Sealing the deal--renting an apartment in Arezzo

We stayed in Arezzo 6 days instead of the 3 we originally planned, but our mission was a success--we now have a verbal agreement, soon to be written, to rent a fantastic apartment in Arezzo.  The agreement was reached in a very Italian style:  we learned of the apartment from the owners of our B&B who told us they had a friend who was fixing up an apartment for his daughter (who is studying law in Sienna) but who won't need the apartment for 2 years.  Giuseppe arranged for us to meet his friends Mario and Loretta to see the apartment. Friday night we all went out for pizza and wine/beer at a nearby restaurant (Naboo, I recommend it). At 11:30 pm we finally discussed the 'details' of the deal--rent, utilities, etc, and reached an agreement.  As you can tell, we are very excited about the apartment, especially since we had seen 7-8 apartments with realtors that would have been ok but were near the train station and not at all charming.  This apartment oozes charm.   It has everything on our checklist for a dream apartment, but we never dreamed we would actually find it all in one place!  The apartment is on the ground floor (meaning only 12 steps to get to it) with a terrace and garden.  It is in an historic, 800 year old building but the apartment itself has been completely restored with beautiful tiled floors.  The   bathroom and kitchen fixtures are brand new (including the washer)--in fact, so new the kitchen fixtures are being installed next week.  The ceilings are high and timbered in the traditional style typical of the area.  There are 2 bedrooms and a large living room with frescoes on the walls. The living room and kitchen both have fireplaces--the one in the kitchen is enormous.  I think my college apartment would fit inside it.  The street is  near the best part of the centro storico  but is a quiet residential street and no traffic is allowed in centro storico after 9 or 10 pm (they actually close a gate).  There is a piazza and some Etruscan ruins at the end of the street.  We are also close to the prato (a green park, not common in Italy they are usually just piazzas) and to restaurants and cafes.    Oddly, we did not take any pictures of the place--I guess we were too excited about the apartment and were just wandering around mouths agape.  Mario kept showing us more and more things--a cantina for storing wine, oil and miscellaneous stuff (not that we have much stuff but still), a reserved parking place on the street (not that we have a car, but still...) the frescoed ceiling on the ceiling stairwell, and on and on.  Mario grows olives and grapes and makes and sells wine and oil.  When we go back for the formal 'contratto' (50 per cent of the rent is paid in taxes--I can't believe he didn't suggest renting  under the table like many Italians do--not only 50 per cent tax but an additional registration tax of 2 percent of the annual rent) he is going to pick us  up at the station and take us to his farm so we can sign the contract and sample his products.

Giuseppe and Marissa, the B&B  owners were not only super helpful in finding the apartment for us, they gave us a ride to the station when we were leaving and gave us a bottle of wine as a parting gift.  We plan to have a bbq battle between Tom and Giuseppe when we return in June.  (In May we will be on Sardegna for 2 weeks with Kelly, then the next 3 weeks we will be touring Italy with Tom's brother Bill--his first trip to Europe at 82 years old!)

Arezzo has many interesting cultural and historical sites, and we managed to visit a few in between apartment hunting.

viewpoint at park not far from apartment

Roman amphitheater

Of course there is an elaborately decorated cathedral--this one complete with the entombed body of a "beatified" bishop and a pope.

Tomb of 10th century holy man--actual body on display

The cathedral has a chapel decorated with frescoes by Piero  della Francesco

 Not a lot of crime here--maybe that's why they have tiny police cars.

Group of lawyers heading back to court, gelatti in hand

Tucscany is home to many forms of cured meats--we tried several types from a small shop near the B&B.  The shop has been in business 102 years, 3 generations of the same family.  The proprietor  showed us a picture of the shop from 1905.

Much of La Vita E Bella was filmed in Arezzo, and there are commemorative plaques showing where various scenes were shot.

scene from the movie was shot here

A last walk around town, then it was back to Perugia where we have to pack up and move to an apartment upstairs (we extended our stay a month and our current apartment was booked from April 15 on).

Tom in front of the B&B.  A presto, Arezzo!