Arezzo

On Saturday (21st) Pietro and Marijke arrived - they are to stay for a week to sort out the garden before winter.  On Tuesday, we headed off to Arezzo for a short trip - it is about four hours away by train, and is at the very furthest south-east corner of Tuscany.  The trip was not just to visit this ancient town, but to see the art of the early renaissance artist Piero della Francesca in Arezzo, and in the smaller neighbouring towns of Monterchi and Sansepolcro.

The Piazza Grande in the evening sun seen from our B&B 

The ancient church of Santa Maria della Pieve seen as night falls

Monterchi - Piero della Francesca's Madonna del Parto, in her blue dress painted with lapis lazuli from afghanistan

Monterchi - Typical Tuscan countryside with tractor ploughing - quite a contrast to our mountainous  Garfagnana valley

Sanspolcro - Piero della Francesca's Resurrection, just visible in the enclosure built around it during its current restoration

Arezzo - the Basilica of San Domenico in its peaceful setting - it is filled with beautiful renaissance frescoes and paintings

The house of Guido of Arezzo, the monk who invented staff musical notation in around 1020 AD, to help the monks to remember their Gregorian chants

Lovely carved work on the door of Guido's house

Time for a coffee and a bun in a smart pasticceria ...