say, on our eating day yesterday, also tried some Panforte - a traditional Italian dessert full of nuts and dried fruit - only bought a taster slice for €1 in case it wasn’t nice - but it was! I do have Gino d'Acampo's recipe at home that I’ve been meaning to try - I will when I’m home again.

My turn to drive. Should have only been about 90 minutes - was double that after servicing Dave and a trip to the supermarket…

The roads were the usual mixture of diabolical and really bad, with the odd good section! It was encouraging that for lots of the journey, there were road works going on, and lots of re-surfacing - the economy does have some money!

Tintin had found a free place to service Dave on the way. It was all going well - until he got something dubious over both his shorts and clean t-shirt. There was no-one else waiting, so we got the big box out of the garage, soaked clothes in detergent, rinsed - and wanted to use our White Knight spin dryer. It didn’t work!

Anyway, back on the road again and went to a Todis supermarket, mainly for water, milk, Greek yogurt and fruit - as we don’t seem to be eating real food in Dave very much this trip! Mission accomplished. We bought a seeded baguette as bread in the sense we know it, seems hard to come by! The grapes here are very cheap - just over €1 for a huge bunch, which lasts ages, as we have them with Greek yogurt, peaches and granola every morning. And yes Sarah, I have to take the pips out - not like M&S!

We found our Park4Night. Well, it had lots of spaces - trees - looked ok - but then realized that most of the other mohos were probably gypsies, lots of washing hanging out, kids etc. Probably lovely people, just didn’t feel safe leaving Dave there, especially as a woman was looking at us intently, felt she was checking us out. We left! Found another good parking space, next to a huge cemetery - even closer to the old town of Arezzo.

Had lunch, whilst it poured with rain. Not bad, XCWeather had told me it would be raining all day, but hadn’t rained all morning. It’s lying to me! Better off just looking at the sky!

So, on the map, we’ve come a bit upwards and towards the East to Arezzo, which has a population of about 95,000. Arezzo thrived during the Middle Ages as major hub of gold work and jewellery manufacture and its historic town still survives. It sits on a hilltop overlooking a fertile plain near the Arno, dominated by its cathedral and fortress.

It was only about a ten to fifteen minute walk into the old town. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much - but really enjoyed our 2-1/2 hour wander around. You get the feeling that tour buses don’t visit here in the same way they do for Florence or Siena - making it better for the general tourist - not so busy!

Lovely typical Tuscan views en route - rolling hills and lots of houses perched high on the hills.

We started off in the Piazza Grande, which has buildings of different periods. The building with all the arches is the Palazzo delle Logge, designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1573 - which is where we came back to for a drink later.

The shops look inviting too - undoubtedly for tourists, but don’t look ‘tacky’.

First stop - the Duomo. There is a fresco there of Saint Mary Magdalene by Piero della Francesca. His cycle of frescoes called The Legend of the True Cross are in the San Francesco Church - but our guide book said you needed to reserve tickets in advance, so thought we’d see his work for free in the Duomo. It was light and airy, with lots to see.

Next up, a walk to the Basilica of San Domenico to see the wooden crucifix painted with temperas and gold by Cimabue dating back to 1268-1271. They take security very seriously here, cameras, and if you crossed by the altar, it would set off alarms. Not sure what was happening with his abs!

Italy certainly has its fair share of big spectacular buildings - in every city!

We then walked back to the Pieve di Santa Maria, which opened at 3pm. It was built between 1140 and approximately 1320 - described as ‘one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in Tuscany’. Special to see the nun actually playing the organ!

In a side room, with no one else in it was a lovely room covered in frescoes. I’ve said it before - we’re not religious - but I really enjoyed seeing this room - maybe because we weren’t being jostled by crowds, and could actually look and take it all in.

So - back to the main square and an aperitif! Tintin had an Aperol, and I had a Mojito. Again, lovely to sit and admire our surroundings - slim pickings on the people watching front though!

Was €13, which included very generous portions of tacos, crisps and peanuts! Tintin might have complained that he didn’t think there was much alcohol in it. Not that we’re hardened alcoholics!

We walked through the park, thought about visiting the medieval fortress - but the man said it would take about 90 minutes, would have cost €16, and looked like rain - so back to Dave.

Just to say, I like to put the prices of things in this blog, as it’s really intended for us to read back in years to come, and might be interesting as a comparison price wise…

Tintin had a look at the spin dryer - just a connection that didn’t connect - spun the clothes, and writing up this all just in time - it’s finally pouring with rain. Feel quite smug that we’ve fitted in seeing another beautiful place without getting wet!

Just before the rain, Tintin tried flying the drone, but we’re quite low down behind the walls of the huge cemetery, so couldn’t go back as far as the Duomo, but has some nice shots of the fortress.