Right said Fred, both of us together

5 September 2010


It can be quite overwhelming . You’re never quite sure whether you know what the signs say. You ask, but you’re seldom really understood, and even more seldom understand the response.

We set off with the hope of finding some wine estates that are open, and gradually make our way to Arezzo. But first some orientation, so we drove back to the restaurant where we had a great supper (I had pasta with Wild Boar sauce! – made a complete pig of myself! ), and then on the narrow roads to try and get to some point where we could look out over the valley, and of course hope to see the towers of San Gimignano.

With me driving, and trying to figure out whether all the signs were for wine estates, or little towns, or someone’s houses, Niel directed me down one of the gravel roads. So yes – they were wine estates. But closed, except for an old man, and a couple in a car, clearly also hoping to find it open. But Niel being as persistent as he can be, asked, and soon enough the winemaker arrived. So there we had our first Italian wine tasting and cellar tour. And as to be expected, the wine was excellent. We could not help to notice that the cellar was extremely hygienic. Their tanks that they use for fermentation also look a little different, but all in all things look the same. Except for an odd pile of rather large bottels, which turned out to belong to the villagers in the area. They buy a very large bottle of wine once a year. 54 Liters of it. This they decant into smaller bottles that will last them for quite some time then.

From here we headed east, in the direction of Arezzo, avoiding the bigger roads. Driving thru villages can be challenging. Speed limits are 50km/h, and at times even 40km/h. And you don’t really see any robots. You do hit a traffic circle every so often, and these are the most challenging things when you are driving on the wrong side of the road! Once you manage to get yourself out of a village, the speed limits on the country roads are seldom more than 70km/h. Not that you can really drive any faster. Driving from Certaldo, through Poggibonsi, Castellina, Radda and down to Gaiole, we passed through the most beautiful mountainous countryside. Well, to me it looked like mountains, Niel called them hills. From Gaiole we took a road that lead to the most exquisite little hilltop town. That’s just the thing about Tuscany. Just about every corner you turn, a new Jigsaw Puzzle picture unfolds. And so, if Scotty had beamed me up and transponded me back home, I would probably have been happy, knowing that I’ve had my quota of Wow-moments.

Arezzo was meant to be the big attraction of the day. It was the day of their Giostra del Saracino. Walking up the hill to the old town centre, I spotted two old men carrying a rather large chest of drawers. Odd.... At the top of the hill, we discovered what that was all about. The Antique fair. In the garden next to a fort that overlooks the city of Arezzo, were literally hundreds of stalls selling from large antique closets to tiny antique earrings.

As I suspected, getting tickets to see the Saracen was impossible, and the streets were filled with people with equal disappointment. But at least we managed to watch some of the opening ceremony on a TV in one of the restaurants, and found a side street near one of the entrance gates where we could sneak in some shots of the contestants in their medieval dress, and hear them sing the town anthem. There are many of these festivals across Italy where the Italians celebrate their heritage, and I couldn’t help but wonder whatever happened to our Volkspele...

Of course the trip back home was slightly longer than anticipated. Missing an off-ramp on the A1 can add some travelling time to your journey. We eventually arrived in San Gimignano for supper. And I really mean in San Gimignano. You are seldom allowed to drive through the gate of a hilltop town, yet somehow we managed to find ourselves up one of their narrow streets, and even managed to find parking. San Gimignano must be the model of all hilltop towns. It’s squeaky clean. Almost too perfect, and with the well-lit towers, it’s romantically beautiful. Supper was Papperdelle with Hare sauce (might as well try all the weird stuff!) accompanied with good company and views.

Tuscany is everything the romantics try and make it out to be. It’s just exquisite!