We are quickly coming to the end of our Italian adventures, amici. So in order to get in the most Tuscany in the shortest amount of time, we have been hopping on weekend trains to neighboring towns. These quick little day trips will be documented as part of the short Tuscan Town Trotter series. Enjoy!
Strap on your hikers and grab a walking stick, amici, because we're going on a hike! No, not through the Dolomites (a mountain range that runs through Northern Italy) or along the cliffs of Cinque Terre - we're going to Arezzo! OK, maybe the walking sticks are a bit unnecessary, but just look at the slope of this town - the picture below is from Piazza Grande, the main downtown square:
Now imagine starting at the train station at the bottom of a hill at one end of the city (that gets even steeper than this piazza) and having to walk alllllll the way up to get to the other side of the city. It was exhausting, but of course we had to do it a few times so we could get in all of the sites. You can see the rolling hills and neighboring towns from the park at the peak. Che bella!
Arezzo is a very old city dating back to the time of the Etruscans. The Etruscans lived in what is now Tuscany as early as 2,800 years ago. We don't know a lot about the Etruscans - at least compared to the Romans - because they were around so long ago and a lot of their culture has been lost over the centuries. However, Arezzo was a very importan Etruscan city - one of the 12 most important Etruscan cities to be more specific. The Etruscans liked the area that became Arezzo because of the big hill. This hill allowed them to see enemies coming from miles and miles away.
The Etruscans were major influences on the early Italian architecture, especially for the early Romans. Etruscan influences can be found in some of the most famous Roman structures like the Colosseum. In fact, we saw the ruins of an ancient amphitheater that could have been used much in the same way the Colosseum was for the ancient Romans, except on a much smaller scale. You can't tell much from these pictures, but at one time this was a very hoppin' place for local entertainment.
Many of these historic Italian cities have continued to grow over the centuries. This is all well and good for a while, but moving the ancient stone walls that surround these communities outward to accommodate for the growing population isn't a task that many people would want to take on. So what happens then? Well, a lot of cities expanded beyond their "old city" walls and sprawled out into the Tuscan plains. This basically creates two cities in one: the original city built around il centro storico (historic center) and the new city. Walking between these two communities is like travelling in a time machine - one minute you are walking down narrow, cobblestone streets checking out the cheese shops and restaurants in the original stone walled structures and the next minute - BAM! Hello, modern world! Cars are racing by you as their drivers rush off to work, the grocery store or to drop their kids off at state-of-the-art schools.
Take this place, for example. This is a modern soccer stadium about 20 minutes (by foot) from the Etruscan amphitheater:
Pretty weird, huh?
I don't know about you all, but this walking and talking about walking has me all tired out. I think I'll take a quick rest here on this bench and catch you at the next stop!
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