Gane una semana en La Toscana
Cerrado
Piazzas Big and Small
Piazzas Big and Small
Two visits to Tuscany in the last fifteen months have helped me to understand at least a little about the importance of "the piazza" in the cultural life of an Italian city or town. As a visitor, there are clearly two times in the life of a piazza...tourist time and time for the town folk. If you're lucky enough to experience both of these times as a visitor, you are lucky indeed!
Arriving in Arezzo on a Monday in July, the first walk-about was meant to give a sense of the place in which I was about to attempt to learn a little Italian. The coursework consisted of daily classes, with afternoons, evenings, and weekends set aside to immerse oneself in Italian culture. On that first afternoon, a friend, with whom I was sharing the first week of the experience, and I set out to "get a feel" for this lovely city. There were piazzas aplenty! The wonderful thing is...no two are alike. Some are clearly the result of careful planning and planting, with seating arranged carefully and permanently. Others resulted when buildings were built around a central open space, originally intended for public meetings, marketplaces or other public functions. Some feel quite modern, with shops that could place them in several European countries, while others could have you almost believing you had gone back significantly in time. Some piazzas are small and clearly connected to and named for a church in a certain part of the city. One piazza is clearly the heart of the medieval city of Arezzo. The Piazza Grande captured my imagination and my heart during my two week stay in Tuscany.
During the day, the lovely old buildings bordering the large square are a destination for many tourists who wander around the perimeter, browsing in a shop or two, or perhaps stopping for a bite to eat or a gelato on their way through the city on a guided tour or on a personal wander. It was in the evening that the charm of Piazza Grande shone brightest. Restaurants came to life, with its diners sitting for hours at outdoor tables eating and chatting with one another. Small wine bars were busy with people, some there for a quick drink, others for an evening of experiencing the piazza and its varied offerings.
There are always people walking in the evenings; whether alone, in pairs, in groups of friends or in family groupings...whether off to a bar, a restaurant, or just walking...it is a past time, a routine, a way of life. But the Piazza Grande is also a venue, a destination for things that happened throughout the week. One evening it appeared that an extended family was enjoying a celebration...with a "picnic banquet"of sorts on the wide steps of a lovely building. Another evening dream lanterns were being lit and set free to float into the setting sun. One evening the music evoked memories of the eighties, another evening the audience appreciated operatic strains. On one occasion the Arezzo Drone could be seen as it rose into the evening sky, curiously seeming to stop as it passed above the beautiful old clock tower of the piazza.
Old meets new, time stands still, people come and go...the life of the Piazza Grande is truly a magical way to experience Italian culture at its best. One can only imagine the stories to be told about the many piazzas, big and small, in cities and towns across beautiful Tuscany!
