I am amazed by life. I also let in what might scare me because it’s new, “don’t be afraid.” Perhaps someone important has already said it, it seems to me that he called himself John Paul. I’m sitting here in an armchair in a castle whose oldest part already existed in 867. But I’ll talk about this later. We come to the story of the day which is already very interesting in itself with its beginning. While waiting for breakfast at the Il Castello di Certaldo hotel, a tour of the city to glimpse this medieval village and the whole valley that still bears the signs of last night’s storm.
Photo 2: The Hotel Il Castello in Certaldo Alto Photo 3: Certaldo Alto. Bronze statue that invites you to travel; invitation accepted! Photo 4: Certaldo Alto. The well
The hills around are all cloaked in a blanket of low clouds that look like lots of cotton balls resting on them. Among the streets of Certaldo you can find many works of art, almost all modern works that are well placed in this ancient space. And in the small square in front of Boccaccio’s house, a bronze sculpture entitled Invitation to travel makes me think of the value that life acquires by travelling, things are different, encounters are different, people love to talk, love hearing who comes from another place, understand what different mentality it brings with it. Already having breakfast there are the first meetings. Contrary to what one might think, a Belgian couple who have taken the castle hotel as a base for touring the surroundings by bicycle, start talking to me, telling me that they have realized that, unlike them, I don’t have an engine on my bicycle. So we end up talking about my city Vicenza, which they know and this can only please me. Other meeting at the time of payment. The hotel owner tells me “but you’re from Vicenza, I know Vicenza very well, I often come to play with my friends from Vicenza, because I’m a jazz player and I play with the professors of the conservatory at the Jazz Festival, my name is Alfred Kramer” . How can I not tell him that I have a son who graduated in jazz bass and that the jazz musicians he plays with are the ones who gave my son the degree with honors as his professors?
Photo 5: Certaldo Alto. Tuscan landscape wrapped in morning mists. Photo 6: Certaldo Alto. Works of modern art are scattered throughout the city. Photo 7: Certaldo Alto. the main street also overlooked by the house of the great Italian novelist of the 1300s Giovanni Boccaccio who wrote “The Decameron”
I start from Certaldo going downhill taking a less steep road, just a little less steep, than the one I took yesterday uphill, which is nothing more than the parallel of the funicular, just to give you an idea of what the slope could be. I don’t forget to set my Locus map app to “paved road only”. And in fact today I can’t find strange roads, everything is fine, the road runs wonderfully. Not so well the Hungarian I meet on the street, who, speaking a little in French and a little in English and a little in Italian, follows me because he too had considerable surprises with his navigator which sent him to a such a mess on blocked roads . He practically always follows me and accompanies me up to Monteriggioni where I decide to go up to the castle.
Photo 8: Colle Val d’Elsa Photo 9: Monteriggioni Photo 10: Monteriggioni
I queue up with all the cyclists taking part in the Tuscany Trail, a cycling brothel that I will curse shortly after. I trudge along with them. one with a more powerful physique than the others manages to stay in the saddle and pedal on the gravel ramp that leads to the castle square. I take just a few photos and leave for Siena. The road is a continuous up and down with a prevalence of uphill, Siena is at the top and hearing the testimonies of Salvatore, my cyclist friend, an arrival in Siena is announced with monstrous climbs. 7-8 km from Siena, I find my Hungarian friend sitting at a bar, in my opinion suffering from withdrawal symptoms, given the belly of beer he carries in front of him, I doubt he will reach the top in Siena. The road continues to climb and finally I arrive in Siena, a bit disappointed because I’ve never had the classic view of Siena as an eye catcher after a bend. The reason is very simple, I arrived from above, so I go downhill to get to Piazza del Campo.
Photo 11: Siena. Piazza del Campo Photo 12: Siena. The dome
But even before arriving in Piazza del Campo, I stop to eat and drink. The restaurant where I’m sitting is empty, I sit outside and as always happens, seeing people sitting, many others stop, almost as if the fact that people are sitting could be an indication of quality. After eating I immerse myself in the Sienese bedlam. I take some photos in piazza del campo and then up towards the cathedral. There is no time for more photos, because time is running out. Thunder makes everyone understand that a good storm could soon break out, even if it is ahead of the announced forecasts. I take the road again to get to Buonconvento, which I have set myself as a destination for the night. But a doubt assails me, today is June 2 (public holiday in Italy). Arrived in Monteroni d’Arbia, and seeing that by now I was sure I was on the right marching times, I stopped for a drink and to book a hotel.
Photo 13: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle Photo 14: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabian Castle. Donna Beatrice’s room
Photo 15: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle. Billiard room
As always, first I check on the various sites if there is any hotel that can suit me, but to my great surprise I see that what remains costs between 600 and 1750 euros per night, there is practically nothing left that falls within the my budget. I make 15 phone calls, I ask the owners of the hotels I called if they can give me any suggestions, but everyone’s answer is “sorry, we are fully booked”. The reason? But the Tuscany Trail, as well as the holidays of all Italians. Luckily, on the sixteenth phone call, a kilometer from where I am, I find a castle which, due to a wedding to be celebrated the next day, has avoided taking guests. I feel that he is a boy, I beg him to give me a room, that I would come and make my bed and that the alternative was to sleep under a bridge. I must have pityed him quite a bit, he calls me back and gives me the room, clearly the cost is not that of a three-star hotel. After a shower, I have this stupendous castle illustrated which, according to documents found, already existed in 867, even though a Lombard construction probably already existed previously. It has seen alterations in other eras with various Counts that have followed one another up to the present day. It was besieged and partially destroyed during an invasion of the Sienese territory by a Neapolitan king in 1400. In short, history to no end within these walls. On the walls are paintings of ancestors and memories of his grandfather, Count Filippo Fiorentini, builder of excavators. The story goes that he died of a broken heart, not giving himself peace for the death of 120 of the 180 employees present during an allied bombing that destroyed his Roman factory in 1944, a few months after the end of the Second World War.
Photo 16: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle. Works of art, bronze doors Photo 17: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle. View from the tower towards the ancient church Photo 18: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle. View of the Tuscan hills from the tower
The estate measures 750 hectares, you got it right! In his time there was also a grandiose breeding of Chianinas, highly prized Tuscan cows. The pitiful young man, or rather the Good Samaritan, accompanies me on visits to the castle, the stables and the small church dedicated to Pope St. Fabiano, a relative of the Vinciguerra counts, previous owners, which together with the nearby house incorporates the oldest part of the castle. As I told you, I am in an armchair in my room, which could be an apartment, Camera Donna Beatrice, the young man’s grandmother, who as far as I know is the heir to the title of Count. Still today about sixty kilometers, but so much human contact which is the beauty of the journey…
Photo 19: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle. The attics of the castle. Photo 20: Monteroni d’Arbia. The Fabiani Castle. The small church of San Fabiano Pope from the 9th century
The video of the eighth stage
spero di recuperare in fretta.
