AREZZO, TUSCANY

Ciao! Standing at the train station, having no idea where to go, we blindly pressed the button for Arezzo, Italia. Grabbed my 7 euro ticket at 11:14 and raced to our train which left at 11:15. Once we got on the bus, after a momentary heart attack, thinking that we got onto a bus to Rome on accident, we had a short 1 hour train ride to arrive in the small town of Arezzo.

AREZZO TELEGRAM OFFICE

MEDICI FORTRESS

Arezzo is set on a steep hill rising from the floodplain of the Arno. In the upper part of the town are the cathedral, the town hall and the Medici Fortress, from which the main streets branch off towards the lower part as far as the gates.

GUIDO MONUMENT IN PIAZZA RUPUBLICA

STOPPING FOR A SNACK

DELICIOUS FRUIT

PIAZZA GRANDE

We were starving by the time we got off the train and had wandered into the city. We walked up to the heart of the city, Piazza Grande, to find a place to eat. The Piazza Grande is the most noteworthy medieval square in the city, opening behind the thirteenth-century Romanesque apse of S. Maria della Pieve. Once the main marketplace of the city, it is currently the site of the Giostra del Saracino ("Joust of the Saracen"). It has a sloping pavement in red brick with limestone geometrical lines.

PIAZZA GRANDE

LA LANCELI D'OLO

We found a very fancy dinner spot but it had advertized outside that it was only 7euro for lunch (it only ended up being about 12euro in the end). But the place was beautiful, the small restaurant was decorated like a tea-house and they gave us three apetizers of different breads, followed by the most delicious appetizer soup. Then our main dishes, a mixed salad and assorted meats and cheeses, followed by two different kinds of desserts accompanied with water and wine. It was amazing! After we were very full from our lunch, we decided to keep wandering around the city.

DELICIOSO!

STREETS OF AREZZO

I was looking for a church that I had read about in my small travel book, so as we walked up the huge hills of Arezzo we wandered into an Italian university which was gorgeous. Then as we got to the top of the hill found the church with a beautiful park nextdoor. We stopped at the park first, taking pictures and being totally stunned by the view of the valley below. The park was gorgeous, kids playing soccer, hidden gardens and tall trees.

HALLS OF THE ITALIAN UNIVERSITY

CHIESA DI SANT FRANCESCO
Which we explored after walking through the park across the street.

KALEA

SITTING ON THE MEDICI WALL

KALEA & I

KALEA & AMANDA

AMANDA

I told Amanda about one of my favorite poems Ive read in Renaissance English written by Petrarch, a man who suposedly wrote, the first love poem ever. And of course, I found out that Petrarch was born in Arezzo when I stumbled upon his HUGE marble monument in the park! Hes very famous in Italy and all of the Elizabethan poetry that Ive read has made connections to his stories. One of them I found so whimsically beautiful in verse that I know Ill never forget it.

Here's a summary:

Cupid had to flee Greece, his birthplace, because it was being invaded by the Turks, who have no loving hearts. Cupid was so depressed without love in his life that we promised himself to flee Europe. He ran across the continent in a fit of anger and flew across the ocean until he arrived in England. He saw the heart of a loving young man, already pierced by love and Cupid quickly decided to inhabit his heart. The next day Cupid laid eyes on the woman whom this young man loved. Cupid was so stirred by her beauty that her pulled out his bow and arrow to pierce the young girls heart. His fiery arrow flew towards her but the cold weather extinguished the flame and pierced her with much pain. Because of this, the young woman never returned the man's affections. Cupid was so destroyed that he built a huge fire in the mans heart and burnt his wings, vowing to never leave or let go of his love for the woman.

PETRARCH'S MONUMENT

HANGING FROM A TREE IN THE PARK

MYSELF AND KALEA

MYSELF, KALEA & AMANDA

ETRUSCAN RUINS

STREETS OF AREZZO

STREETS OF AREZZO

After playing around in the park, we decided to explore the church near by. The Basilica of Sant'Francesco, supposedly built over the place where St. Francis recieved his stigmata, was one of the holiest places Ive ever been. I lit a candle to pray for my family. The experience cannot be put into words, so Ill show you some pictures instead.

THE DIMLY LIT ALTAR

CHIESA DI SANT FRANCESCO

MODEL OF AREZZO

Next we wandered into the Tourist building, which was a small museum. Arezzo is a very small town and because they do not have many tourists, they were very excited to help us in every possible way (Including giving me a free bok of all of the museums in Tuscany, which I'm very excited about) The museum was filled with old artifacts, and even housed one of Galileo's original inventions.

MEDIEVAL COSTUMES

GALILEO'S INVENTIONS

The tourist office suggested that I walk down to "Vasari's house," which both Amanda and Kalea were confused and trying to figure out what the lasy meant. I burst out, "What! Giorgio Vasari's house?? He was born here?" The woman laughed and told me that not only was the first Art History text book writen here in Arezzo but that Piero della Francesca, Vasari, and Michelangelo were all born in Arezzo!

CASA VASARI

Casa Vasari (on Via XX Settembre) an older house rebuilt in 1547 by Giorgio Vasari and frescoed by him; now open as a museum, it also contains sixteenth-century archives. The main rooms were decorated by Vasari in an illusionist manner. the drawing room, where Vasare painted the life journey of an artist, with the artistic virtues protected by the gods of antiquite represented as heavenly bodies, is remarkable.

CRUCIFIX BY CIMABUE

Afterwards, we found the Museum of Modern and Medieval Art, which I was very excited about! Althought I was sad because I heard that the museum housed Fattori's work and many Signorini masterpieces, two of my favorite Italians Impressionists, which were not to be found anywhere. But there was still a ton of gorgeous Medieval Religious Art!

THE MODERN AND MEDIEVAL MUSEUM GARDEN

AREZZO'S TRAIN STATION

After getting lost and almost walking out of the city, we became exhausted. After slowly wandering into the train station, we missed our train and had to sneek onto the next one to arrive in Florence! We slept the hour back to Florence. After getting off the train we walked home, picking up some dinner along the way, and here I am typing. Exhausted and about to fall asleep. Arezzo was beautiful. Im going to the train station for another adventure tomorrow, so I must sleep now, ciao, ciao! Arrividerci!