Arezzo e Cortona

That morning when the first light hit Dario's room, we got up and grabbed our bags to the kitchen and waited for him to wake up. His wife Trudi saw us and showed us her vegetable garden not knowing we'd not be staying long. When Dario came out and saw the bags, he asked 'Tutto bene?' And I replied that I was sick (la verità) and that F couldn't sleep all night. He said 'It's better you move to another room?' F quickly said 'No it's better we go' and he got the point. We apologised profusely and luckily he was understanding and knew he made a mistake by putting us up at his pighole. Perhaps he had been so alone all this time that he didn't realise the sorry state of his casa. I felt bad for him but F was right, it was best we leave subito! We'd not be able to put up with the toilet from hell!

After he dropped us off at the stazione, F and I hugged in joy and jumped onto a treno per Arezzo, the nearest civilised town which was molto bella. This was our first time here and I loved the quaint roman citta already. This was where il film famoso 'La Vita E' Bella' di Roberto Benigni was shot and where Petro della Francesco's beautiful frescoes could be found. At the tourist office, we got the chubby bespectacled gal to call a few B&Bs and she managed to find a gorgeous homestay 'La Chimera' in the centro that's owned by the extremely hospitable Lory and Alteo who welcomed us like our italian fairy godparents sent from heaven!

You could imagine at this point we were dying from the lack of sleep and F was struggling with her heavy backpack. It took us a while to locate 'La Chimera' but we finally found their inconspicuous door. The 2 rooms they showed us were so bellissime (and only at 60E una notte!) and the toilets were amaaazing! When I told the beaming ultra dolce Lory 'Siamo molto stanche. Abbiamo molto fame e abbiamo bisogno di fare colazione' (We're very tired, hungry and need breakfast), she immediately whipped up a buffet table full of goodies just for us! Yaaay!

F and I hugged in ecstasy again at our luck and ate like there's no tomorrow. We were eternally grateful with everything now after Dario's episode! Si, I was disappointed that we didn't get to harvest the grapes and do other farmwork as intended but plans changed and we must bend with the wind. After taking the longest showers in our impossibily clean toilet, we immediately felt 1,000 times better and to celebrate, we had a great late lunch at the trattoria 'Il Saraceno' (dal 1946) www.ilsaraceno.com on Via Mazzini that was listed in my guidebook. F had the pennette del Saraceno (8E - tuna, tomato, olives, onions & basil) while I slurped up the pappardelle con caccia (7E - minced pork, pinenuts & juniper berries).

Seeing the pile of fresh porcini, grapes, green figs and chestnuts on the buffet table, I couldn't resist ordering the contorno di porcini funghi trifolati con nipitella (7E) - a generous plate of perfumed soft velvety sponges, aromatic of fresh wood. F continued with the creamiest tiramisu and macchiato while I was spinning, my head featherlight from an overdose of cough syrup. Strangely my cough had disappeared - out of shock at Dario's - and now it had returned. After pranzo, we walked around town and found many ristoranti chiusi al lunedi but were already planning where to eat at night.

Arezzo was molto tranquilla and we had the whole citta to ourselves, nipping into the various food stores, palazzi and chiese. The architettura was stunning, specialmente the Piazza Grande where the famous medieval Giostra is held every year and a monthly antiques fair takes place. It was also here that we recalled the scene where Benigni's character first saw his romantic interest (the teacher) riding by on her bicycle in 'La Vita E' Bella'. All over town, we saw more signs detailing where other scenes were shot.

Known also for its jewellery, fashion and arts, Arezzo turned out to be more charming than I expected. The views were amazing, specialmente from il parco di Prato on this spectacular cloudy day. The sun rays illuminated the shallow valleys below as we stood at the railing and embraced the breeze. When we left Museo Diocesano, it started to drizzle so we headed back with snacks of peach, birra and proscuitto. F napped while I chirped happily like a bird to Tiziano on Italian MTV.

That evening, we strolled to the lively area near the anfiteatro romano for the night mercato (akin to our pasam malam) where the streets were lined with hundreds with mobile stalls. There were all kinds of stuff on sale - from household needs and clothings to plants, toys and even pets! Of course we were drawn to the edibles such as the rainbow-coloured sweets, licorice waffers (gross), chunky blocks of caramelised nuts, proscuitto, salame, formaggio, baccala and preserved olives, sundried tomatoes and stuffed chillies.

Sopratutto, we were salivating over the cooked food - sizzling burger patties, hotdogs, and truckfuls of whole porchetta. Earlier at the park today, we spoke to 3 locals who said we got to try the porchetta di Toscana qui. Just our luck, there are so many stalls selling the crispy suckling pig and we picked a busy kiosk where people were eating it between bread. I asked the guy "Posso comprare la porchetta senza il pane?" followed by "Vorrei un etto (100g)" to which the old man passed a comment which made the other guests laughed. I just shrugged and paid 5E for a neat pack for 2 persone. It was buonissimo, salty pure fatty meat, downed with our Lambrusco.


The next day we went to Cortona - made famous and romanticised by Frances Mayes' Under The Tuscan Sun' - in autobus (4,35E/ 2-way). It was just an hour ride away and the bus climbed the steep slopes to the quaint town atop the hill. Expectedly there were a lot of Americans judging from the accents we overheard at the gelateria, cafes and shops. Its mappa seemed big but it was actually quite piccola. We covered la strada Via Nazionale to the cattedrale in 5mins. The lookout points were fantastic at every angle as the town was 500m above sea level.

We hunted down Via Jannelli for the ancient case with the protruding 2nd floors and came across carine porte and dead pigeons. Si dead pigeons. I was memerised but F thought I was pazzissima. It was a little morbid but how often does one come across an intact dead pigeon with its guts all split out and a peaceful smile across its cute beak. The slopes were a killer especially in the afternoon heat. F was dripping with sweat when we ascended Via Berrettini from Piazza della Repubblica (where they shot the film 'Under The Tuscan Sun').

No, I hadn't been pinched in the arse so far (damnit! ;) but some people have complimented me on my 'molto bene italiano'. Allora domani partiamo per Firenze - la nostra preferita citta nel mondo - where we'd stay with il mio caro amico Lorenzo! Yipppeeee!