Toscana ( Arezzo, Bibbiena , Camaldoli )

Arezzo

Once again, I was infected by the travel bug and thought of visiting Toscana Orientale . I got hold of a guidebook which features the beautiful towns around the Commune of Arezzo. Arezzo is the capolungo ( main town ) of this region and is equal distance to most of the smaller towns around her.

On every first Sunday of each month, Arezzo draws lots of crowd to her antique fair. Furniture of all sorts are displayed at Piazza Grande.

There are also manay stores selling the famous Tuscany food products like prosciutto crudo and fromaggio (cheese).
From Perugia, I have to transit at Arezzo and take another train ( LFS - La Ferrovia Italiana ) to reach Bibbiena (BB) . Initially was hesistating if to go to Stia (the last station along the route). However, I decided to go to BB instead. BB is a major town to explore some other smaller towns around the region. After reaching BB station ( foot of the town ), I was finding my way to the top of the town. It was a wholesome 25 minutes walk but was compensated with pleasant scenery. After reaching the town, walked straight to Piazza Tarlati. From this Piazza, there is a good view of the nearby town of Poppi with her grand tower. However, it was cloudy that day and the view wasn't marvellous. Next , I spent another 30min to explore this quiet town and decided to find my way to Camaldoli.


At the tourist office, I was told that the next bus is departing in 10 min and went straight to Bar Tourismo next door to buy the ticket (EUR1.60). The 40 min ride was scenic as the bus route is ascending along winding roads. The leaves are turning yellow and the whole place is misty. It gives the feeling of coming to Cameron Highlands ( Malaysia ) and I really like the tranquility there.

On my way back from Camaldoli , I chatted with the driver and he told me that the porcini mushroom production is lesser this autumn as it rained less frequently as compared to last year. Chestnuts are also harvested in autumn but the way of roasting is different from those in Singapore. Ours is more flavoursome.

Umbria ( Perugia - Umbria Terra Viva )

Umbria Terra Viva


This event is held every first weekend of the month. Early morning, stalls are set up in Giardini Carducci and also in Piazza Italia.

There is a wide array of local produce like freshly baked bread (pani) of all kinds and cheeses (fromaggi). I like the hard crusted bread and goes well with fruity jams.

I like the cheese as well. My favourite is the one smeared with a coating of purple paste. They are wrapped by a layer of blueberry puree. The blueberry flavour and the cheese compliments each other and simply delicious to eat it on its own. As we were given samples to try, within a short time, everyone was queuing to pay and I joined the queue and walked home with 1/12 fraction of the cheese that I have bought.


Even though Halloween is not round the corner, the vegetable stores are displaying all their pumpkins, squashes, and many other funny shaped gourds. There were golden strings of beans in season and also small bite size apples from Alto- Adige region of Trento. Picking your own fruits from the stores are not encouraged as the owners will select for you. They won't want your fruits to bruise easily and not be able to sell them. The jam (marmellata) comes in varied flavours of blueberry (mirtilli),strawberry (fragola) and mixed berries.
Walking around the fair, there are other interesting elements to be explored. There is a store selling essence oil. The owner was eager to explain to the crowd the distillation process for the essence oil and displayed some of the apparatus used. I bought a bottle of lavender oil as she mentioned the medical benefits of lavender to me. She mentioned that her farm is a small village in Marche region and needs more than 200 stalks of lavender to produce a bottle of essence oil.

As lunch was around the corner, I was searching for food stalls and the porchetta store caught my attention. The roasted pork is marinated with some herbs and sliced thinly and stacked between a ciabatta bread. To enhance the taste, sprinkle a dash of pepper and salt for a savoury twist. Pork is a staple of most people in Central Italy and there are also many stores selling sausages ( salsiccia ) that is one of Umbria's proud produce.