Arezzo

I decided to go to Arezzo today, because it was a town we hadn't been to before (I don't think) and it was a cheap and easy train ride. There were three main things I wanted to do here: see their monthly antiques fair, go to Vasari's house [Vasari being an artist and architect and the first art historian] and go to a church with Piero della Francesco's frescoes. As soon as I got off the train I saw a poster for the antiques fair, with a calendar of dates. I had heard the fair was the 1st weekend of the month, and this was the first full weekend in June. But, the Italians counted last weekend as the first weekend since Sunday was the 1st and thus I missed the fair. Strike one. I wandered a little while, to get my bearings, and then went to the Medici fortress and city walls where there was a nice park to sit down and have my picnic. After that I went in search of Vasari's house. I got there to discover that it had closed just five minutes earlier. Strike two. So, to the church. I wandered the hilly streets and found the church. At the ticket office I was informed that only a certain number of people were allowed in per hour, and the next available ticket would be in another 2 hours. Having already wandered the whole town, and since it was Sunday and NOTHING was open, I didn't really have anything to do for two hours. Strike three. So, Arezzo was a bust. A cute town, kind of like a mini version of Siena, but next time, I'll come on a weekday. Here are some random pictures from the day:

A nice keyhole.The plaque at Vasari's house, since I couldn't get in.
The main piazza. And, yes, it was raining today and I didn't bring my umbrella or raincoat.