street art | On Food and Travel

Widely renowned throughout Italy for being the birthplace of Giovanni Boccaccio (one of the greatest Italian authors of the Renaissance period, buried in the town), Certaldo is not so famous among foreign tourists. Located just 25 minutes from the most famous San Gimignano, it enjoys relative quietness and peacefulness even during high season when hordes of tourists flock to San Gimignano. As other Tuscan villages, Certaldo is divided in two parts: the Certaldo Basso (literally “low Certaldo”), not particularly attractive but where all the services are located (including train station with direct links to Florence and Siena, banks, supermarkets, restaurants, gelaterie, caffetterie and a few shops) and the charming Certaldo Alto (“high Certaldo”), with definitely fewer services but much prettier, located on top of a hill and overlooking the neighboring countryside, including San Gimignano.

Certaldo Alto (which can be reached from Certaldo Basso either by foot or by a funicular – Eur 1,50 each way) was badly damaged during the II World War (including the house of Giovanni Boccaccio) but it was fully reconstructed soon afterwards, as it was in the Medieval times.

If you visit, you will find yourself wandering in a charming little old town, a couple of accommodation options, some delicious restaurants (some boasting gorgeous views), a few independent little shops and an overall sense of peacefulness. Definitely more sleepy and far less crowded than San Gimignano, the hill-top town deserves a couple of hours visit and can be easily combined with an half a day visit to San Gimignano. If you don’t want to walk up or take the funicular from Certaldo Basso, you can also drive and that will definitely ensure you some of the best opportunities for shots (just put in your Sat Nav “Via delle Mura” and follow the indication for car park); as in many old town, access inside the walls is restricted to residents only (stay away from any ZTL – Zona Traffico Limitato) but you can find a car park just right outside the old walls (if it’s full you will need to go back to Certaldo Basso and park in Piazza Boccaccio in the pay car park or try in the nearby roads – white lines only).

One of the best things of this little town is that, despite its relatively small size, it has got a good number of events organized throughout the year; one above all the Mercantia Festival, a international festival of street art performers, considered one of the best of its genre in Italy.

For this reason, if you are planning a trip to Tuscany around mid-July/early August next summer (dates of the Festival are confirmed a few months in advance), Certaldo should definitely be included in your trip. For 5 days, Mercantia Festival takes over all the streets, palaces and gardens of the old town and people from the nearby towns flock here to enjoy the shows (very few foreign tourists around which gives a true sense of local festival). I have been this year for the first time after plenty of people from different areas recommended it (including people from Siena, which is 40 minutes away) and it is an absolute must do, particularly if you fancy acrobats, live performances, body paint artists, dancers and live music.

The festival – with performers coming from all over the world – is definitely well organized with plenty of activities for everyone at anytime and though thousands of people attend it never feels too overcrowded (it’s always easy to find a quieter corner). Prior to visit, we had been told that you should choose in advance what performance you want to see but the truth is that because there is so much going on (and we were being a bit lazy), we just wandered around for hours enjoying the shows we found ourselves in – and some of them were truly amazing!

If you are planning a trip in the area for next year during the Festival, bear in mind the following (unless things change from one year to the other):

The festival takes place in Certaldo Alto from 9 PM to 1.30 AM (on Saturdays and Sundays it starts at 6 PM) and in order to attend (i.g. to enter the old town after 8 PM) you need to purchase a ticket. You can still enter Certaldo Alto until 5/5.30 PM but after a certain hour, access routes are closed and security staff check entrance tickets. I can’t tell what happens if you are in Certaldo Alto before they start closing the accesses. Festival dates will be disclosed a few months in advance.
Tickets can be purchased online or directly in Piazza Boccaccio (even on the same day), in front of the Town Hall located in Certaldo Basso which is also the place where they will give you a daily planner (shows vary daily) and all sorts of information on the event. Ticket prices vary depending on the day you want to assist: this year it was Eur 10 for Wednesday or Thursday, Eur 15 for Friday or Sunday and Eur 20 for Saturday. Discounts are available for kids between 7-14 years old. Ticket office generally opens in the afternoon around 3 / 4 PM. The best thing in order to avoid queuing for tickets is buying them in the afternoon as soon as the ticket office opens and then get back when the festival starts.
There are plenty of signposted car parks around Certaldo Basso. If you want to avoid any parking issue and want to get a space close to Piazza Boccaccio (the car park located in the square is closed during the festival since there are dozens of stalls in its place), I recommend that you get in town before 8 PM, since soon after the festival starts to get particularly busy and parking can be tricky. If you are lucky you might be able to find a free parking space close to Piazza Boccaccio (try Via Trieste or Via Alessandro Manzoni).
If you are planning to have a proper sit down meal in Certaldo Alto during the Festival (but there are plenty of delicious street food options too!), it’s definitely recommended to book in advance since there are not many restaurants and they fill up pretty quickly, particularly the best rated. We chose one L’Antica Fonte, where we had a great dinner (lovely pork with lardo) in the outdoor terrace overlooking San Gimignano while listening to some live music from the Festival (at the time of booking, ask for a table right at the end of the terrace, with views over the countryside).

Are you about to visit Tuscany and have you found this post interesting? Have a look at my other posts on Tuscan food, Siena (with two full posts dedicated to the amazing Palio – next one scheduled on August 16th!) and San Gimignano!

Happy reading! 🙂

If you are coming to Florida, St. Petersburg (or St. Pete, as they call it) should be on your list for many reasons. Trendy, arty, young and a few steps from some amazing beaches. I visited St. Pete during the summer of 2014 and I immediately loved it. Accomodation in St. Pete is not cheap and we had to look around to find something in a decent area not too expensive. Taking advantage of a very good last minute rate around $80, we stayed at the Hollander Hotel, not far from downtown. Their TAP bar was always very busy and with a great atmosphere (live pianist on one of the evening that we were there was truly impressive) and their Sunday brunch with a proper Bloody Mary station was excellent too.

They are not far from downtown but for those that do not wish to walk, they do offer a buggy service but we walked most of the time. B&B in general seemed particularly expensive and quite old fashioned with the exception of the Watergarden Inn at the Bay: we wandered in to ask information and it looked absolutely lovely (and beyond our budget!). If you are in the mood of splashing out, I think that The Birchwood on Beach Drive could be a good choice. St. Pete is trendy and fashion and this place has absolutely got it all.

Once the accomodation is sorted, it’s time to concentrate on the big attraction of St. Pete: Salvador Dalí Museum. I am a Dalí fan, I loved Figueres and Cadaqués and this had been on my top list for a while. This impressive museum that includes some of Dalí’s masterpieces is the result of over 25 years of collecting by Reynolds and Eleanor Morse (patrons and friends of Dalí for decades).

Get the audio guide and take your time; it’s a great museum, the collection is truly impressive and absolutely worth the entrance fee. St. Pete has got plenty of other museums, galleries and open art districts worth a visit. Have a look at Chihuly Collection and the Museum of Fine Arts, take a stroll around the 600 Block. For a more hippie vibe, head to Gulfport, a stylish and low key suburb a short drive from downtown. I didn’t find it particularly exciting (it was pretty quiet when I visited) but it’s true that it has retained a kind of 70s feeling with plenty of artists, craftsmen and performers still living there.

Sunday morning stroll with the baby goat in Gulfport

In St. Pete, street art is pretty interesting too and worth a drive around to spot some nice murals.

Once you have done your good bit of sightseeing and driving around, don’t forget that St. Pete is nicknamed the Sunshine city and with an average of 361 days of sun a year, it’s easy to understand why. You are a short drive from some amazing beaches, such as St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island and the paradisiac Fort de Soto Park and, once there, you completely forget you are next door to a big city. Or not?

The evening scene is very good too. Plenty of busy restaurants, lively bars and independent cafes for all budgets. The best scene that we found was on Beach Drive and Central Av./3rd St. N where plenty of options are lined up for everyone’s taste (and pockets). The Canopy rooftop on Beach Drive NE (that’s the bar of The Birchwood hotel) is a great choice for some nibbles and cocktails: buzzing atmosphere, live music and great views of St. Pete are the perfect match!

Up to now it sounds like the perfect city to live. Unfortunately, safety is a big issue here and St. Pete ranks very high in violent crime in Florida. During our stay, we didn’t have any problem at all in walking around the city and driving to different neighbourhoods but you can’t help noticing that, as in many US cities, you just need to take the wrong turn to end up in a truly rough area. Some streets are very dark and poorly lit and I wouldn’t have felt safe in walking during the night outside the main spots where all the action is (Beach Drive). So, as always, the best advice is to keep your eyes open, stick in the busy areas, get a cab back to the hotel and enjoy the city safely!

On Food and Travel

Tag Archives: street art

Discovering Tuscany – Certaldo & Mercantia Festival

Trendy, arty and sunny….that’s St. Pete.