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ARMCHAIR TRAVELS – AREZZO


Feeling stressed?  A little depressed?  Tired of your nest?  Bored with how you’re dressed?  I have the perfect solution:  window shopping in Arezzo!
Arezzo is the capital of the eponymous province and one of the most under-rated towns in Tuscany.  It’s about a 40 minute drive from our house, but you can make it in 25 if you don’t run into a tractor, a truck, or a three-wheel Ape like this one somewhere along the way.
Arezzo was one of the 12 most important Etruscan cities and claims Petrarch, Giorgio Vasari, Piero della Francesca, Michaelangelo (born nearby), Guido d’Arezzo (inventor of modern musical notation), Pietro Aretino (inventor of modern literate pornography), and Roberto Benigni among its famous residents.  There is a lot to see in Arezzo in the way of exceptional ecclesiastical art and architecture, a Roman amphitheater, a Medici fortress, and 14th – 16th c. palazzi.  You can read about all that here in Wiki and Discover Tuscany.  But I have something less historical-intellectual in mind today, and nothing says mindless like window shopping.
We start at the southern end of Corso Italia, the main drag, where we observe the art of observing; that is to say, of seeing and being seen, known as the passeggiata.  This distinctly Italian parade happens in every Italian town I’ve ever visited.  It kicks off when the shops reopen at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon and continues until they close at around 7.  During those three hours, people run into their neighbors and friends.
They chat and they gossip.
They often have an espresso and a pastry,
or maybe a gelato.  


Some prefer a glass of wine

or an aperitivo. 


 
They might pick up something for dinner or dessert,
or buy a birthday present,
or a housewarming gift, 
or some fine linens,
or contemplate an antique mirror,
 an oil painting, a pair of statues,

or a chandelier.

 
They want to see what’s new in the way of men' s evening wear with matching Covid-19 masks,


and what the well-turned-out woman will be wearing this Fall.
In short, they eyeball each other and their city.  It’s a traditional, national diversion.
The diversion Arezzo-style begins in Corso Italia, which inclines northward toward the main square, Piazza Grande, bounded on the northern side by the Loggia di Vasari, 
on the western side by the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve

and a civic building that was hosting a reception about which no one could tell us anything.
The remaining eastern and southern sides are flanked by antique dealers or their recent ubiquitous replacements—more wine bars and eateries.  

Still, the piazza retains its charm.  It’s large enough for the Giostra del Saracino, a re-enactment of a medieval joust against an imaginary Saracen enemy, complete with horses and riders in period costume dashing at top speed with lances outstretched, trying to strike a lethal blow to an armored dummy.  We attended one year and it’s pretty breathtaking. 
No giostra this year, of course, but there was the inauguration of this gorgeous marble fountain that had been under wraps for years.  
To offset the downturn in restaurant-bar revenue caused by Covid-19, when Arezzo reopened in May after its lockdown, the city council granted permission to these enterprises on the perimeter of the piazza to spill over into the bricked open space itself—rent-free.  It’s a great idea and as a passeggiata destination, it seems to have caught on!
Arezzo is a real sleeper, but its many diversions are guaranteed to wake you up out of your funk.  You might think of Arezzo as Cher, as she shouted in Moonstruck, “Snap out of it!”  And who doesn’t need to these days!?

Keep it real!  And like this kitty, wear your damn mask!
Marilyn


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