Sunday, November 29, 2009

Arezzo

On Sunday, 11/21, after our two awesome days in Florence, we woke up early, had a quick breakfast in the hotel, then boarded the bus for our trip to Arezzo.

The ride from Florence to Arezzo was very short and before we knew it we had arrived. We all walked to the center of town and met up with our tour guides...who were also very awesome! Either I have had the best luck with tour guides this semester, or ISA just picks really awesome ones ;)

Arezzo is a very small, quaint Tuscan town. It is well known by many because it is the place where Roberto Benigni's famous film "La Vita è Bella" (life is beautiful) was filmed in 1997. (Have you seen this movie? I hope so...if not, you had better go see it! It's amazing and is a true classic.)

Anyway, back to the tour! We began at San Pietro Maggiore



This church was very pretty


Gorgeous stained glass


The steps of the church (these were used in a scene in "La Vita è Bella")


Our walk took us down some narrow streets




The Medici family coat of arms


Piazza Grande






Just a cute little Italian woman making fresh pasta on the side of the piazza...no big deal or anything...




Another "La Vita è Bella" landmark...the library that was seen in the film


This is posted on its door now


We did more walking and saw a lot of great things, but some of them weren't allowed to be photographed. I spent a lot of the time mesmerized by our tour guide...I don't think I will ever stop raving about how great all of them were!

After our tours were finished we were all free to go have lunch before we left. My friends and I picked a little trattoria not far from where our tour began, and it proved to be a great choice. The food was awesome, the workers were very friendly, and most importantly...it was pretty inexpensive ;)

I had ravioli with truffle cream sauce. Tuscany is known for its truffle mushrooms, and just like last time I was there, I knew I had to have a dish that had them!


We had time after lunch to relax and walk around, so we continued to explore on our own. I thought this shop was cute


We decided to go to a park that our tour guide told us about but that wasn't a stop on our tour...

Central Park?...Nah...just Tuscany!


These two ladies were talking and laughing for a long time and seemed to be the best of friends...so cute!




We walked further up the hill to the top overlook area of the park...great view!




Crazy manes of curly hair staring off into the distance








Right before we left to head back to the bus, I spotted this older couple walking through the park (and creepily took a picture of them)...Adorable :)


And that was the end of my Tuscan weekend! I loved this trip so much...Florence was amazing and I was so glad that I got to see all of the amazing works of art there. And Arezzo was gorgeous...I am a huge fan of the small, quiet towns so I was glad that we got to spend a few hours there :)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the pictures....Mom (happy now?)

Danielle said...

Mom -- I could kill you...you know that? I could have my new "friends" make some calls...:P

Anonymous said...

LOL at the picture you took of the couple hahaha. You're such a creeper, I love how you took that like between two trees too hahahaha. Well I miss you digaboo, just a few more weeks til you're backkkk!!

Danielle said...

LT - What i didn't tell you is that the picture was taken from really far away. I had my super zoom lens working...I don't mess around. :P

Anonymous said...

Biggest creep I know. for reals. bahaha

linanne said...

Wow I really had alot of catching up on all of your new ventures! As always I loved the pictures and seeing you in them! I promply ate food, and wished I were there eating what they have to offer instead! LOL Aunt LindaXOXO