Last day for Arezzo and I really wanted to go to the Medici Fortress.  We took a short walk for coffee in a new direction from the B&B.  Then, since we needed to be out of the room by 10:30, we came back and packed up to leave our bags in the lobby while we went to visit the fortezza.  

On the northeast edge of the city, the 16th century, 5-point star formation fortress was built by Cosimo di Medici and was restored again in the 1800’s.  Now it is a public park and is hosting an art show of the contemporary sculptor Mimmo Palladino.  

The building itself was so interesting with all of it’s brick arches:

Outside was this strange installation called “Burning Mirrors” but I found it over my head.

We stopped by Borgo San Piero to grab a “picnic” to eat on the train before going back to the B&B and taking a cab from there to the station. Our train was at 1:00 and we got there, all settled on our proper platform by 12:30 so we decided to make our picnic there.  

The train to Orvieto took a little over an hour and was uneventful except that there is great confusion over the seat numbers (the previous ride, too) but we just sat in 2 empty seats and were fine.

Our host, Luigi and his friend who speaks way better English, came to pick us up.  The apartment is very nice and he stayed for a long time showing us everything.  He seems like a great guy as does Raquella his friend.

So, finally we are in Orvieto.  First chore—get some groceries which we accomplished easily. 

Our brief rest became an extended one when Ken realized the hearings we on.  The magnet of history in the making is just too strong for him to resist.

Finally, we went out to get some dinner at Trattoria delli Poggi, recommended by both our host and our great friend Ernie who has spent a lot of time here. It is about a 10 minute walk from here.  We ate well, delicious pappardelle with porcini for me and bucatini alla Amatriciana for Ken.  I wisely ordered a salad to follow but Ken had a rich wild boar stew with even richer mashed potatoes.  He was so stuffed.  We drank a very nice local red blend with such a pretty lable.  At the beginning of the meal the waiter gave us bread with a small bowl of the “new oil” which was such a pretty, vibrant green and so tasty.  And at the end, the female part of the service team, gifted us with 2 glasses of a lovely light sweet wine.  

We had a nice, swift, walk home in the chilly damp night.

I think I’m going to like it here!