Tuscany: Certaldo, Monteriggioni, Lucignano & Pisa

The drive from Rome to the French border took us through the Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany regions and we spent an enjoyable few days in the latter, exploring lesser-known hilltop towns and fortresses, many of which still sport the tall column towers built during the Middle Ages to symbol the area’s wealth and prosperity.

Lucignano is a place with an aura all of its own and it’s had a soulful journey through time, spanning art, legend and faith. We arrived in the late afternoon and spent a wonderful evening below the village walls before exploring the quiet medieval cobbled streets the next morning.

The drive was a delight with high clear skies. Bright sunshine showed off the gentle rolling hills dotted with poppy fields, olive groves and vineyards and many fortified farmhouses were secretively tucked into the shaded groves of tall dark cypress trees.

Monteriggioni represents one of the most important walled castles in Tuscany. Its incredibly preserved intact structure elegantly dominates the surrounding landscape. We walked the walls and enjoyed the calm of the cobbled streets before the tour buses arrived.

The castle was built by the Sienese between 13th century for defensive purposes. Its strategic location on the hill overlooking the Cassia Road allowed the castle to control the cities of the Val d’Elsa and Staggia and be on the lookout for any armies approaching Siena. Today, we could see looming American, Chinese and Japanese tourists advancing with their oversized canons (cameras).

A problem with Bertha’s front wheel caused us to stay in the steep walled town of Certaldo for a repair.

Typical of the hillside towns it boasted a small circular centre on the crest of a hill which is nowadays best reached by funicular but we puffed our way up the medieval cobbled slalom of track that pitches  nearly vertically into the centre.

Certaldo’s many tall red brick buildings wound in and around themselves. Originally it had a number of towers along its high fortress walls but was told to ‘lop them’ in retribution for a rebellion against Florence in the 15th century. Timeless Italian posturing!

We enjoyed a cool glass of local white wine with bread and salty olive oil whilst pondering Bertha’s likely costs which turned out the next day to be precisely (maybe suspiciously) €250.

We were overcharged on the labour (but unsurprised) and amused by the daily life of the garage’s smoke-filled office which revolved around an antiquated photo copier, a fax machine, a ghastly coffeemaker that spat out millilitres of thick black goo and a smelly communal loo. It was a relief to get the problem fixed and back on the road.

Electing to use the fast, smooth and cheap toll roads we quickly reached gorgeous Pisa on the Tuscan coast.

This lovely city worked its charm upon us once more and we wandered around the improbable and alluring Piazza dei Miracoli admiring the world-famous leaning tower, cathedral and baptistery.