I chose the towns of Arezzo, Sansepolcro and Urbino for this part of the journey because my good friend Nancy, who holds great respect for the work of Piero della Francesca, suggested that his work is worth seeing. I am in Arezzo. My first stop was at the Basilica of San Francesco that was built mid 13th century. Thank you Nancy for suggesting that I follow the “Piero Trail”, it’s been excellent so far and I have only started.
Details started to flow back into my tiny little brain as soon as I saw the painting, “The Annunciation”. I don’t remember what year I studied Piero in art history, as that was a kodachrome lifetime ago, but being surrounded by these full colour frescoes in real life is sure a lot different than studying slides. It is said (In the book I just bought) that the “The Cycle of the True Cross” frescoes (by Piero) are “among the most important works of Italian, and even of global, art.” They were really amazing to see.
Tonight I wandered through town to get an overall feel about the place. The main streets are wide and busy with people; mostly tourists. The stores on the main street are high-end and expensive. There are many street cafes and bars. The street is crawling with people.
Even though the hours posted on the front of Pieve di Santa Maria (a church) stated that it was closed, the doors were not locked, so in I went! To my surprise, I was the only person there. I went everywhere in the building, up, down, in, out and as I was coming out of the crypt an older, small, dressed in overalls, grey haired, Italian man, came out of nowhere. He started talking quickly to me with his hands sailing through the air. It seems we were both just as surprised as the other to see each other. He was going on and on and I didn't have a clue what he was saying. As I searched my brain for a response, a flood of broken Italian phrases were going through my head. I stopped myself just as I was about to say “No caprese” And that made me laugh as I almost told him I didn't want any tomatoes and mozzarella salad! He pointed to the Uscita sign and unbolted the big wooden door so I could leave. It’s still making me laugh!
Today I saw an Eurasian Jay - apparently it is a common bird, but it was my first sighting!
Title - the Mac won't connect to the wireless at the B&B, as I was riding the bike around (see the blog I haven't posted yet) I spied, while sitting on the steps of some major church, a man in a restaurant using a Mac - I assumed he was on wireless... so I rode the bike back to the room, grabbed my Mac and ordered the Gin....
Details started to flow back into my tiny little brain as soon as I saw the painting, “The Annunciation”. I don’t remember what year I studied Piero in art history, as that was a kodachrome lifetime ago, but being surrounded by these full colour frescoes in real life is sure a lot different than studying slides. It is said (In the book I just bought) that the “The Cycle of the True Cross” frescoes (by Piero) are “among the most important works of Italian, and even of global, art.” They were really amazing to see.
Tonight I wandered through town to get an overall feel about the place. The main streets are wide and busy with people; mostly tourists. The stores on the main street are high-end and expensive. There are many street cafes and bars. The street is crawling with people.
Even though the hours posted on the front of Pieve di Santa Maria (a church) stated that it was closed, the doors were not locked, so in I went! To my surprise, I was the only person there. I went everywhere in the building, up, down, in, out and as I was coming out of the crypt an older, small, dressed in overalls, grey haired, Italian man, came out of nowhere. He started talking quickly to me with his hands sailing through the air. It seems we were both just as surprised as the other to see each other. He was going on and on and I didn't have a clue what he was saying. As I searched my brain for a response, a flood of broken Italian phrases were going through my head. I stopped myself just as I was about to say “No caprese” And that made me laugh as I almost told him I didn't want any tomatoes and mozzarella salad! He pointed to the Uscita sign and unbolted the big wooden door so I could leave. It’s still making me laugh!
Today I saw an Eurasian Jay - apparently it is a common bird, but it was my first sighting!
Title - the Mac won't connect to the wireless at the B&B, as I was riding the bike around (see the blog I haven't posted yet) I spied, while sitting on the steps of some major church, a man in a restaurant using a Mac - I assumed he was on wireless... so I rode the bike back to the room, grabbed my Mac and ordered the Gin....
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