[Itinerary Page]The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 16 - Arezzo (sort of) and Pienza
We got started later than we expected (nothing new there), so decided to go just up the road to Arezzo. It sounded good. It was an old city. It was close. What's not to like?
The short answer is: Arezzo! It turned out to be a big city with horrendous traffic going in all directions. Bustling, yes. Relaxing, no. We wove our way through the streets thinking that the old center of town would provide some respite from the jostling, but the closer we got, the narrower the streets became and the less pleasant the drive. Somehow we managed to find our way out of town again and headed for the country!
The one bright spot on the way there was a old -- like 11th century -- castle on top of a hill a short distance outside of Cortona. We wound our way up there but all we could manage were some pictures. Signs gave the impression that it might be open as a museum but we could see no evidence of it when we got up there. It did, however, have a commanding view of the region ... probably a very good thing in the 11th century.
Margene had heard that Pienza was a pretty spot, so we headed off in that direction, with one eye on the road and the other on the clock. As I mentioned a day or two ago, it can often be tricky to find something reasonable to eat between 2:00pm and 7:00pm. We were in luck, though, as Pienza has some modest tourist traffic and the restaurants stay open to accommodate the hungry hoards.
We did our big meal at lunch and just munched on bread, cheese and ham tonight when we got back to the villa. That actually is a much saner eating pattern than downing a heavy meal late at night. After the feeding frenzy of last week, we should probably be fasting!
© 2005 Restaurant Doctor