Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where
every journey is a story waitingto be told.
I'm your host, z Michelson, andI'm so excited to take you on a
ride through the world's mostincredible destinations, hidden
gems and unforgettableexperiences.
Whether you're a seasonedtraveler or just starting to
(00:22):
plan your next getaway, you'rein the right place.
Each episode, we'll be divinginto everything from must-see
landmarks to off-the-beaten-pathtreasures, speaking with locals
and travel experts and sharingstories that will inspire your
next adventure.
So sit back, relax and let'swander the world together, one
(00:46):
destination at a time.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
Hey, this is Zee Mifelson andyou're not going to believe this
, but I have Diana back with mefrom Celtic Tours.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
And you know something, we're not going to
talk Ireland, we are going totalk Italy.
Yes, I'm so excited, italy,italy.
Oh, I was so excited.
Now, you just got back fromItaly a little bit ago and you
said it was seven nights thatyou were there.
Yep, and it was more of aculinary delights type tour.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It was yeah we put together a seven nights culinary
experience in Italy, with toursand all kinds of good stuff.
We had two cooking classes, apizza making class.
We had a full dinner class.
It was an amazing, amazing trip.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Great that sounds.
It sounds like fun.
So actually you went, you wentover to Italy and you had a nice
big group with you.
How many people were there?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I had 27 people, including me.
Wow, 27 people 27 people.
Yeah, now, this was hosting.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
This is a little bit different, though, than when you
went to Ireland, because youactually stayed in one location
and then took tours outside, butevery night returned back to
your hotel.
Yes, we did so.
Tell me about this hotel thatyou stayed in.
Yes, we did.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So tell me about this hotel that you stayed in.
Yeah, we actually stayed in avilla called Villa Casa Grande.
It means big house.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, that does.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, was it it is.
It's a very big house.
They have about 59 rooms andthen they have some private
rooms also for the owner, sothere's about 70 rooms total.
So it's privately owned.
It's privately owned.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Wow, it is so.
Where exactly in Italy is thisplace?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It is actually located in a town called Figlin
Valdano.
It's a very, very little town.
It's centrally located betweenFlorence, arezzo and Siena and
it was actually built back inthe 14th century Wow, 1984, I
believe it was, wow, yeah, very,very, very old.
(02:54):
The residence when it was builtwas actually built for
privileged people, and artistsand philosophers used to stay
there and artists andphilosophers used to stay there,
and then they met all of theseemperors and kings.
And even a pope, a pope A pope,pope Leon X, I'll get it right
there you go Pope Leon X, and heactually has a room that's
(03:19):
still dedicated to him there.
Wow, so you could do a tour ofall of these rooms.
And they have the old furniturefrom the 14th century there.
Wow, so you could do a tour ofall of these rooms, and they had
the old furniture from the 14thcentury.
There they have the Pope's bed,where he actually slept Wow,
beautiful.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Beautiful.
Now.
Do you stay in any of theserooms, or is there a special
location that you stay in?
Well?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
those rooms are special, so nobody gets to stay
in those rooms anymore.
They're just for the tour thatthey actually have.
Museum pieces yeah it's kind ofmuseum pieces Exactly, but the
rooms are beautiful.
They're more modern.
You know, you have obviouslyhot water you know, and air
conditioning and a heater.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Right, you didn't have to go and use the chamber
pot Exactly exactly so.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
They're beautiful.
They're spacious.
The rooms are very, veryspacious.
Showers are a little small.
They remind me almost of acruise ship shower.
Okay, they were a little small,but the bathrooms were
oversized which is very odd.
It was just really top of theline.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
The hotel amenities themselves are just beautiful
beautiful, particularly when yousay it was built in the 4200,.
People have a tendency to say,okay, how old is old?
You know, they want to makesure the hot and cold water is
running.
They want to make sure theyhave a toilet.
(04:36):
You, know.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
so it sounds like you had all of the luxuries of old.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean, it was just very, veryEuropean style.
I slummed my bedroom windowopen every night because the
weather was so beautiful.
It got down to about the 40s inthe evening and about the 70s
during the day, with a nicebreeze.
The weather was just absolutelybeautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's very nice.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah, it was just amazing.
Now tell me about the groundson this facility.
So it was actually back in 83,1983, I believe it was a doctor
who was a cosmetic surgeon.
He actually bought the villaand he turned it into a surgery
center.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Okay, he turned it into a surgery center.
A surgery center.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Like a plastic surgeon surgery center.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Okay so then what he did is he took a lot of the
rooms and actually turned theminto a place where his patients
can actually stay and heal, oh,and recuperate, yeah and
recuperate.
So he had a surgeon centerthere.
He had a spa so they can restand relax.
Nice Kind of a high-endcosmetic surgeon place.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
We would think a lot of the Hollywood starlets would
have went there in their day.
Yep, yep, yep for sure.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So then about the 90s he decided, you know, the rest
of the family was kind ofgetting into the business.
And then his daughter becamethe hotel manager and she
renovated the entire place towhat it is today, turned a lot
of the rooms into additionalhotel rooms and again, the
location is just amazing.
It's right by this little town.
(05:57):
It's about 10 minutes from thetrain station, walking from the
train station, so you can takethe train anywhere within
Tuscany or you can even take itto Rome if you wanted to.
It's about two and a half hours.
So it's very.
It's very Tuscan, very, veryTuscan, very Tuscan style.
It actually has some of the oldcrests, like a Medici crest
(06:21):
from the Medicis, who are very,very popular for their fangame.
So they have a Medici crestthere because they were part of
that back in the 14th century.
They were all part of that.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So now everybody was converging to this hotel.
What was the name of the hotel?
Again, it's called Villa CasaGrande Villa.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Casa Grande.
The grounds itself arebeautiful, gorgeous bar, great
place if you want to do yogainto yoga room there.
It has huge grounds there.
They have a place for weddings.
Nice Outside seating area forlike restaurants.
They have, of course, tworestaurants there and two
(07:00):
restaurants in the villa.
They also have a winery.
They have their own winery anda farm.
Now everything is actuallygrown, probably about four or
five kilometers from where thevilla is Nice, but they actually
serve their own wine.
So when I got there, I foundout that I can buy myself a
(07:23):
bottle of organic Tuscan wineright there at the front desk.
They'll pop it for me, give metwo glasses and there you go
Seven euros for one bottle ofwine.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Very good, and that is just, that's just the Chianti
, that's just their Chianti Ofcourse it goes up.
They have a couple of reservebottles and things like that.
But that Chianti, I could havedrank that all day long.
Such a good bottle of wine.
Of course you don't go toTuscan without drinking you have
to have at least one glass ofwine.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So, now people were coming.
You said you had 27 people thatwere coming on this tour.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah.
So what happened?
A lot of us not all 27 of us,because a few people came prior
so they went to stay inCalifornia a day before, or they
went into Rome and then took atrain in, but there were about
10 of us that actually met atthe airport Nice and we had a
shuttle transfer.
So they met us there, shuttledus to Villa Casa Grande where,
(08:19):
again, we all kind of met andconverged.
People went back to the rooms,got freshened up and I popped
open some wine and everybody hadsome wine.
We sat there just getting toknow each other.
It was really nice, yeah veryvery relaxing before we actually
went off and went to dinner.
That evening all of us, we hada wonderful dinner there at the
restaurant.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Now, did Celtic tours do all of this?
Did they prepare you?
Did they?
You know, get your shuttles.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Everything was done.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Everything was put together by Celtic Tours
Fabulous, from our shuttle toour arrangements at the villa,
to all of the tours that I'mgoing to be telling you about,
to every meal that we had aswell, including the cooking
classes, the pizza makingclasses.
Everything was included.
Sounds like fun.
Yeah, sounds like a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And you went out, you know, because everybody's had a
converging that day, gettingoff the planes or you know,
coming in from whereverEverybody's meeting at the hotel
and getting unpacked.
Now that's something reallynice about this particular tour
you can unpack, you unpack.
You do not have to live out ofyour suitcase for this
particular tour.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
You just stay in one location and your tours are
daily.
You're still going to see a lotof Tuscany and you're going to
do all of your tours.
Some of the places that we'regoing to talk about is Siena and
San Gignano, and, of course, wedid a day in Florence, right,
we.
And of course, we did a day inflorence right, we went to a
castle and chianti, where we dida wine tasting so there's all
(09:48):
kinds of good things, of coursepeace up.
We had to go to peace up andlook up and it was all done by
motor coach and we could justreturn that day healthy tours
put all this together.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
everything, everything, I love that,
absolutely everything.
So now, the first night yousaid you guys all got together,
you were drinking a little wine,relaxing, getting to know each
other, and then we went todinner.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yes, oh can't go to.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Italy without eating oh there's a lot to eat, a lot
to eat, so tell me about dinner.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
So dinner, the first course, of course, we had wine,
we had some wine, and then theyhad the antipasta that they
serve.
And, of course, bread.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
The bread is amazing over there, all freshly made.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yes, all freshly made there.
And then they started off witha pasta like a pasta appetizer,
which was a very thick, allhand-prepared pasta in just a
marinara sauce.
Fresh homemade pasta.
Fresh homemade pasta.
Fresh homemade pasta Wow, andthey serve you just a little
small portion, right?
Because it's like an appetizer,because you keep eating.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
All the way through.
You have many courses.
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Then, after you're done, they actually came around
with more pasta to see if peoplewanted more pasta.
So there was some— Plenty toeat.
You did pasta to see if peoplewanted more pasta.
So there was some.
You did not go hungry at all.
So then after dinner we had anamazing dish and I couldn't tell
you exactly what it was called,but it was like a potato puree,
like almost like a mashedpotatoes, but very, very creamy,
(11:16):
Okay.
And then they had like a roast,very, very slow cooked roast,
with a brown sauce.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Now, I know Tuscan is known for grilling and roasting
Right, so apparently that'sright in there Slow roasted.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
It was a slow, I mean it just pulled right apart and
it was just so so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It was a beef or a pork.
It was a pork, it was pork,yeah it was so wonderful, it was
just so good.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And you ate family style, I'm assuming.
No, they actually served everyperson individually.
Okay, yeah, it wasn't familystyle.
Everybody was served Because wehad we actually, because we're
such a large group, we had aboutfive different tables, so we
were all sitting about sixpeople at each table.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Did everybody have the same thing or were people
ordering different things?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
No, everybody had the same thing, with the exception
of one person.
This one person was a vegan youknow, vegetarian, vegan, so
they accommodated her.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
They no problem accommodated her.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
She had a salad and she also had a pasta.
Yeah, she could do the pasta,because it was just a regular
marinara with no meat sauce oranything like that.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So yeah, they were able to accommodate her Okay,
and of course she told CelticTours that she was a vegan.
She did, and Celtic Tours madesure that they relayed that
information and made sure shehad fun too.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
And the entire trip there was not one place that
they did not accommodate her forthe meal.
Wonderful yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So she never had any problems whatsoever.
I know that's sometimesdifficult if you are a vegan or
if you have celiac disease,things like that.
You have to make sure thatpeople know this so you're not
totally hungry.
Yeah, right, right.
And Celtic tours make sure ofthat, which is really nice.
And again we're saying Celtictours is in Italy.
Yeah, it is, they are, they are.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
And I have to tell you this is one of my bucket
list things.
My bucket list item to go toTuscany and just stay in Tuscany
and not have to worry aboutgoing from place to place to
place.
You know, and this was just anabsolutely amazing, amazing
location, centrally located, thelittle town that it's connected
to you can walk, it's threeblocks away in your town center
(13:21):
and they were actually settingup for food courts that weekend.
Oh, so they had food, not foodcourts, food trucks, food trucks
, food trucks.
Yeah, food trucks.
And then, of course, they had alot of little cafes and
restaurants.
We sat in one of the littlecafes and ordered some more wine
, and they came and brought ussome appetizers.
Yeah, it was such a wonderful,wonderful experience.
(13:42):
And that was just, you know,during the day.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
It almost seems like a more, even though you're going
here and there.
It seems more relaxed in someways, very, very relaxed.
Yeah, so now you were there,you were eating these nice
dinners, you were having a nicedinner.
What did you have for dessert?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So, believe it or not , we just had a limoncello, just
a limoncello, just a limoncello, just a limoncello.
That was it.
That's all we did.
We actually left.
We didn't get any dessert thereat the location.
We actually left and we went toa restaurant right there in
town and about 10 of us got alimoncello.
We wanted a limoncello.
So of course, you can't go to aplace without a limoncello.
(14:18):
So we went ahead and got thelimoncello.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
That's nice.
And again, celtic Tours isallowing you some private time,
some time to roam around on yourown and experience the trip,
which is really nice yeah yeah,and.
I always tell people mix withthe locals.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
It's a lot of fun.
Oh, it is so much fun, and theywere so welcoming.
They know that Villa CasaGrande brings in a lot of
Americans.
Oh and they were so welcomingand they really really just
appreciate us being there.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And you said the grounds for Villa Casa Grande
was beautiful, mm-hmm, did theyhave like like gardens and
pathways.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, they have a beautiful garden area and that's
kind of what I was referring towhere you can actually do yoga.
I had a client who was askingme about a place to do yoga and
this would be an amazinglocation for them to do their
yoga classes right First thingin the morning.
Again, they have a beautifulspa with an indoor pool.
You can book finchels, saages.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
So it has a pool, it has a pool, it has a spa.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
It's just top notch.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
And a gym If you want to work out, if you want to
exercise, I did not exercise,but if you want to exercise,
Well, some people think they'reeating all that food so they
need to go and exercise.
But I mean, it sounds like agorgeous facility.
I mean, you know, you say villaas opposed to hotel Casa Brande
, which gives me the impressionthat it's fairly large.
It is, yeah, and then give mean example of what you were
(15:46):
looking out at.
Were you looking at mountains?
Were you looking at trees?
Were you looking?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
at my view, opened up into where I could overlook the
gardens.
I had beautiful trees andflowers, nice, and you can see
the hills from far, far away.
Everybody had a different view,because it doesn't face one
direction, so everybody had avery, very different view.
Yeah, so it was very nice.
(16:12):
Yeah, and we actually had afamily, a husband, a wife and a
daughter who was a teenagedaughter, oh, who just loved the
trip.
She had so much fun.
You know, teenagers run hard butboy, she just had so much fun.
She really, really did yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
So your first day is kind of just getting there,
relaxing, meeting the rest ofthe group and then enjoying a
meal together, and then retiringfor the evening and then
retiring yep After ourlimoncello.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I have to say I was probably the first one to say
goodnight because I'd beentraveling all day.
So I walked myself back to thevilla, which was a very, very
easy walk.
It took me not even fiveminutes to get back to the villa
and I went ahead and went tobed for the evening.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Now, where did you fly into?
I flew into Florence.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You flew into Florence.
Yep I flew out of Orlando,right, Because that's where I'm
based out.
Of.
So I flew out of Orlando.
It was a one flight and it wasbecause you're flying into
Florence.
You're going to change planes.
Yeah, you're going to change atleast three times.
And it doesn't matter where yougo out of it's pretty much,
because you're going to have tofly to Europe and then you're
going to have to fly to Florence, right?
So, and there's, unless you canget something that's going to
(17:22):
take you from Orlando to Europeand then Europe to Florence and
you don't have to worry about it.
But yeah, it was a long travelday and yeah, but you know it
was good Long travel day relax.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
at the end of the day had a nice couple of glasses of
wine.
Oh yes, nice meal.
Nice meal A lot of pasta, andpeople were getting there and
unpacking and enjoying it, andyou said there was 59 hotel
rooms.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
There are 59 actual hotel rooms.
I believe there's 70 roomsagain all together, but some of
them still belong to the ownerRight Plus they have certain
hotel rooms of them still belongto the owner, right Plus.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
They have certain hotel rooms like the Pope's room
.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Correct, they have suites also.
If you're interested in a suite, you can do a suite.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
So if somebody is going with husband, wife and
maybe two children, they havesuites available.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
They do they have suites Now.
The standard rooms aretypically either like a
queen-size bed or two twin beds.
It's kind of again like aEuropean you're very European
style.
The twin beds can push togetherand they actually make a
queen-size bed.
And those are standard rooms.
Now.
The superior rooms are a littlebit larger and they come with a
(18:27):
sofa.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
So if someone is, you know, contacting Celtic Tours
and say they want to go to thisfacility, celtic Tours will say
what kind of accommodations areyou looking for?
Are you looking for this?
Are you looking for a suite?
So there's only to request.
You tell them what they want.
Oh, of course.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, if you're interested in a
standard room.
Again, standard rooms to meweren't standard rooms,
Beautiful rooms.
They were still again, very,very nice Right Now.
I did share a room, so it wasstill plenty of room, plenty of
space For both of us.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yes, yeah, and you had a window.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
I had a beautiful window that.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I slept on, you know again opened it every night.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
It was just beautiful .
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Now, I'm not assuming there was no screens.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
No, no screens.
Right, no screens.
But they do have curtains thatyou can close where you're still
going to get the fresh air andit won't let any bugs in or
anything like that, but reallyaren't too many.
It's not like you have to worry, and I was again.
I was on second floor so Ididn't have to worry about
something like jumping in oranything.
Well, that's good.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, so that's.
That was basically day one.
Yeah, it was day one.
Yeah, so that's day one.
Everybody kind of arriving andgetting to know each other and
enjoying a good meal andrelaxing a little with a good
bottle of wine and now, or two,or three or two or three.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
We'll deserve that.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So now we're going to talk again on day two.
So that's going to be your nextpodcast.
It is Give us a teaser.
So that's going to be your nextpodcast.
It is Give us a teaser.
Where are we?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
going Siena and San Damiano.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Oh, so two locations.
And again, you're not stayingthere, you're just going there.
It's going to be by motor coach.
Yep, and the motor coaches arebeautiful, air conditioned?
Yes, they are.
Yes, do they have Wi-Fi?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
They do not have Wi-Fi on the motorcoaches.
It's very difficult because inItaly it's so hilly, oh, okay,
so it's very, very difficult tokeep.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Wi-Fi Okay, but they're air-conditioned.
Plenty of room on the coaches,air-conditioned, lots of room,
lots of space.
And how long did it take to getto these locations from where?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Do you want to know now or do we want to talk about
it on the teaser?
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Okay, so, again, thank you for sharing with us.
And yes, Celtic Tours does goto Italy.
Yes, we do.
People only think, oh, celticTours, it's only Celtic.
No, it's more than just Celtic,it's Italy as well.
Absolutely, diana, again thankyou for joining me today.
I'm going to learn all aboutthis lovely place and Villa Casa
(21:00):
Grande, and I'm not even goingto take a stamp at the location
and trying to say that name, butwe'll go next time.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
I had to learn, I had to learn.
I don't know if I'm saying itright, still All right.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Thank you for joining me.
Thank you, Alrighty.
Thank you for joining me.
Buongiorno, thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z
Michelson Travel Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed our journeyand found some new inspiration
for your next adventure.
Remember, the world is full ofstories and sometimes all it
takes is a plane ticket to startyour own adventure.
If you loved today's episode,be sure to tune in every week
(21:42):
and don't forget to share yourfavorite travel moments with me
on social media.
I'd really love to hear aboutwhere you're headed to next.
So, until next time, keepexploring, keep discovering and,
as always, keep traveling withyour heart wide open.
I'm Zee Michelson and I'll seeyou on the next adventure.
Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where
every journey is a story waitingto be told.
I'm your host, z Michelson, andI'm so excited to take you on a
ride through the world's mostincredible destinations, hidden
gems and unforgettableexperiences.
Whether you're a seasonedtraveler or just starting to
(00:22):
plan your next getaway, you'rein the right place.
Each episode, we'll be divinginto everything from must-see
landmarks to off-the-beaten-pathtreasures, speaking with locals
and travel experts and sharingstories that will inspire your
next adventure.
So sit back, relax and let'swander the world together, one
(00:46):
destination at a time.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
Hey, this is Zee Mifelson andyou're not going to believe this
, but I have Diana back with mefrom Celtic Tours.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
And you know something, we're not going to
talk Ireland, we are going totalk Italy.
Yes, I'm so excited, italy,italy.
Oh, I was so excited.
Now, you just got back fromItaly a little bit ago and you
said it was seven nights thatyou were there.
Yep, and it was more of aculinary delights type tour.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It was yeah we put together a seven nights culinary
experience in Italy, with toursand all kinds of good stuff.
We had two cooking classes, apizza making class.
We had a full dinner class.
It was an amazing, amazing trip.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Great that sounds.
It sounds like fun.
So actually you went, you wentover to Italy and you had a nice
big group with you.
How many people were there?
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I had 27 people, including me.
Wow, 27 people 27 people.
Yeah, now, this was hosting.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
This is a little bit different, though, than when you
went to Ireland, because youactually stayed in one location
and then took tours outside, butevery night returned back to
your hotel.
Yes, we did so.
Tell me about this hotel thatyou stayed in.
Yes, we did.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So tell me about this hotel that you stayed in.
Yeah, we actually stayed in avilla called Villa Casa Grande.
It means big house.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, that does.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, was it it is.
It's a very big house.
They have about 59 rooms andthen they have some private
rooms also for the owner, sothere's about 70 rooms total.
So it's privately owned.
It's privately owned.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Wow, it is so.
Where exactly in Italy is thisplace?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It is actually located in a town called Figlin
Valdano.
It's a very, very little town.
It's centrally located betweenFlorence, arezzo and Siena and
it was actually built back inthe 14th century Wow, 1984, I
believe it was, wow, yeah, very,very, very old.
(02:54):
The residence when it was builtwas actually built for
privileged people, and artistsand philosophers used to stay
there and artists andphilosophers used to stay there,
and then they met all of theseemperors and kings.
And even a pope, a pope A pope,pope Leon X, I'll get it right
there you go Pope Leon X, and heactually has a room that's
(03:19):
still dedicated to him there.
Wow, so you could do a tour ofall of these rooms.
And they have the old furniturefrom the 14th century there.
Wow, so you could do a tour ofall of these rooms, and they had
the old furniture from the 14thcentury.
There they have the Pope's bed,where he actually slept Wow,
beautiful.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Beautiful.
Now.
Do you stay in any of theserooms, or is there a special
location that you stay in?
Well?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
those rooms are special, so nobody gets to stay
in those rooms anymore.
They're just for the tour thatthey actually have.
Museum pieces yeah it's kind ofmuseum pieces Exactly, but the
rooms are beautiful.
They're more modern.
You know, you have obviouslyhot water you know, and air
conditioning and a heater.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Right, you didn't have to go and use the chamber
pot Exactly exactly so.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
They're beautiful.
They're spacious.
The rooms are very, veryspacious.
Showers are a little small.
They remind me almost of acruise ship shower.
Okay, they were a little small,but the bathrooms were
oversized which is very odd.
It was just really top of theline.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
The hotel amenities themselves are just beautiful
beautiful, particularly when yousay it was built in the 4200,.
People have a tendency to say,okay, how old is old?
You know, they want to makesure the hot and cold water is
running.
They want to make sure theyhave a toilet.
(04:36):
You, know.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
so it sounds like you had all of the luxuries of old.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean, it was just very, veryEuropean style.
I slummed my bedroom windowopen every night because the
weather was so beautiful.
It got down to about the 40s inthe evening and about the 70s
during the day, with a nicebreeze.
The weather was just absolutelybeautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's very nice.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yeah, it was just amazing.
Now tell me about the groundson this facility.
So it was actually back in 83,1983, I believe it was a doctor
who was a cosmetic surgeon.
He actually bought the villaand he turned it into a surgery
center.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Okay, he turned it into a surgery center.
A surgery center.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Like a plastic surgeon surgery center.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Okay so then what he did is he took a lot of the
rooms and actually turned theminto a place where his patients
can actually stay and heal, oh,and recuperate, yeah and
recuperate.
So he had a surgeon centerthere.
He had a spa so they can restand relax.
Nice Kind of a high-endcosmetic surgeon place.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
We would think a lot of the Hollywood starlets would
have went there in their day.
Yep, yep, yep for sure.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So then about the 90s he decided, you know, the rest
of the family was kind ofgetting into the business.
And then his daughter becamethe hotel manager and she
renovated the entire place towhat it is today, turned a lot
of the rooms into additionalhotel rooms and again, the
location is just amazing.
It's right by this little town.
(05:57):
It's about 10 minutes from thetrain station, walking from the
train station, so you can takethe train anywhere within
Tuscany or you can even take itto Rome if you wanted to.
It's about two and a half hours.
So it's very.
It's very Tuscan, very, veryTuscan, very Tuscan style.
It actually has some of the oldcrests, like a Medici crest
(06:21):
from the Medicis, who are very,very popular for their fangame.
So they have a Medici crestthere because they were part of
that back in the 14th century.
They were all part of that.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So now everybody was converging to this hotel.
What was the name of the hotel?
Again, it's called Villa CasaGrande Villa.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Casa Grande.
The grounds itself arebeautiful, gorgeous bar, great
place if you want to do yogainto yoga room there.
It has huge grounds there.
They have a place for weddings.
Nice Outside seating area forlike restaurants.
They have, of course, tworestaurants there and two
(07:00):
restaurants in the villa.
They also have a winery.
They have their own winery anda farm.
Now everything is actuallygrown, probably about four or
five kilometers from where thevilla is Nice, but they actually
serve their own wine.
So when I got there, I foundout that I can buy myself a
(07:23):
bottle of organic Tuscan wineright there at the front desk.
They'll pop it for me, give metwo glasses and there you go
Seven euros for one bottle ofwine.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Very good, and that is just, that's just the Chianti
, that's just their Chianti Ofcourse it goes up.
They have a couple of reservebottles and things like that.
But that Chianti, I could havedrank that all day long.
Such a good bottle of wine.
Of course you don't go toTuscan without drinking you have
to have at least one glass ofwine.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
So, now people were coming.
You said you had 27 people thatwere coming on this tour.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah.
So what happened?
A lot of us not all 27 of us,because a few people came prior
so they went to stay inCalifornia a day before, or they
went into Rome and then took atrain in, but there were about
10 of us that actually met atthe airport Nice and we had a
shuttle transfer.
So they met us there, shuttledus to Villa Casa Grande where,
(08:19):
again, we all kind of met andconverged.
People went back to the rooms,got freshened up and I popped
open some wine and everybody hadsome wine.
We sat there just getting toknow each other.
It was really nice, yeah veryvery relaxing before we actually
went off and went to dinner.
That evening all of us, we hada wonderful dinner there at the
restaurant.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Now, did Celtic tours do all of this?
Did they prepare you?
Did they?
You know, get your shuttles.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Everything was done.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Everything was put together by Celtic Tours
Fabulous, from our shuttle toour arrangements at the villa,
to all of the tours that I'mgoing to be telling you about,
to every meal that we had aswell, including the cooking
classes, the pizza makingclasses.
Everything was included.
Sounds like fun.
Yeah, sounds like a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And you went out, you know, because everybody's had a
converging that day, gettingoff the planes or you know,
coming in from whereverEverybody's meeting at the hotel
and getting unpacked.
Now that's something reallynice about this particular tour
you can unpack, you unpack.
You do not have to live out ofyour suitcase for this
particular tour.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
You just stay in one location and your tours are
daily.
You're still going to see a lotof Tuscany and you're going to
do all of your tours.
Some of the places that we'regoing to talk about is Siena and
San Gignano, and, of course, wedid a day in Florence, right,
we.
And of course, we did a day inflorence right, we went to a
castle and chianti, where we dida wine tasting so there's all
(09:48):
kinds of good things, of coursepeace up.
We had to go to peace up andlook up and it was all done by
motor coach and we could justreturn that day healthy tours
put all this together.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
everything, everything, I love that,
absolutely everything.
So now, the first night yousaid you guys all got together,
you were drinking a little wine,relaxing, getting to know each
other, and then we went todinner.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yes, oh can't go to.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Italy without eating oh there's a lot to eat, a lot
to eat, so tell me about dinner.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
So dinner, the first course, of course, we had wine,
we had some wine, and then theyhad the antipasta that they
serve.
And, of course, bread.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
The bread is amazing over there, all freshly made.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Yes, all freshly made there.
And then they started off witha pasta like a pasta appetizer,
which was a very thick, allhand-prepared pasta in just a
marinara sauce.
Fresh homemade pasta.
Fresh homemade pasta.
Fresh homemade pasta Wow, andthey serve you just a little
small portion, right?
Because it's like an appetizer,because you keep eating.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
All the way through.
You have many courses.
Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Then, after you're done, they actually came around
with more pasta to see if peoplewanted more pasta.
So there was some— Plenty toeat.
You did pasta to see if peoplewanted more pasta.
So there was some.
You did not go hungry at all.
So then after dinner we had anamazing dish and I couldn't tell
you exactly what it was called,but it was like a potato puree,
like almost like a mashedpotatoes, but very, very creamy,
(11:16):
Okay.
And then they had like a roast,very, very slow cooked roast,
with a brown sauce.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Now, I know Tuscan is known for grilling and roasting
Right, so apparently that'sright in there Slow roasted.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
It was a slow, I mean it just pulled right apart and
it was just so so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It was a beef or a pork.
It was a pork, it was pork,yeah it was so wonderful, it was
just so good.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And you ate family style, I'm assuming.
No, they actually served everyperson individually.
Okay, yeah, it wasn't familystyle.
Everybody was served Because wehad we actually, because we're
such a large group, we had aboutfive different tables, so we
were all sitting about sixpeople at each table.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Did everybody have the same thing or were people
ordering different things?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
No, everybody had the same thing, with the exception
of one person.
This one person was a vegan youknow, vegetarian, vegan, so
they accommodated her.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
They no problem accommodated her.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
She had a salad and she also had a pasta.
Yeah, she could do the pasta,because it was just a regular
marinara with no meat sauce oranything like that.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So yeah, they were able to accommodate her Okay,
and of course she told CelticTours that she was a vegan.
She did, and Celtic Tours madesure that they relayed that
information and made sure shehad fun too.
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
And the entire trip there was not one place that
they did not accommodate her forthe meal.
Wonderful yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So she never had any problems whatsoever.
I know that's sometimesdifficult if you are a vegan or
if you have celiac disease,things like that.
You have to make sure thatpeople know this so you're not
totally hungry.
Yeah, right, right.
And Celtic tours make sure ofthat, which is really nice.
And again we're saying Celtictours is in Italy.
Yeah, it is, they are, they are.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
And I have to tell you this is one of my bucket
list things.
My bucket list item to go toTuscany and just stay in Tuscany
and not have to worry aboutgoing from place to place to
place.
You know, and this was just anabsolutely amazing, amazing
location, centrally located, thelittle town that it's connected
to you can walk, it's threeblocks away in your town center
(13:21):
and they were actually settingup for food courts that weekend.
Oh, so they had food, not foodcourts, food trucks, food trucks
, food trucks.
Yeah, food trucks.
And then, of course, they had alot of little cafes and
restaurants.
We sat in one of the littlecafes and ordered some more wine
, and they came and brought ussome appetizers.
Yeah, it was such a wonderful,wonderful experience.
(13:42):
And that was just, you know,during the day.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
It almost seems like a more, even though you're going
here and there.
It seems more relaxed in someways, very, very relaxed.
Yeah, so now you were there,you were eating these nice
dinners, you were having a nicedinner.
What did you have for dessert?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So, believe it or not , we just had a limoncello, just
a limoncello, just a limoncello, just a limoncello.
That was it.
That's all we did.
We actually left.
We didn't get any dessert thereat the location.
We actually left and we went toa restaurant right there in
town and about 10 of us got alimoncello.
We wanted a limoncello.
So of course, you can't go to aplace without a limoncello.
(14:18):
So we went ahead and got thelimoncello.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
That's nice.
And again, celtic Tours isallowing you some private time,
some time to roam around on yourown and experience the trip,
which is really nice yeah yeah,and.
I always tell people mix withthe locals.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
It's a lot of fun.
Oh, it is so much fun, and theywere so welcoming.
They know that Villa CasaGrande brings in a lot of
Americans.
Oh and they were so welcomingand they really really just
appreciate us being there.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
And you said the grounds for Villa Casa Grande
was beautiful, mm-hmm, did theyhave like like gardens and
pathways.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, they have a beautiful garden area and that's
kind of what I was referring towhere you can actually do yoga.
I had a client who was askingme about a place to do yoga and
this would be an amazinglocation for them to do their
yoga classes right First thingin the morning.
Again, they have a beautifulspa with an indoor pool.
You can book finchels, saages.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
So it has a pool, it has a pool, it has a spa.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
It's just top notch.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
And a gym If you want to work out, if you want to
exercise, I did not exercise,but if you want to exercise,
Well, some people think they'reeating all that food so they
need to go and exercise.
But I mean, it sounds like agorgeous facility.
I mean, you know, you say villaas opposed to hotel Casa Brande
, which gives me the impressionthat it's fairly large.
It is, yeah, and then give mean example of what you were
(15:46):
looking out at.
Were you looking at mountains?
Were you looking at trees?
Were you looking?
Speaker 3 (15:50):
at my view, opened up into where I could overlook the
gardens.
I had beautiful trees andflowers, nice, and you can see
the hills from far, far away.
Everybody had a different view,because it doesn't face one
direction, so everybody had avery, very different view.
Yeah, so it was very nice.
(16:12):
Yeah, and we actually had afamily, a husband, a wife and a
daughter who was a teenagedaughter, oh, who just loved the
trip.
She had so much fun.
You know, teenagers run hard butboy, she just had so much fun.
She really, really did yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
So your first day is kind of just getting there,
relaxing, meeting the rest ofthe group and then enjoying a
meal together, and then retiringfor the evening and then
retiring yep After ourlimoncello.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I have to say I was probably the first one to say
goodnight because I'd beentraveling all day.
So I walked myself back to thevilla, which was a very, very
easy walk.
It took me not even fiveminutes to get back to the villa
and I went ahead and went tobed for the evening.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Now, where did you fly into?
I flew into Florence.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You flew into Florence.
Yep I flew out of Orlando,right, Because that's where I'm
based out.
Of.
So I flew out of Orlando.
It was a one flight and it wasbecause you're flying into
Florence.
You're going to change planes.
Yeah, you're going to change atleast three times.
And it doesn't matter where yougo out of it's pretty much,
because you're going to have tofly to Europe and then you're
going to have to fly to Florence, right?
So, and there's, unless you canget something that's going to
(17:22):
take you from Orlando to Europeand then Europe to Florence and
you don't have to worry about it.
But yeah, it was a long travelday and yeah, but you know it
was good Long travel day relax.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
at the end of the day had a nice couple of glasses of
wine.
Oh yes, nice meal.
Nice meal A lot of pasta, andpeople were getting there and
unpacking and enjoying it, andyou said there was 59 hotel
rooms.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
There are 59 actual hotel rooms.
I believe there's 70 roomsagain all together, but some of
them still belong to the ownerRight Plus they have certain
hotel rooms of them still belongto the owner, right Plus.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
They have certain hotel rooms like the Pope's room
.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Correct, they have suites also.
If you're interested in a suite, you can do a suite.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
So if somebody is going with husband, wife and
maybe two children, they havesuites available.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
They do they have suites Now.
The standard rooms aretypically either like a
queen-size bed or two twin beds.
It's kind of again like aEuropean you're very European
style.
The twin beds can push togetherand they actually make a
queen-size bed.
And those are standard rooms.
Now.
The superior rooms are a littlebit larger and they come with a
(18:27):
sofa.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
So if someone is, you know, contacting Celtic Tours
and say they want to go to thisfacility, celtic Tours will say
what kind of accommodations areyou looking for?
Are you looking for this?
Are you looking for a suite?
So there's only to request.
You tell them what they want.
Oh, of course.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, if you're interested in a
standard room.
Again, standard rooms to meweren't standard rooms,
Beautiful rooms.
They were still again, very,very nice Right Now.
I did share a room, so it wasstill plenty of room, plenty of
space For both of us.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yes, yeah, and you had a window.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
I had a beautiful window that.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I slept on, you know again opened it every night.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
It was just beautiful .
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Now, I'm not assuming there was no screens.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
No, no screens.
Right, no screens.
But they do have curtains thatyou can close where you're still
going to get the fresh air andit won't let any bugs in or
anything like that, but reallyaren't too many.
It's not like you have to worry, and I was again.
I was on second floor so Ididn't have to worry about
something like jumping in oranything.
Well, that's good.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, so that's.
That was basically day one.
Yeah, it was day one.
Yeah, so that's day one.
Everybody kind of arriving andgetting to know each other and
enjoying a good meal andrelaxing a little with a good
bottle of wine and now, or two,or three or two or three.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
We'll deserve that.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So now we're going to talk again on day two.
So that's going to be your nextpodcast.
It is Give us a teaser.
So that's going to be your nextpodcast.
It is Give us a teaser.
Where are we?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
going Siena and San Damiano.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Oh, so two locations.
And again, you're not stayingthere, you're just going there.
It's going to be by motor coach.
Yep, and the motor coaches arebeautiful, air conditioned?
Yes, they are.
Yes, do they have Wi-Fi?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
They do not have Wi-Fi on the motorcoaches.
It's very difficult because inItaly it's so hilly, oh, okay,
so it's very, very difficult tokeep.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Wi-Fi Okay, but they're air-conditioned.
Plenty of room on the coaches,air-conditioned, lots of room,
lots of space.
And how long did it take to getto these locations from where?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Do you want to know now or do we want to talk about
it on the teaser?
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Okay, so, again, thank you for sharing with us.
And yes, Celtic Tours does goto Italy.
Yes, we do.
People only think, oh, celticTours, it's only Celtic.
No, it's more than just Celtic,it's Italy as well.
Absolutely, diana, again thankyou for joining me today.
I'm going to learn all aboutthis lovely place and Villa Casa
(21:00):
Grande, and I'm not even goingto take a stamp at the location
and trying to say that name, butwe'll go next time.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
I had to learn, I had to learn.
I don't know if I'm saying itright, still All right.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Thank you for joining me.
Thank you, Alrighty.
Thank you for joining me.
Buongiorno, thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z
Michelson Travel Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed our journeyand found some new inspiration
for your next adventure.
Remember, the world is full ofstories and sometimes all it
takes is a plane ticket to startyour own adventure.
If you loved today's episode,be sure to tune in every week
(21:42):
and don't forget to share yourfavorite travel moments with me
on social media.
I'd really love to hear aboutwhere you're headed to next.
So, until next time, keepexploring, keep discovering and,
as always, keep traveling withyour heart wide open.
I'm Zee Michelson and I'll seeyou on the next adventure.
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