Today was our free day. We slept in, more so than we would have liked, but managed to be at the rental car place by 9 am. Jim was a little fussy as I did not let him eat breakfast 🤣 I made it up to him by finding out we could park the car for free at the hotel, so we came back from picking up the car and went to breakfast. Then we loaded up the car (much less stuff than we normally take on a trip) and after a brief walk about in the town square to see the open air market, headed off to Loro Ciufenna.
Of course we didn’t take the autostrada and followed many back roads, because that is just the way we are. Loro Ciuffenna is a quaint little town up in the hills, read Climb to Glory-To the Top! which is standard call and answer on Fort Drum home of the Mountaineers! The roads are narrow and not really knowing the twists and turns, Jim pulled over several times for other cars to pass by. Our little electric Jeep was really quiet and chugged along nicely.
We missed the turn for the parking area, which is just as well because we parked in a free space, actually near the studio of Venturino Venturi, but alas being off season, it was closed. So off we marched down the hill to the center of town where we discovered the visitor’s center. The doors were open, but the lady in the center brusquely told us “Uscita” or closed. Jim stole a walking map of the attractions before walking out, well he didn’t steal it as they were free. I don’t think they get many visitors after season, as the train does not stop here and most do not rent cars.
The biggest attraction in Loro Ciuffenna or so I thought was a working mill that ground chestnuts into flour… “One of the town’s peculiarities is the Ciuffenna river, which runs through a canyon and was used for centuries to power mills that produced chestnut flour (a traditional product in the area). Here, you can also find the oldest functioning water mill in Tuscany, most likely built around 1100. This comes from the Visit Tuscany Page. I don’t think the mill was open.. there were no signs to get to it. We walked all around it. Jim ended up going one way and I another and he got this picture.
We don’t give up easy.. we used the map that Jim had appropriated from the closed visitor’s center and marched around town exploring the twisty streets and alleyways stopping to read each little number sign. We found out many interesting facts about the charming town of Loro Ciuffenna, like it was a booming silk production town until the depression, and they built a chapel on the hillside for families of fallen soldiers.
After spending several hours walking up and down the hills of Loro Ciuffenna, we headed towards Arezzo. There was one stop we had to make before arriving. Jim had discovered the listing of an old Roman bridge in Buriano.
So now we are back on the road to Arezzo. What a quaint village. We parked down below the mobili stair or the escalator. It would have been a long walk up the stairs. Arezzo was gearing up for their Buon Natale celebration.
The pictures above are mostly of the inside of the Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo. We nipped inside for a quick look. As we weren’t part of a tour and didn’t come in through the front door, I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to take pictures. Jim not so surreptitiously took a picture of the lifesize nativity that was set up under the main chapel floor but still on the first level.
Back to the artwork in the Santa Maria, the polyptych was painted by Pietro Lorenzetti back in 1320. It is named the Tarlati Polyptych after Bishop Guido Talati.
After walking through the church and stopping for a beverage, we walked through town to the Roman amphitheater. The amphitheater is part of the museum and as we did not go into the museum, we had to stay outside of the gates. The museum is built around the amphitheater to make it look like a real Roman amphitheater.
Back to the car for the drive home in the dark. OOPS! Well it wasn’t quite dark when we left, but it was dark soon after. We drove back towards Loro Ciuffenna as we didn’t want to drive on the Autostrada and have to pay the tolls. We had used all our change at the public toilets! After only a few misturns, Jim and I were back in Figline Valdarno. Susanna has had us practice and practice saying Figline. Disregard the gl and fi-YEE-ne. We dropped of the car back at the rental store. Then hoofed it back to the hotel with a stop at the pizza restaurant, which wasn’t open quite yet. So not wanting to come back, Jim and I popped into the backery next door, which also served beer and wine and waited for the pizza shop to open.
Of course no trip would be complete without a fun toilet picture…. I especially like the fact that since this toilet is a gender neutral toilet, some directions have been given!
#HowFortunateWeAre #RetiredAndLovingIt #MakingOurOwnSunshine