Arezzo

  Arezzo, Italy
Saturday, January 27, 2007

After several failed attempts at leaving Siena for the 3-day weekend (long story), Anne and I finally got on a bus to Arezzo.  It's only 57 kilometers from Siena but took over an hour in the bus because it made a lot of stops.  Still, it was a peaceful ride.  I listened to music and looked out the window the entire time.

My first impression of the city wasn't  a very good one, because the bus station was in the newer part of the city, so I didn't see many old buildings or walls on the ride in.  The guidebook I had did not have a map of the city, so Anne and I just started walking in the direction of a tall tower we saw, assuming that it would be near the centro storico (historic center) of Arezzo.  After a long climb uphill, and several turns, we came upon Piazza del Duomo, and there was the duomo in front of us.  There were several other old buildings in the Piazza that I took pictures of. 

Bell Tower

  This bell tower was one of those buildings. 

Piazza del Duomo 2

 

Duomo- side entrance

 

Duomo- front entrance

We arrived at Arezzo a little before 2pm, so the duomo was closed.  However, it was wonderful to admire it from the outside. 

Piazza del Duomo

We spent some time sitting on the steps and looking through my guidebook, seeing what else there was in the town. PHOTO_ID_R=img_2267.jpg] But, without a map, we just ended up wandering around, which was great.

To one side of the duomo it looked like there was a park, so we headed in that direction.  There was grass and trees and a huge fountain.  There were also old walls that used to be part of a fortress to protect the city from enemies.  We were also on the top of a hill  so there were beautiful views of the city as well as of the surrounding countryside. 

Moon in the Sky

 

Pretty view 1

There was an open archway in one of the old walls and it looked like there were rooms inside, so Anne and I approached the entryway. 

Me in Front of Arch

I took a picture in front of it.  We entered and it was just a long, dark, creepy corridor. 

Scary Corridor

  I thought it would just end and we would have to turn back, and we were both getting a little nervous.  Then we heard footsteps and saw a man who had just entered the corridor.  We both began walking very quickly, and then there was an opening and we were outside again.  I don't know what we would have done if the corridor had ended.  Anne said she was ready to scream.  It would have probably made a funny story and the poor guy would have been very confused as to why we were screaming and running away.  Oh well.

The corridor opened into another part of the park that also had beautiful views.  We walked slowly along the path, taking pictures as we went.

Pretty View 2

 

Roman Ruins

  To get back to the road we needed to go back through the tunnel.  This time we weren't scared, because we knew there was an opening at the other end, but we still walked through it quickly and breathed a sigh of relief when we were back outside.

We had seen a sign pointing to Petrarch's house, and Anne was really excited to go there, so we began wandering around to see if we could find it.  In the meantime, we retraced some of our steps and found a gelateria mentioned in my guidebook.  The book mentioned their hazelnut ice cream, which basically tasted like nutella.  I also got two other types of ice cream and whipped cream on top.  It was great.  Then, on our way back up the hill to the duomo, we saw a sign with scenes from the movie Life is Beautiful.  We learned that Roberto Benigni filmed scenes from the movie in Arezzo.  On each of these spots, there was one of these signs that showed pictures from that part of the movie, as well as quotes.  That made us love Arezzo and want to see the movie again.  Next, we found the Piazza Grande, where more scenes from Life is Beautiful were shot. 

Piazza Grande

Piazza Grande 2

Finding Petrarch's house was impossible because, according to the signs, we found the right block, but then couldn't find the house.  So, we think we were walking on his street, but who knows.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the city.  It became freezing cold when the sun set, so we spent a good amount of time at a bar (ie: cafe) eating pizza, looking at the newspaper, and watching soccer on the television.  The local Arezzo newspaper had a picture of Roberto Benigni on the cover, which was interesting, so I skimmed through the article.  We learned that he was going to be in Arezzo that night to recite a piece from Dante's Inferno and then talk about it.  What a coincidence!  Unfortunately, the last bus back to Siena left at 8:15pm and he wouldn't be there until 9, but that reinforced our desire to see Life is Beautiful.  We haven't found any movie rental places yet in Siena (although there was a Blockbuster in Arezzo....yuck) but hopefully we will get a hold of the movie at some point.

We spent the last 2 hours before getting on the bus walking up and down the two main streets of Arezzo, going in and out of stores looking at clothes.  Every night, it seems all Italians go out of their apartments and walk around town, talking to friends and going into shops.  It's funny, but also great.  I wish we had that at Oberlin; then I would be assured of seeing my friends for at least a couple of minutes every day.  According to Kate, a girl who studied here last semester as well, all you need is to know one of the people walking around at night.  Then, you're in.  So far, I've only talked to the host mother of one of the students on the program.  I've seen her twice and said hello.  Maybe by the end of the semester I'll know more people and will take that walk every night.  It will be easier to do when it's warmer outside.

We still had about half an hour before the bus departed and both Anne and I had to go to the bathroom.  So, we stopped in at another bar and got some food just so we could ask to use their bathroom.  Then, we made it back to the bus station, hopped up and down in the cold until the bus came, and took the ride back to Siena.