From the sacredness of Piero della Francesca's Resurrection to the earthiness of the tartufo bianchi, we've had a terrific two days in Arezzo. (The picture is Ira coming out of the roadside white truffle stand.)
I'll start with today, then move backwards to our travel here yesterday. Today we went to visit the Church of San Francisco here, just two blocks from our hotel. It contains the Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle. You have to make an apppointment to see it, and your group gets 30 minutes to admire this unique work. Although Francesca finished more than one fresco cycle, this is the only one that survives. I was struck by the gaze of one of the soldiers in the lower battle scene. He's the only person to face the viewer directly, and the look on his eyes is filled with the sad wisdom that war brings.
This is a picture of the Madonna del Parto in Monterchi. Ira remembers driving up to a country church, parking outside, then gazing at the painting. Not anymore. Now you have to drive into town and look at the painting in a small museum as it's being restored. It's still magnificent, but not the same. We had a conversation with the young woman at the ticket booth, and that was her opinion too. Apparently, the county of Monterchi is going to vote on whether to return the Madonna to the church.We had a terrific lunch in Sansepolcro, which is where... wait for it.. that best of all paintings resides. We wandered around a bit, but there weren't any outdoor places to sit that looked good, so we went to the Ristorante Fiorentino, which was packed with both locals and tourists. When we saw the generously proportioned owner, we knew we'd come to the right place. We had pasta with white truffles and it was everything we wanted, strong flavor with a smell that rocks you back a bit, all on a simple noodle pasta with butter.
Oh, and we saw a camel ambling down the street, but we were driving and didn't get a shot. (The circus is in town.)
Tonight a simple meal. Honest.
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