A Lunch in Arezzo

 If you’ve read this blog for a while you likely know that there are two authors - Judy (the tall blonde one) and Joanne (me, the short brunette one). We have a lot in common, especially our love of travel in general and Italy in particular.  But we also have differences, including very different travel schedules. As an example, Judy tends to take more frequent, shorter trips while I go for fewer but longer trips. This means that we don't often get to travel together, but we do try to find a way to meet up in Italy every year, which is always fun.

In spring of this year we had overlapping trips to Italy and were able to spend a week in Lucca at the same time. During this time, Judy proposed renting a car and taking a day trip. Here is another of our differences - I never drive in Italy while Judy, well …. Judy was born to drive on Italian roads. Her skill is impressive; she can drive a standard transmission at Italian speeds and hold her own with all those Italian lane changes. I'm in awe! I like to read maps and navigate so we make a good team.

One morning in early May we rented a car (tip: do not forget your passport when you go the car rental agency) and set off for the town of Arezzo, about an hour and 40 minutes southeast of Lucca.  Because this day trip was fairly spontaneous, we’d done only minimal research about Arezzo and hadn’t researched restaurants at all, even though lunch was definitely in our plans. In fact, we were essentially driving to Arezzo for a long lunch and a “get to you know” look around town.

Sometimes you get lucky despite a lack of planning and that’s what happened in Arezzo. As we walked toward the historic center we came down some stairs and straight into a loggia built in 1572 by Vasari (the same architect who built the Vasari Corridor and the loggia of the Palazzo degli Uffizi in Florence). 

It turns out that Vasari was a hometown boy, born in Arezzo in 1511, and he graced the city of his birth with some of his stunning architecture. Lucky for us!

Because we'd left Lucca a little later than planned (remember what I said about not forgetting your passport when you rent a car), we arrived hungry and ready for lunch. I was immediately seduced by the beautiful loggia as well as by the sight of a woman standing under it making homemade pasta. She worked on a marble surface, rolling the dough by hand, topping it with generous dabs of ricotta and borragine (borage). She then folded the pasta dough, sealed the edges, and cut it by hand into half-moon shapes (called agnolotti). The filled agnolotti were perfectly symmetric (a pasta-making skill that escapes me). On top of all this, there was a delicious scent coming from the restaurant. We went no further, settling into a table at the beautiful Logge Vasari Restaurant.

The tables were nestled beneath the arched ceiling and graceful columns of the long loggia. The soft murmur of Italian surrounded us, and music played in the distance. Our table faced outward toward Piazza Grande, the central square of Arezzo, ringed with interesting buildings and without the crowds of visitors found in more "touristy" cities. The setting was perfect for a leisurely lunch.

The restaurant Logge Vasari, Arezzo

And the food did not disappoint.  A basket of warm, house-made breads with imported French Insigny butter (how can butter taste this good?) began the meal, quickly followed by an appetizer (a gift from the chef) of spinach timbale.

Spinach timbale

As a starter, we shared a plate of melon with prosciutto and mozzarella. The sweet melon was a perfect  partner for the salty prosciutto and the creamy cheese. The presentation was artful!

Almost (but not quite) too pretty to eat.

My main course - those ricotta and borage agnolotti topped with a light truffle butter and zucchini flowers - was delicate, fragrant, and delicious. Judy's dish of Parmesan ravioli with porcini was equally wonderful.

Agnolotti

Parmesan Ravioli

A post-meal caffe macchiato arrived with a plate of small cookies.   Perfetto!    post by JMB

Modern Sculpture in a Medieval Tuscan Town

The marble quarried in the Italian town of Carrara has inspired artists for centuries and been used to create some of the most well-known buildings and sculptures in Italy. Michelangelo’s David in Florence and the Pantheon in Rome are just two examples. More recent work by the Costa Rican artist Jorge Jiménez Deredia, who also studied and sculpted near Carrara, is on display around Lucca this summer. This type of temporary art exhibit is common here, gracing the squares and areas along the old city walls. The effect is that Lucca is an evolving art gallery of pieces that can be viewed, and touched, simply by wandering through the town. There is something unique and special about art in public squares, accessible to all, without the boundaries of museum walls.

This piece, on display in the remains of a Roman amphitheater, is from the series Genesis.

The Deredia exhibit, with its rounded and spherical figures in black or white, juxtaposed against buildings constructed six or seven centuries earlier, makes for a most interesting walk through town.

Deredia titled this work Mistero.

Deredia was born in Costa Rica in 1954. He moved to Italy 22 years later and started working in marble and bronze. His work has been displayed around the world and he has created permanent pieces for public spaces in Europe, Asia, the United States and Latin America during his career. He was honored by the Academy of Design Arts in Florence with the Academic Correspondant of the Class of Sculpture award - the same award given to Michelangelo, Titian, and Tintoretto.

In Lucca, three of his massive sculptures are displayed prominently in Piazza San Michele against the backdrop of San Michele in Foro, the basilica built over the ancient Roman Forum. Others are placed in piazzas around town and at Porta San Pietro. Deredia’s work will be in Lucca until September 10 of this year. Don’t miss it if you’re in Tuscany! It's a chance to see this amazing artist's work in what is essentially an open-air museum.

-post by JG

Balcony Views in Verona

Juliet's legendary balcony is far from the only one in fair Verona. The city, perhaps known best for being the setting of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," has balconies around every corner, many dripping with greenery or filled with colorful flowers.

While Juliet's balcony is small (and not even really a Juliet balcony - more on that in a moment), some of Verona's apartment extensions (which is how I view balconies) are rather large. Most, however, are narrow, which is typical in Italy. Below is a gallery of just a few of the lovely balconies seen during a recent visit to Verona. I love how plant life often is the decorative element on the balconies.

A Juliet balcony (but not THE Juliet balcony)

The word balcony appropriately comes from the Italian word balcone. Those that extend from a dwelling are traditionally called Maltese balconies while those that do not project out from a building are called Juliet balconies (picture just a metal railing across a doorway on an upper-level floor of a building and you'll get the image of these balconies).

You can see from the photo below that Verona's popular landmark, Juliet's balcony, is clearly not a true Juliet balcony. It's charming nonetheless and overlooks a small courtyard.

Juliet's balcony (which is actually a Maltese-type balcony) in Verona.

While I would find any balcony in Verona appealing, the most coveted would be one overlooking Piazza delle Erbe, which was Verona's forum during the time of the Roman Empire. This large, historic and lively piazza is beautiful. Fading frescoes and flower-filled balconies adorn the walls of the Mazzanti Houses, which face the piazza on its northeastern side. Across the piazza to the south are more apartments, many with pretty balconies of their own.

The Mazzanti Houses are covered with old (15th or 16th century) frescoes and lined with charming flower filled-balconies.

Imagine being able to gaze at this beautiful piazza everyday from your apartment balcony. Some lucky people get to do just that.

-post by JG

Children in Verona have an enviable view from a small balcony that overlooks Piazza delle Erbe.

Beneath the Walls of Lucca

When describing Lucca to people who have not yet had the good fortune to visit the city, le mura (the walls) are the first feature I mention. But underneath the walls is a whole other world.

Underneath the walls of Lucca.

The walls hold important historical significance, having originally been built as a defensive structure during the Renaissance (replacing the earlier Roman and Medieval walls). Today, they serve as a park and gathering spot for city dwellers and visitors and as a symbol of the city. They are also strikingly beautiful. Embracing the centro storico (historic old center), the walls were built with three portas or large entryways into the city (today there are six) and with 11 baluardi (baluardo in the singular, meaning a rampart or bastion). Each baluardo juts out from the narrower section of the wall and provides a direct line of sight from one to the next - a tactical advantage when defending against invaders. Today, the baluardi provide extended green spaces, filled with playgrounds, benches, and statues. At least, that's how it appears from the top of the walls. Underneath, however, is a  much more mysterious place.

Beneath Baluardo Santa Croce, an exit through the walls.

In Renaissance times, the portions of the bastions lying under the walls, cavernous spaces with vaulted ceilings, would have held soldiers, horses, and the materials needed to wage battle against an invading army. The soldiers needed a way into these spaces from the city as well as a way out on the far side of the wall - such a passageway through a bastion is called a sortita ( like the French word "sortie" or exit).  To prevent the invaders from using the sortita as a route into the city, they were designed as narrow, twisting passageways that could be easily defended. The passages were at one time mostly abandoned, but one by one, each sortita has been restored, and the result is breathtaking. 

The gate at this sortita leads to the spalti (green spaces) outside the walls.

In contrast to bright Tuscan vistas, fellow walkers, trees, statues and bicyclists - the typical sights when atop the walls - I am often alone when in a sortita or with only a few other people around. In the sortita it is quiet, cool, and dimly lit. The views are of intricate brick and stonework, arched passageways, massive wooden doors and iron gates and - sometimes - art. Yes, art. 

While these underground rooms and passageways are beautiful in their own right, the restored areas are now also used as spaces for exhibitions and events. On my most recent visit, tucked inside several of the sortite, I found paper sculptures from the Cartasia Biennale d’Arte 2016 exhibit. A pair of giant apes, multicolored spheres, head-in-the-sand ostriches, and the hoodie-covered head of a young man were among the paper art on display.

Yes, these colorful spheres are made of paper. According to one guide, they represent the cannon balls that were once stored here.

Cartasia Biennale d’Arte is a biennial exhibit of paper as an art form (paper production is a leading industry in the area around Lucca). The artists represent countries from around the world and their work is beautiful and infused with social and political meaning. During the exhibition, the paper pieces are displayed above ground throughout Lucca for two months. Afterward, the artwork is moved to the spaces under the walls, in part to protect the fragile paper construction from the elements. This unique “museum” is free and always open. The next exhibition will be held from July to September 2018, at which time the theme will be “Chaos and Silence.”  

The curves and stonework, shadows and light, all add to the beauty of the underground passageways.

Silence is the music of the sortita. The restoration work included adding lighting, which shows off the beauty of the inner walls, illuminates the way through the passages and casts shadows that add to the atmosphere of the underground space. Aside from viewing the artwork and coming across an occasional other visitor, I spent my time simply wandering the halls. Of course, just like the aboveground walls, a sortita has a utilitarian function: It provides another way for pedestrians to enter and exit the historical center of Lucca.

For me, the wall above and the sortita below are examples of something I appreciate about Italy: preservation of the past in a way that enhances the present.

-post by JG (with an assist from JB)

At the end of a passageway is a beautiful wooden door.