l'avventura grande: Rain, Rain Go Away...We are in Certaldo to Stay (but one night)

As much as we liked the cities of the Po Valley, we were really looking forward to heading south to Tuscany for our 9 week stay in Pienza. Bologna was too far north, and on the wrong side of the Appinine, for us to ride to Pienza, so we took a train to Certaldo to put us within striking range of our home for the next two months.

Why Certaldo? Because Boccacio---Dante’s biographer and author of Decameron---was born and buried there.

The church where Boccaccio is buried

Boccaccio's tomb

Almost as soon as we set foot in town, we looked at one another and said, “This is what we came to Italy for.”

The old city of Certaldo

The Roman Gate

Certaldo is half way between Firenze and Siena...just west of the famous Chianti wine country. On a clear day, you can see Siena off in the distance.

Two days of constant rain had ended. The rain clouds and fog were lifting over the hills, the famous colline di toscana (little hills of Tuscany.) Che bella!

The old city of Certsldo is up the hill from the train station and a throwback to an earlier time. Without bikes, it is a three minute tram ride up the side of the hill. With bikes, in the pouring rain, it took a bit longer. Fortunately, we fortified ourselves at a covered bar before the walk up the hill.

The ducal palace, at the highest point on the hill, sports the coats of arms of all the families that ruled Certaldo since the 1400’s...except for one. When the Medici’s, who ruled Certaldo for more than a century, were tossed out, the locals took down their coat of arms right away.

Now, it’s on to Pienza!