Certaldo Part 3

Certaldo Part 3

(11 - 18 December)

We caught the train to Florence again to pick up a hire car and explore towns farther afoot.

On arrival we joined the very short queue for a look inside the Duomo. While not as ornate or decorated as other cathedrals in the world, the enormous dome, and the way it's painted, really is quite spectacular.
We spent the rest of the day looking around town, picked up the hire car and drove home via the supermarket without incident.

We had read and heard that the Milan/Cortina 2026 winter Olympic torch was making its way through Tuscany. A bit of investigation and we were able to be in Montecatini Terme, one of the towns on the route at the right time. Fun to see. There was certainly less public enthusiasm for the relay that there was for Sydney in 2000!

On the way home we stopped for a walk and an aperol at Montaione. Surprise! Another hill town in this region. A very pretty, but very quiet, town. Parking was not a problem!

For the third or fourth time, we found ourselves sitting or walking in via Roma that was the original Roman route from Canterbury to Rome.

We spent Saturday in Lucca. We stayed here for a few days some years ago and loved the place, so were eager to go back. We had a great day there, wandering the streets, churches, walls, towers and Roman amphitheater, some of which dates back to the 1st and 2nd century AD when 10,000 spectators watched gladiator fights and animal hunts.
Puccini was born in Lucca, and it dawned on us - the opera, Tosca. Toscana / Tuscany... we're obviously a bit slow on the uptake.

After a lazy start to Sunday, we made our way over to Poggibonsi because their Christmas celebrations were starting this weekend. Possibly the saddest, quietest, most lame Christmas market we've ever seen. We're not sure Santa bothers stopping here.

We then drove to another nearby hill town, Colle di Val d'Elsa. If you remember your Tour de France lingo, some of the fantastic race climbs finish or crest a col, so no surprises this town sits like a crown above the newer town down in the valley. Towering walls, a church that has been a church since the 1100's, houses made from a wonderful mixtures of stone and brick and pottery and mortar...

It's a pretty spot to enjoy a light lunch in one of the restaurants.

Sunday night we returned to San Gimignano, the town famous for its towers, for dinner. To be honest, we were a little surprised the town wasn't lit a little more vibrantly at night. 

With rain forecast, for a few days' time, the next day we drove the hour or so to spend the day in Pisa. We've been to Pisa before, but it IS pretty cool to see the beautiful marble buildings in The Square of Miracles. 

The author of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi, was born in Florence, just an hour away.

Fun fact... Pinocchio is hoodwinked into burying his money in this square by two swindlers, with the promise it will grow into a money tree. 

On the way there we had the unexpected joy of tripping over the prettiest village we've come across this few weeks here. Castelfalfi is the sort of town you can imagine George Clooney booking out the whole town for his wedding, flying in on a helicopter to the hotel heliport. It is absolutely beautiful at every turn. Gorgeous gardens, stone buildings that have been there for hundreds of years... Owned by the Medicis at one stage, naturally (!)

The next day was a rainy one, so we went for a drive through the Chianti region. Beautiful hilltop towns, vineyards, windy roads with beautiful views at every turn. The towns were really quiet, though - it's obviously a place where if you don't make your money over summer, you're stuffed.
We saw lots of references to two things -The Chianti Classic cycle race and  the Chianti bicycle race featuring vintage bicycles known as L'Eroica, and a black rooster, the symbol of genuine Chianti wines that have been grown here for hundreds of years.

Finally, a few things we've seen or learnt from our time here.

We saw heaps of people buying this stuff. We initially thought it was chicken pellets, but it's chips of some sort for burning for heating.

When we've been through a self serve check-out at a supermarket, a member of staff has to approve our alcohol sale. But we've seen wine for sale by the glass in a logge (open gallery)!

Bread and pizza is for sale by the slice/weight.

Everything in a deli is sold per 100g

Baby Jesus doesn't turn up in any nativity scenes till midnight Christmas eve

There's a LOT of ongoing maintenance in these old buildings. In some cases we've seen evidence of  work that, if not done, means their neighbours will lose their houses as well.

And so it's time to move on to our next stop.

We're off to Ljubljana in Slovenia.
First stop north-west to Trieste via train for an overnight stop, then a bus east for an hour or two (as opposed to a 5 hour $$$ train)

Catch you soon.