Day Trip: Arezzo

When we read that there was an exhibition in nearby Arezzo of paintings by a favorite Italian artist, Afro Basaldella, we made a plan to take the train and make a day of it.

Arezzo is a lovely town in Tuscany and we used to go there when they have the monthly antique sales. The streets are filled with vendors selling everything and anything you can imagine as far as antiques go. We don't go every time, and haven't been for a couple of years...we have all we need, and it's just too tempting! 

But...we couldn't wait to go for this exhibition. 

It was so nice to be in Arezzo without the mayhem of the antique sales...it was lovely to have the town to ourselves...

We arrived early, and there were very few people about...

It's a wonderful town to walk around...though lots of steep streets!

One of the main squares in Arezzo.

If you've seen the Roberto Benigni film "Life Is Beautiful", you've seen Arezzo. He is a hometown boy, and the town is featured in the film.

Enjoying the beauty...

We stopped for an espresso, walked around until the museum opened, and headed in...

We have been lucky to have seen works by this wonderful artist, known as "Afro" on several occasions, including during the Venice Biennale. 

This exhibition tied some of his earlier works to those of Piero Della Francesca, which was interesting. I prefer his later abstracts, myself...but it was a great treat to see the show.

Read more about Afro here.

Afterwards, we stopped for lunch. There was a place we have been to a few times in the past, but it is now under new management...we decided to give it a try anyway, after looking at the menu.

It was still ok, but not as good as it's predecessor...

Oh, well. I hate change. That's all there is to it.

We started with 'pappa al pomodoro'...a bread and tomato "soup". This one was really thick...but tasty. I'm glad we ordered just one bowl to share. It was a bit heavy...

With a drizzle of good olive oil, it was yummy. Just a bit thick...

We both had ravioli as our main dish...I liked that we could choose our type of pasta and then which sauce we wanted to go with it.

Mine were filled with ricotta and wild fennel.
Really good with a butter and sage sauce.

Johnny opted for ricotta and spinach, also with butter and sage.

We shared grilled veggies and wonderful roasted onions...

The place was good, but not sure we would return...

After lunch, we walked around the upper part of town to visit the park at the top, see the views and visit the duomo. It was a great way to walk off our lunch.

All in all, a fun day trip! We took the train, which is always a treat, and Johnny even bought a new pair of colorful reading glasses!

 

Who knows what we'll do next. Every day here is a wild adventure!