Stefano and Maria, in their role as my frequent escorts in Brian’s absence, toted me along with them to Arezzo to have dinner with their friends, Paulo and Franca. (These names are very confusing because there are also the names Paula and Franco in Italian and I always have to think before I address them to remember which is feminine and which masculine. Stefano has confessed to the same confusion, so I don’t feel too badly about it!).
Paulo and Franca have a lovely country house just outside of Arezzo. We drove there to meet them, and after giving the very handsome brown Dalmatian, Leo, a gift bone from Stefano and Maria, we headed into the countryside. We drove up to the hill town of Civitella and sat outdoors on the piazza along the medieval wall – the view of the wall and surrounding valley was spectacular. The town itself is right out of a film set, complete with family laundry hanging down from the windows of the ancient brick buildings along the piazza and local kittens wandering among the tables to retrieve scraps.
I had not eaten lunch and therefore had an excuse to sample MANY things on the menu. Franca had selected an excellent Cortona Syrah from D’Allessandro – I was a bit nervous at first because she wasn’t drinking that evening, but her choice was ideal – quite delicious and a perfect match for the papardelle with chianina beef ragu and tagliata of beef that Franca, Paulo and I shared for the second course. The heat of July had broken after a storm a couple of days before and this evening turned out to be a bit nippy. I was tempted to pull down one of the mechanics coveralls from the laundry hanging above our heads to stay warm, but the always chivalrous Stefano gave me his sweater. I think the signora of this particular laundry was reading my mind because the next time I looked up, the coveralls had been pulled inside.
