Italy - Who is Vasari and why does he have a corridor? 2025-05-04

So many images to capture when just walking around a town. Here is the ubiquitous 'clothes on a line in a lovely street'. Washers abound but most units do not have a dryer as the infrastructure doesn't support it.

Here we are, yucking it up at the Parco Al Prato in Arezzo, enjoying a light repass. 

OH, I forgot to mention, I found a bauble at the market made by a woman metal artists. It's very WonderWoman, GreekGoddess vibes. It makes me feel...powerful.

Please enjoy some electric box art. You can see there are some recurring themes.  These are so charming.

OK, about this Vasari guy...

Not only was he a painter, architect, art collector, writer and historian, Vasari is primarily acknowledged today as the author of The Lives of the Most Celebrated Painters, Sculptors and Architects. A foundational book of art history; it has acted as the prototype for all biographies of artists. He also designed the Vasari Corridor which is a secret passageway in Florence, Italy. It connects the Uffizi Gallery to Palazzo Pitti, and allowed the Medici family to travel between their government offices and residence without mingling with the peasants. The corridor runs above the Ponte Vecchio and other parts of the city, and we'll be seeing that in June with David and Kim McKay. In addition, his house in Arezzo was about 5 doors up from our VRBO. AND Sundays are FREE!

The house itself is stunning and there is also a rooftop garden. From there you can see down our street including two nuns heading to Mass. There's a lovely rose garden arranged in an arch along with well maintained hedges and a Koi pond with some very active Koi who know why humans exist - it's to feed them.

After, the obligatory morning cappuccino and brioche con pistacchio. Jack and Ahliana found this wonderful little pasticheria a few blocks from the museum - not for the tourists. 

After fortifying ourselves, we went to Fortezza Medicea which is a star shaped fortress located on the hill of San Donato. It has phenomenal views of the Tuscany vistas. It was inhabited by Etruscans and originally surrounded by a moat. It also includes a very large cemetery that is clearly well maintained and loved by the locals.

Artist in the wild

I wouldn't want you think I wasn't finding doors and door knockers that warrant attention ;)

The views from the Parco al Prato are really stunning. There was a Greek Food festival and we just needed to make sure the food was good.

Obligatory kissy-face shots with the phenomenal Tuscan landscape behind us.