Italy
Certaldo

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    • Day 15

      Elfte Etappe

      March 10, 2020 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      Die lange Suche am Vorabend hatte sich gelohnt - quasi direkt in San Gimignano hatte Tom einen versteckten Picknickplatz entdeckt, wo wir unser Zelt aufbauen konnten.
      Der Ort war dann wieder einmal traumhaft. Ein Einwohner den wir auf der Straße trafen, meinte noch zu uns wir hätten einen 6er im Lotto gezogen. So leer wären die Straßen sonst nie. Offensichtlich treten sich hier die Touristen normalerweise auf die Füße.Read more

    • Day 30

      Rome to Tuscany

      September 25, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      All cool this morning as we had the trial run with the ridiculous bus situation yesterday. We arrived, we waited, we got on the bus, we relaxed for several hours watching scenery. Got off the bus at Siena, the boys retrieved the vehicles, we drove to Certaldo - reasonably sedate driving experience really, we got to Certaldo, only marginally alarmed that I had not heard from our AirBnB host since I booked 6 months ago, and we couldn't enter the village as it is a traffic controlled zone and we had no arrangements for anyone to meet us. But merely seconds before we put money in the parking lot to wait it out and/or work out where we were going to sleep in lieu of being homeless, they made contact and we were good to go.

      This is the accommodation we have all sort of been looking forward to - an apartment in a castle dating from circa 1100s. Not disappointed!

      We settled in quickly, and were up on our own tower sipping on wine and eating cheese faster than could be imagined as possible given the access to the tower is up a steep narrow staircase, followed by what can only be described as the steepest ladder ever (to our bedroom), then up another set up of narrow steps to the tower. A bit tricky to navigate without spilling your wine - we have since worked out to leave it in a corked up bottle and just take up empty glasses in case you are wondering!

      Anyway, a lovely sunset, views across to San Gimignano and perfect weather!
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    • Day 30

      Views from the tower

      September 25, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      And the reality of living in a 12th century castle converted into 21st century living quarters:
      - septic toilet
      - uneven tread and rise of stairs is disconcerting
      - the sloping ceilings in certain rooms mean you bump your head a lot (ie: I stoop to sit on the loo and by the time I finish my pee I forget to duck when I stand up and bang my head on a ceiling beam)
      - the very steep ladder-like stairs to our bedroom mean it is too dangerous to go to the loo in the middle of the night

      BUT, the setting is unreal, the village is cute as and the views are incredible.
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    • Day 35

      Cucina Giuseppina: Pasta

      September 30, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

      We made a traditional Tuscan pasta called pici which used to be hand-rolled by the ladies around the table as they had a gossip. These days, use a pasta machine - much faster.

      Tip: 100gms flour and 1 egg per person - served with a pomodoro and garlic sauce and plenty of fresh parmesanRead more

    • Day 33

      Dinner in Certaldo

      September 28, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      We got home pretty late from our long drive, but to top off a perfect day, we popped out to the "local" (about 30 metres from our front door) to have dinner on the back verandah looking out over the lights of Certaldo (the lower village). The owner/waiter was a delight.

      Fabulous food and wine, great night out!
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    • Day 35

      Cooking School at Cucina Giuseppina

      September 30, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Can't come to Tuscany and not do cooking school!

      Just so happens to be one right at our front door, so we signed up for the evening class where we were able to enjoy our own Tuscan delicacies and accompanying wines - antipasto, bruschetta, hand-made pasta, chicken cacciatore, with chocolate salami for dessert.

      The meal was hosted by Giuseppina and her son Luca. They own a nearby farm, all live there as one big happy family, Luca is a viticulturist, so we were sampling their wine including chianti - bellisimo.
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    • Day 36

      Wet day, no play in Certaldo Alto

      October 1, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      We woke up to the sounds of light rain on the roof tops this morning, which was perfect really because the kids were happy to lounge around all day in their pyjamas, and we were pretty much of the same mind set given it was the last day in our "castle". It also coincided with NRL grand final day, so the perfect excuse for Craig and Jeff to listen to the footy on the radio which started about 10.30am Italian time.

      Later in the afternoon, we climbed up to the tower for our last drinks as the sun set (or moved lower behind the clouds, as the case may be). Had to lighten the load ready to hit the road again tomorrow, so two bottles of wine later... I think I am going to have to enter an AA program when I get home. I am pretty sure I have consumed more alcohol on this holiday than I have in my previous 20 years of living!

      Craig and I had actually left the house a little earlier for some reconnaissance on potential places in the village to take the parents out for dinner on their last night with us. Found a lovely place just around the corner, although they are all 'just around the corner' when your village is only about 200m long I guess.

      A lovely meal was enjoyed by all. We also had our first grappa of the holiday and Glen and I a limoncello when we got home (see what I mean - excessive alcohol consumption!!!)
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    • Day 31

      Exploring Certaldo

      September 26, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      A bit of a lazy morning before heading out to explore our hilltop locale of Certaldo Alto. It is quite tiny, with lots of windy alley ways, all beautifully old and with nooks and crannies. The kids played in the small playground in the village (lined with olive trees, all bearing olives) where what looks like daffodils (?) are growing wild on the side of the hill tops.

      In search of lunch, we decided to take the funicular down to the village after working out that Google Maps statement of there being a bakery in our village were false. Got there just as the shops were closing up for a few hours and the entire village of Certaldo proper turned into a ghost town for a few hours (most inconvenient this idea of closing down from 1.00-3.00pm every day!). We decided to not wait for the funicular and walked back up a very steep hill.

      The kids and I played board games up on the tower for a few hours, ready for gelati time! No gelati in Certaldo Alti either as it turns out, so we walked back down the very steep hill, to find the ghost town was a hive of activity. We had also been charged with finding our nightly wine offerings. Tough stuff really. Every other places we have stayed at has had these small shops which sell wine. NONE in Certaldo, we think because a very large co-op has opened up on the outskirts of town which has a pretty incredible range of food and alcohol, to the point where no-one else seemed to have bothered have their corner store any more.

      What we did find was a tiny wine shop which had a shelf without about 8-10 varieties of local wine and four gigantic vats of wine on tap. Each was simply labelled as either bianca or rossa for between €1.40 and €2.40 per litre. We didn't have any bottles with us, so we the guy sold us 2 litres of merlot in an old water bottle! We did buy a couple of real bottles too, so it wasn't totally uncouth.
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    • Day 5

      die Weinprobe

      August 17, 2021 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      Den 17.08. sollte für mich mit einem kleinen Lauf starten, ich lief erneut Richtung San Gimignano, um die Stadt aus der Nähe fotografieren zu können. Die Umgebung war wunderschön, überall Weinreben und typische Toskanische Häusschen, once again ein Traum. Am Ende meiner Tour empfingen mich Ulrich und Melinda, vermutlich Ulrichs Nikotin Mangel geschuldet, aber ein würdiges Ende meines 8 Kilometer Laufs.

      So fuhren wir „frische“ Brötchen kaufen und auch Zigaretten, aber wenn man das sagen darf die Backkultur in Italien kommt nicht an die Deutsche ran. Die süßen Sachen sind bello, aber Brötchen gibt es gar nicht oder es sind Steine – ich lasse mich gerne von meinen Italienischen Followern eines Besseren belehren.
      Für den heutigen Tag hatte Jeanine die Idee eine Weinprobe zu machen, die Frage war nur wo? Die Antwort, aber einfach - beim Nachbarn. Unser Nachbar Luciano Il Lebbio war natürlich Winzer. „hello Luciano, do have time this afternoon 5 o’clock for a wine tasting?”. Luciano (italienisches Englisch): “yes, see you at 5 o’clock”. Somit war das wine tasting auch organisiert.

      Wir machten uns schick für den Abend, denn wir wollten Jeanines Geburtstag reinfeiern und hatten angedacht direkt von der Weinprobe mit Fabrizio ins Restaurant zu fahren. So waren wir etwas overdressed als uns Luciano oberkörperfrei entgegenkam und uns in Empfang nahm. Es gab dann zwar etwas Verständigungsprobleme, jedoch kennt Wein nur eine Sprache und die heißt „Trinken“. Wir bekamen ein schönes Plätzchen mit toller Aussicht, leider mitten in der Sonne bei 35 Grad 🙈. Luciano fackelte auch nicht lange und öffnete direkt 3-4 Weine auf einmal, die zugegebenermaßen auch alle etwas warm waren und später kochen sollten in der Sonne. Aber ansonsten versorgte er uns mit allem, Wasser, Spucknapf, Snacks und vor allem mehr Wein. Wir hatten das Gefühl er wolle sein ganzes Sortiment auf einmal öffnen, so mussten wir ihn etwas ausbremsen… Er hatte auch Sekt im Portfolio, was uns natürlich sehr zusagte. Nach über 1,5 h mussten wir dann auch schon weiter, doch auf die Frage, was er bekommen würde, meinte er: „nichts, er würde sich freuen, wenn wir bei ihm Wein kaufen würden, aber sollen uns dazu auch nicht verpflichtet fühlen“. Somit kaufte ich zumindest ein paar Falschen Wein und Oliven Öl, was er mir auch noch günstiger verkaufte. Wir hinterließen ihm dennoch Geld für diese tolle, authentische Weinprobe. „Mille Grazie Luciano – ti volgiamo bene“.

      Und schon saßen wir bei unserem nächsten italienischen Freund, Fabrizio, im Taxi und fuhren nach Certaldo in die Altstadt, auch hochgelegen auf einem Berg. Certaldo sicherlich ein Geheimtipp, man könnte es bezeichnen als der kleine Bruder von San Gimignano – eben auch eine wunderschöne Altadt mit tollen kleinen Restaurants, einfach bezaubernd. An diesem Abend sollten wir die Herzen des Ristorante bar caffetteria Boccaccio für uns gewinnen. Und ja, wir lebten „la Dolce Vita“ und wie, Aperitivo, Espresso, Bruschetta, Antipasto, Sekt, Wein, Lasagne, Pasta, Pizza, Wein, Grappa, Espresso, Tiramisu…. Oh Italia. Die Italiener waren so erstaunt von unserer Performance, dass ein Lieferwagen frische Tomaten verlor- leider war kein Francesco Mutti vor Ort und so rollten die Tomaten langsam aber sicher die steile Straße hinunter.
      Aber wir schlossen auch neue Freundschaften bzw. Beziehungen, denn Lars fand seinen italienischen Vater oder eher Opa: Alessandro welcher sich in Lars, den „ragazzo simpatico“, verliebt hatte. Er redete ununterbrochen auf uns in perfektem Italienisch ein und solange wir mit „si“ antworteten, hörte er auch nicht auf zu reden 😹.

      Dann war es soweit mit weiteren Sektflaschen einem kleinen Geburtstagstörtchen und einem „Tanti Auguri a te Jeanine“ feierten wir und ich glaube die ganze Altstadt von Certaldo lautstark Jeanines Geburtstag rein. Vom Abend bleibt nur zu berichten: viele Geschenke, eine Zwiebel, etwas Sekt, vielleicht Rotwein, viele Emotionen und großartige Erinnerungen.
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