Today was supposed to be an ‘easy’ day. We don’t want to do too much sight-seeing as our cooking class is scheduled for tonight at 5:30 pm. So, we planned to spend the day in Castelfiorentino – enjoying cappuccino and watching the world walk by. Before setting out, we asked Susanna for her recommendation of a place in the village that would meet the good coffee/ good people watching vantage point requirement. She suggested that instead of staying in town, we go to Certaldo (pronounced Cher-tal-do). She gave us great directions to the Certaldo with additional instructions regarding where to park and take the train to the old town. We thanked her for her maps and directions, pulled out of le Boscarecce, and within one mile of the villa’s gates, were lost.
The good thing about getting lost in Tuscany is that there is always beautiful scenery. The other good thing about getting lost in Tuscany is that there are almost always several ways to get to each town. And regardless of being lost initially, we made it to Certaldo and eventually (and I do mean eventually) found the parking lot of the train (funicalare) station. We discovered that the train was closed for repairs – but they were running a bus service to Certaldo Alto. So, we hopped the bus and hoped for the best.
The best way to describe the bus ride is using one word: hurtling. The driver had no compunction about throwing the bus into the street, in the middle of traffic, around the curvy and steep .75-lane road leading up to the old city. I glanced at my hands during the ride… they were holding onto the seat in front of me…and yes, knuckles were white. We eventually made it to the drop off point. It took awhile to figure out where we were, though. The drop off point on the map did not match the drop off point in reality… So we set off – in search of lunch.
The city is very old – built before God! Well, maybe just B.C.! The roads are narrow with hidden courtyards. Everything is brick, terracotta and cobblestone. Only a few shops were there and open --- maybe 25 in all. We had lunch at a small pizzeria – La Tenaia is the name. It was in an off-street (alleyway). To enter, we had to go slightly below street level. Once inside we noticed the distinctly Latin music. Not Roman Latin… it was salsa music!
Our waiter spoke no English but we managed to order lunch without any problem. I got up to search for the bathroom and asked our waiter (in English) for the bathroom. He didn’t understand. Then, in a moment of brilliance (or desperation) I switched to Spanish… and he answered! Whoo-hoo! This was so cool – we started conversing in Spanish. His name is Simon and he spoke Castilian Spanish --- while we speak Norte Americano Espanol. He thought that we were from Mexico - we explained that we are from the US but have many amigos who habla espanol.
Lunch was good. I had pizza… nice thin, cracker-like crust with ham, mushrooms, artichokes and olives. Gary had spaghetti bolognaise – interestingly, it had very heavy basil overtones in the pasta… and it was very good.
After lunch and saying adios to our new friend Simon, we meandered to the ceramic workshop suggested by Susanna. The artist was at work painting pieces prior to firing them. Her stuff was beautiful. We did notice a distinct theme – there were lots of figs and pomegranates that were ripe and bursting open – very female looking….Anyway, we bought a bowl and a olive oil and vinegar decanters. We decided to forgo the figs and pomegranates and stick with sunflowers…
After returning to the villa, we decided to rest before our cooking classes. And I slept soooo well – 3 PM Italy time = 6 AM (ish) California time.
Okay - more later on the cooking class.
The good thing about getting lost in Tuscany is that there is always beautiful scenery. The other good thing about getting lost in Tuscany is that there are almost always several ways to get to each town. And regardless of being lost initially, we made it to Certaldo and eventually (and I do mean eventually) found the parking lot of the train (funicalare) station. We discovered that the train was closed for repairs – but they were running a bus service to Certaldo Alto. So, we hopped the bus and hoped for the best.
The best way to describe the bus ride is using one word: hurtling. The driver had no compunction about throwing the bus into the street, in the middle of traffic, around the curvy and steep .75-lane road leading up to the old city. I glanced at my hands during the ride… they were holding onto the seat in front of me…and yes, knuckles were white. We eventually made it to the drop off point. It took awhile to figure out where we were, though. The drop off point on the map did not match the drop off point in reality… So we set off – in search of lunch.
The city is very old – built before God! Well, maybe just B.C.! The roads are narrow with hidden courtyards. Everything is brick, terracotta and cobblestone. Only a few shops were there and open --- maybe 25 in all. We had lunch at a small pizzeria – La Tenaia is the name. It was in an off-street (alleyway). To enter, we had to go slightly below street level. Once inside we noticed the distinctly Latin music. Not Roman Latin… it was salsa music!
Our waiter spoke no English but we managed to order lunch without any problem. I got up to search for the bathroom and asked our waiter (in English) for the bathroom. He didn’t understand. Then, in a moment of brilliance (or desperation) I switched to Spanish… and he answered! Whoo-hoo! This was so cool – we started conversing in Spanish. His name is Simon and he spoke Castilian Spanish --- while we speak Norte Americano Espanol. He thought that we were from Mexico - we explained that we are from the US but have many amigos who habla espanol.
Lunch was good. I had pizza… nice thin, cracker-like crust with ham, mushrooms, artichokes and olives. Gary had spaghetti bolognaise – interestingly, it had very heavy basil overtones in the pasta… and it was very good.
After lunch and saying adios to our new friend Simon, we meandered to the ceramic workshop suggested by Susanna. The artist was at work painting pieces prior to firing them. Her stuff was beautiful. We did notice a distinct theme – there were lots of figs and pomegranates that were ripe and bursting open – very female looking….Anyway, we bought a bowl and a olive oil and vinegar decanters. We decided to forgo the figs and pomegranates and stick with sunflowers…
After returning to the villa, we decided to rest before our cooking classes. And I slept soooo well – 3 PM Italy time = 6 AM (ish) California time.
Okay - more later on the cooking class.
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