2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Anghiari

Tuesday September 30, 2008 – Sansepolcro to Anghiari and other towns

What a good day we had today! (Map Here)

Old Sansepolcro

Rab was as happy as Larry to prowl through the market but in the end decided to buy the walking shoes she had been hunting for from a local sports shop. An indication of the Italian approach to pricing can be gained from the detail of this transaction. The shoes were on the shelf marked at Є99 but with discount (or ‘sconti’ – another word for my vocabulary) they were reduced to Є65. when I was summoned to pay I expressed surprise at this high price and asked for more sconti. The saleslady pointed out that the price had been reduced from Є75 (as shown on the box – not the Є99 on the shelf) to Є65: I offered Є60 and the deal was done. I’d love to know what a local would have paid?

We slowly made our way back to the car through the throng. In one area I had to laugh because the women there were like a flock of seagulls diving on a school of fish as they grabbed at a pile of jackets and other clothing and squabbled over them. A couple of swarthy – possibly gypsy -  accordion players begged their way happily along the street. I contributed a euro to their meagre takings and got a great clip as background music for my holiday DVD. Once again dogs featured everywhere, most of them looking very happy and well looked after.

Macelleria being a butcher!

Because we had a lateish start, we decided to tour the handy towns before going  further afield. I intended getting some provisions from one of the stalls – specifically porchetta which looked delicious – but there was such a wait I gave up in the end. Little old ladies  were buying a slice of this, two slices of that…..but rather less rapidly than I have expressed their decision making process here.

 

Anghiari - did Walt Disney use this lovely town as a model?

Finally setting off at about 10.30 we were at our first stop Anghiari – only about 8 km from Sansepolcro by 11.00. You approach the town across the Tiberina valley. The town sits right at the top of a hill and is right out of central casting. Towers and walls abound and from a distance it looks for all the world like a clay relief model of itself. Tom tried a few of his tricks as we approached the town, but we’re wise to those now and Rab took over the final entry, finding a good parking place just outside the city walls.

It was terrific walking around the town and very difficult to stop taking pictures at every turn of the winding narrow paths, alleys, stairs and roadways. Old doors, gaudy statues, glimpses of people going about their business, a fat cat sitting in a court, creepers hanging across an archway, an old man leaning out of his window surveying the scene below – and in the distance and all around the rolling countryside of Arezzo Region.

We stopped off at a small shop (adding the term ‘alimentari’ – food shop to my vocabulary where Rab admired the dog sitting comfortably outside and got into a long chat with the owner – of the dog and the shop – who spoke excellent English having been an international salesman for gold chain manufactured in this region. He had even visited Melbourne a couple of times. While they were yakking  I bought the lunch provisions – a nice bit of cheese, six slices each of two salamis, a small loaf of brown bread with a crisp crust and a small tube of enormous and delicious olives – all for a little over Є5 or A$8.

We found a nice spot outside a café high on the Southern wall with a view that went forever. We bought an iced tea and a brioche from the café and settled down for a memorable lunch in the warm autumn sun. we have been very fortunate with the weather – very little rain, nice cool nights and temperatures in the 16°C-20°C (61°F – 68°F) range during the day. The locals think it is rather cold but it suits us down to the ground.

 

Our lunchtime view

From Anghiari we went to Arezzo, the capital of this region – a very pleasant drive  of about 45 minutes through wooded country – and a number of hairpin bends. We got there a little after 01.00 so everything was closed down, apart from some of the eateries. It was a bit bland after the wonders of Anghiari so we just drove through and on to Citerna, another little town perched high on a hill. Tom was very odd, advising me at one stage to turn down a goat track and on another insisting that I go the wrong way up a one way alley. But we just ignored these errors of judgement and made it to the piazza at top of the town.

 

View across the Tiber Valley

 The views from up there were tremendous – square patches of farms with olive trees and vineyards, houses nestling into the elbow of the hills, small towns perched here and there and in the  distance the flat Tiber valley. One thing that perplexed me was a memorial on one of the walls of the piazza which recorded the deaths of three members of the Indian Light Horse in  1945 who were trying to rescue some of their comrades. The odd thing was that two of the men, including the British officer, were awarded the George Cross posthumously. But this is a civilian honour, not a military one – hence my puzzlement.

Having done our sight seeing I realised that we had a problem because the entry we had made to the piazza was a one way street and there was no obvious exit. I finally spotted a way out. That involved two bends that were so tight that they were beyond the capabilities of the Mercedes’ turning circle so we had to back up to get around them and then the final hurdle was to squeeze through an arch just wide enough to take the car with mirrors folded.

 

Monterchi

The next port of call was on an adjoining hill top – Monterchi. Another beautiful clean village which didn’t have quite the ambience of Citerna, but had an even better view of the valley. There was no parking at the top so we just drove through, stopping to take a couple of pictures. Our last stop was disappointing. Citta Di Castello had a castle on the outskirts of the town but was all modern ugly buildings. So back home we headed almost heading down the wrong way on the motorway. We got the washing done at a local Laundromat and then enjoyed a beer and snacks on our own private piazza outside our bedroom.

A good day indeed.