Blogs from Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, Europe

Friday already and it is our last day! We woke to the sound of heavy rain dancing off the roof and patio. When it rains in Tuscany it doesn't do half measures. We had our plan to visit Sansepulcro so off we set on the same road we had driven back from Anghiari. We are definitely beginning to know our way around this region what with the help of maps and Sat Nav! We were approaching the town and I was reading from the Guide Book that it was the chief industrial town of the area so to be honest we thought a short visit would be enough. As usual the town turned out to be more catching and the old part remains much the same as in medieval times. It is the town where Pierro ... read more

This morning we woke to sunshine although the weather forecast for Arezzo was rain at stages through the day. We headed for Cortona the beautiful walled medieval hill top town about 45 minutes from Arezzo. The town was made famous following the novel and film "Under the Tuscan Sun" - all about a woman called Frances who ends up letting go of fear and taking the plunge to make a new life in Italy. Having spent the afternoon in this absolutely lovely town I can guess how she just fell in love with it and from what I gather so have many others particularly Americans. Every summer several American students flock to the town for Summer school and today we heard many American accents. So we had to climb to the top of the hill as ... read more

Some photos of our accommodation in Bagnoro. Sunday was our rest day. Having said that we had a jaunt to the local Supermarket. It is always interesting checking out all the different food and produce! Then in the evening we headed up the mountain road thinking we might get to the top before dark. Not a chance. It just kept on going. Jim went on ahead at one point to check out the next bend and I heard the rustle of bushes beside me. All I could think of was wild boar and I let out a Jimmmm! Fortunately there was no sign of any deer or boar but glad we turned as it was dark by the time we got back. We were told by Paul this morning that there are families of boars close ... read more

A picture is worth a thousand words...... ok - in the case of an average photographer (me!), maybe 500 words....... read more

Wednesday, 30-May-12 Rome to Arezzo We left Rome for the last time this afternoon, and caught the “inter-city” train to Arezzo, about 2 ½ hours journey north of Rome. Although we loved the history and sights of the magical city of Rome, we were far from impressed with the most unpleasant odour of the town. It seems that everyone smokes, and anywhere they like – even near restaurants, and IN the al-fresco dining areas. The city is littered with millions upon millions of cigarette butts. The ground around the Termini railway station was a carpet of them! Even the exhaust fumes from the cars and scooters were not noticeable because of the smell of cigarettes. We booked our train ticket online, copied the file to a USB memory key, and printed it out on the hotel’s ... read more