This past weekend, many of the historic
buildings in Arezzo were open for the public to enter. The event was funded by
a group called FAI and took place in many other cities in Italy as well. The
group’s goal is to maintain and restore historic buildings and landmarks that
aren’t as well known and to educate the general Italian public about their
heritage.
And just because I’m not Italian, does not
mean that I didn’t end up tagging along!
In the morning, after waking up to discover
that I had lost an hour without noticing, I ran out the door and headed out
into town with a list of all of the places open. The first place I tried, in
the Piazza Grande, apparently needed a ticket to enter so I ended up not going
in. Luckily, as I walked down Corso Italia, it turned out that not all of the
other sites needed a ticket. I ended up going into a church, a private house,
and the bank on that street. The church I didn’t stay long in since they were
having mass and the bank was pretty boring (though they boasted an impressive
art collection), but the private house was really fun. I began alone in the
entrance where the ceiling was covered in a fresco filled with angels and
monsters. I then continued up into the house where I met a woman who told me I
should go back downstairs because the next tour would be soon. I tried to tell
her I wanted to not take a tour and just explore on my own. My poor Italian
caused her to switch to English, give me a private tour, and then she plopped
me down into the tour going on at the time. Oh well! Anyways, the walls and
ceilings of the rooms I saw were all simple (compared to some), but interesting
and I enjoyed tuning out the Italian commentary to just look around.
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| Inside the entryway to the house |
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| Inside the entryway to the house |
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| Inside the entryway to the house |
Between the house and the bank, I actually
ended up seeing some more sights and spectacles. In the Piazza San Augostino, I
tiptoed into that church and again left quickly due to mass. However, I exited
just in time to see a parade of drummers and flag bearers coming marching
through. It was very enjoyable to watch them, and I later discovered (as I went
down the escalator to leave town) that the flags represented all of the knights/jousters
of the area…I think!
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| The parade |
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| The parade |
I also went to the Roman Amphitheater in town, which was
lovely. All I wanted to do was sit
in the center, lie down in the grass, let the sun shine down, and picnic.
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| Roman Amphitheater |
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| Roman Amphitheater |
After the bank, it was definitely lunch time
so I headed towards my now favorite kebab shop and from there to Gianni’s
pastry shop. Along the way, however, I discovered a HUGE market going on behind
the post office, which I then had to explore.
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| Surprise market |
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| Surprise market |
I swear it has never been there
before (I would have noticed since it spilled out onto some main streets) and I
wonder if it will be back there next week. Hmmmm, mysteries…
Until next time! Ciao
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