The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Ambling Around Arezzo

It started as a typical day on the road for us -- out the door at the crack of noon! What can I say? As someone in New Zealand once pointed out to us, we are travellers, not tourists. For us the interest has always been in the people and pace of life (our own included) in other parts of the world. Tourists come back with pictures of buildings; travelers come back with tales of unexpected adventures. Which would you prefer?

So despite the fact that most days we only spend a few hours out and about, we're not here to check items off some list. It would be foolish to be in Rome and not see the Coloseum or fail to take a trip down the Seine in Paris, so we work those in over time, but we always travel with the idea that we'll be back, so if we miss something, we can catch it on the next trip. We've seen a lot in Paris, for example, but it's been over the course of at least three 2-3 day visits. Of course, sooner or later there will be no "next time" for us, but at that point we'll be beyond caring about such details.

Since we are right in the middle of the sights that most visitors want to see, we thought we'd wander the few blocks to Piazza Grande, the main square, and see what was up there. You may wonder where you would find a large piece of flat ground for people to gather in a Tuscan hill town ... and the answer apparently is that you don't! Piazza Grande has enough slope to serve as a mini amphitheater! Around the piazza and under the long portico are all sorts of interesting shops and restaurants. There's not a lot of business to be done at this time of year, but I can imagine the crush on a sunny summer day. Pity there's nobody selling gelato today.

Mama recommended Borgo San Piero as a good place to eat and after wandering the streets looking for a restaurant that inspired us, we decided to give it a try. It turned out to be an interestingly different approach than we had tried before. It was a tavola calda ("hot table") with is to say a form of cafeteria, with an array of prepared foods to choose from. Kind of home cooking to go. As you make your selections, they are weighed and either packed to go or, if you are eating in, reheated if necessary and brought to your table.

I was in a pasta mood and chose pici with soppressata (dry salami) and funghi (mushrooms). Margene raved about her Eggplant Parmigiana along with some grilled vegetables. All in all, a very tasty option. A small bottle of water and a beer and we were out of there for fifteen euros. Amazing! We may well be back here tomorrow! Certainly if we lived in the neighborhood there would hardly be a reason to cook at home!

In France there seems to be a patisserie (pastry shop) on every other corner. In Italy, not so much ... but fortunately we have Paticceria Stefano just a couple of blocks from the apartment. Owned by the irrepressable Maxim, who seems to wear that smile almost all the time, this is the place for anyone over the age of 30 to hang out. It's not a Starbucks -- they are too serious about their baked goods -- and it's not really a bar -- although you can get about anything you'd want to drink. It's just a good time place dedicated to bringing friends together ... and that is noble work.

We had to see the town at night, so we headed out a little after 7:00. Hardly any restaurants open before 7:30 so there's no purpose in getting an early start. Two days before Christmas and the streets around the main shopping areas were crowded. In addition to the lights over the street, they are doing some interesting things with projected light. These two patterns on a church are projected from across the street.

Our original plan was just to split a pizza, but the two places we had in mind were closed, so after resisting the idea for awhile, we headed back to Trattoria Il Saraceno where we knew we could get an adequate meal at an adequate price. That's hardly a glowing recommendation, but that's life.

By the time we finished dinner, the streets were largely deserted, but there was some surprisingly active night life from the younger set. Who says nobody will eat or drink outside in the winter?

Il Saraceno at night -- the whole town, actually -- is bathed in a yellowish glow from the street lamps. We arrived around 7:45 and were the first ones in the place. I rather felt sorry for the waiters who had been waiting around with nothing to do for over an hour, but about half a dozen other parties arrived before we left, so it wasn't a total bust.

The pizza idea was shelved and we ate a bit more conventionally -- spinach and ricotta ravioli for Margene and osso buco for me. Adequate as expected, but not memorable. With time, I'm sure I could discover the items they do really well, but our time here is short and our appetites limited. The dessert selection looked interesting but we realized we'd be pushing our luck to even try. Maybe tomorrow.

So it's been a good day in Arezzo. We saw more of the city, got some exercise and modestly supported the local economy. I even found my way back to the parking lot and moved the car to a more legal spot! With all that walking up and down the hills, though, I am becoming increasingly aware that something is wrong with my right knee, so I'll need to have it looked at when I get home ... assuming my orthopod can get me in before March! As my dad always said, "Getting older is not for sissies!"

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