It was indeed a perfect afternoon in Certaldo Alto for me & John with our friends Steve & Hayley, who own the fabulous Tuscan casa* which is our temporary home, & our new found Italian friends Sandra & her figlie* Lavinia & Nora.
Sandra’s famiglia* owns & operates the delightful Antico Borgo Ristorante-Pizzeria in Iano. Since 1994 Sandra’s parents Mauro & Marisa have been offering their warm hospitality & delicious, authentic Tuscan meals to their guests. Marisa & Mauro greet you as you enter & Chef Omar, when time permits, comes to your table to welcome you, ask how your day has been & how you’re enjoying their food. Omar has been known to assist me with my Italian language skills & thanks to him, I now can pronounce parcheggio* properly; or more truthfully, pronounce it better than I used to!
Marisa has handed down her recipes so that the legacy of her delicious food continues to be offered at Antico Borgo. I haven’t met all of the staff yet but I can tell you that servers Erica, Luca & Lapo work diligently to ensure that your drinks & meals are served in a timely fashion. The vino rosso di casa* is smooth & very tasty. I mentioned in an earlier post that my favorite dish is Omar’s grilled chicken & for John it’s the pappardelle con cinghiale but we’ve found all of their dishes to be tasty treats. Antico Borgo has an outside dining area which we’re looking forward to using in the warmer weather.
Now for Certaldo Alto … I’ve been in Certaldo before but only in the basso* section to catch a train into Florence. Sandra lives in Certaldo & when we met her at Antico Borgo she offered to take us on a tour of Certaldo Alto. And oh, are we happy that she did so! Our friend Hayley drove us to Piazza Boccaccio in Certaldo to park & meet Sandra. As many of the streets are one-way, we had a heck of a time going round & around following our car’s navigation system.** We could see the lot eventually but with the one-way streets couldn’t properly enter it. Thank goodness for Hayley’s excellent driving as she found a way into the lot.
We were surprised & delighted when Sandra arrived as she had in her company her lovely figlie Lavinia & Nora whom we had met at Antico Borgo. Sandra led the way from Certaldo Basso to Alto & the plan was to take the funicolare* to the Alto. Unfortunately, the funicolare wasn’t working but we were able instead to take a bus up the steep climb.
John, Steve, Hayley & I were all delighted by the quiet beauty of Certaldo Alto. Getting off the bus I felt as though the 21st century was dissolving & that I was walking back in time to the 12th century. Fortunately for us, someone invented gelato around the 16th century. So, during the transition from the 21st to 12th century we stopped for a gelato.
Sandra then led us along the charming via Boccaccio explaining the history of the town & spoke about the 14th century author Giovanni Boccaccio, who wrote among other famous works the Decameron. The imposing Palazzo Pretorio, ancestral home of the Alberti counts & built around the end of the 1100s, lay at the end of our stroll along the peaceful via Boccaccio. Over the years the Alberti palazzo has changed hands from the Florentines to the Sienese & ultimately became a public building.
Certaldo Alto was not crowded during our visit & is a very pleasing & historic town that is well worth a visit. In fact, we’ll be returning to Certaldo Alto later this week for lunch & another stroll along the lovely via Boccaccio & perhaps a visit to the Boccaccio House & Museum.
Grazie mille per uno pomeriggio perfetto, Sandra, Lavinia & Nora!
*Italian vocabulary for the day: basso/bassa = lower, casa = home, famiglia = family, figlie = daughters, funicolare = funicular, parcheggio = parking/parking area, perfetto = perfect, pomeriggio = afternoon, uno = a/an/one, vino rosso di casa = house red wine,
**Travel Tip: I’ve found the navigation systems in cars & the navigation apps on my cell/mobile phone to be very useful but I recommend that you always have a paper map or atlas in addition to the navigation systems. In my experience, navigation systems can sometimes bring you onto what turns out to be pretty much a narrow cow path & nothing against cows, but cow paths aren’t always the best road for a car! So, to avoid travel on a cow path my friend Steve recommends setting your navigation system to the quickest route rather than the shortest route.
Grazie, Teresa! I posted a link on Facebook because you made my mouth water. I’m enjoying your trip so much!
Some might concentrate on architecture or food or people–you give us all 3 in appreciative detail. Brava!