Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
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
(00:27):
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
(00:51):
destination at a time.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
This is Zee Michelson here, and I am here again with
Diana.
We are still in Italy, we arestill with Celtic Tours.
And, diana, where are youtaking us today?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Oh one of the most beautiful regions in Tuscany,
Chianti.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Isn't that the wine?
Chianti, yes, chianti.
The wine.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
That's what they're known for the region, the wine
region.
Yes, it's just absolutelyspectacular the sights, the
views, the wineries, thevineyards absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Now this is close to where you're staying Correct.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It was about an hour, about an hour, but it's going
uphill because you're going upthrough the hills of.
Chianti.
So the views are spectacular.
Let me tell you our motor coachdriver.
We got up and actually stoodand clapped for him after we got
to the top of the hills inKiyotii.
Big bus.
Skinny little roads, yeah,skinny little roads, yes, and
(01:50):
some of them there was only roomfor one, only room for one.
So it was absolutely.
We just again stood up and thenwe had to clap because the
roads were so, so small.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I understand that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So we got up in the morning and, of course, had a
beautiful breakfast.
At what place were you at again, cambrula, casa Grande, right
in the heart of Tuscany, andagain, we stayed in one location
the entire trip, which is nice.
It was very nice, yeah, becausewe didn't have to move from
place to place to place, Right,so you can unpack, yep, yep.
And then, of course, we wentthrough the Chianti Hills and
(02:24):
then we stopped in Greve, inChianti, greve in Chianti.
And we stopped at this castle,this beautiful castle.
Yeah yeah, it was called Castledi Verrazano, verrazano,
verrazano, like the bridge inNew York.
That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I was just going to tell you the bridge was actually
named after Mr VerrazanoVerrazano.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Like the bridge in New York.
That's exactly what it is.
I was just going to tell youthe bridge was actually named
after Mr.
Verrazano.
Oh yeah, so he was actually atraveler and he was an explorer
and he discovered New York andall of the East coast of the
United States.
So, that is the reason why thebridge is actually named after
him what a little piece ofhistory that I didn't know until
I got there.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
But I'm sure the castle looks nothing like the
bridge.
No, no.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
It was just spectacular, just stunning,
stunning.
And again, it's right in theheart of Chianti and it's
between Florence and Siena, sokind of right in the middle of
the two cities.
And the castle, of course, wasthe property of the Verrazano
family in the 7th century and Iknow the Verrazano who was the
(03:31):
navigator and the discovererright, so his family is the one
who actually bought the castleand then started, you know,
built the castle and renovatedthe castle and so on and so
forth.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So now did you, were you actually able to tour the
castle?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Oh yeah, yeah, we had a beautiful tour of the castle
and I'm going to tell you alittle bit more about that,
because there's a lot of historybehind the castle as well,
because the Verrazano familydoes not own it any longer.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
But the Verrazano family built it.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
They actually built it correct.
But then the Florentine familyactually they seceded and
actually took the property,because the Verrazano family,
after the death of the lastdescendant in 1819, actually
took over the property.
So they kept the property until1958.
Oh, and now the Cappellinifamily owns the property.
(04:19):
They restored it back to itsoriginal almost as original, of
course it's a little more modernrestored it back to its
original, almost its original.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Of course it's a little more modern Right.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
So they restored it and restored all of the
vineyards and now are makingtheir wines there.
So I'm assuming they makeChianti, all kinds of wines.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, they had like six or seven because we did do a
wine tasting.
Of course we did.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
We did a complete wine tasting, and so, of course,
we got there.
We met our guide.
Our guide took us through theproperty, took us up to the very
top to oversee the ChiantiHills, where all the vineyards
were.
All the views were spectacular,absolutely spectacular.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And again, celtic tours put this all together.
Yes, they did.
Okay, well, that's good, that'sgood to know that they put it
all together.
And when you're going on thesetrips, a lot of people they
don't want to worry about wherethey're going.
When they're going, they justwant to get there and then say,
okay, take me to wherever.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, they just want to be taken care of, that's nice
, they don't want to have tothink Exactly, you're on
vacation.
Yeah, exactly, you're onvacation.
Yeah, you're on vacation.
You don't want to have to thinkand we do all the thinking for
you, we do all the planning foryou, we do all the planning.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I like that, there it is, and travel advisors should
know that Celtic Tours will alsowork with travel advisors so
their guests, their clients, canhave a good time as well.
Yes, yes, now you're here inChianti and you're here at the
castle and you're looking at allthe vineyards and you toured
(05:49):
the castle.
How big is the castle?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
roughly.
Oh goodness, I couldn't eventell you.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's pretty large.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I have no idea if there's any rooms in it, because
basically what we saw was thevineyard.
He took us to, obviously, whereall the wine is stored, where
it ages.
He showed us all the barrels.
He talked about the aging ofthe wine is stored where it ages
.
He showed us all the barrels.
He talked about the aging ofthe wine.
He went through the entireprocess of the winemaking, right
, and he even took us to theirprivate little.
It was a room, probably, Iwould say maybe an eight by
(06:17):
eight room, and it was a privateroom for the owners and they
had their private stock up there, Right, and I'm like are you
sure you wouldn't bring in allthese people into their private
stock of wine?
It was a huge stock.
Yeah, so now I'm going to see.
If I remember correctly and itwasn't locked up, which was even
more Right.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Now the Cappellini family owns it.
Now, Correct, Okay, so I didget it all actually right there.
Okay, so the Cappellini family.
Are they living there on theproperty?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
You know, they didn't mention if they are actually
staying in there.
They own it, they restored it,it is their vineyard, the
gardens are beautiful.
They didn't show us any of theresidential homes, the
residential apartments.
I'm sure there are.
I'm sure there's someresidential, but there's no
place.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I don't believe that you can stay there and ride.
They don't take guests.
Correct, okay, correct, becauseit's more of a visit, a tour
Right, sure, the vineyard, seethe castle, yep, learn the
history, learn the historyBehind everything.
Yeah, and do some wine tasting,and yeah, do some wine.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
So the gardens again, they were just beautiful.
They had lemon trees, freshlemon trees.
The lemons were actuallyalready in.
They were there and looked likethey were ready for picking,
which was curious Do they do thelimoncello Of?
Course they do the limoncellothey're lemon trees, limoncello.
So, of course, then they sat usdown, we did a wine tasting.
(07:38):
We tried six I think it was sixdifferent types of wines, and
then, of course, the very lastone, the grappa, which.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I think I told you was one of our last.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
The dessert, the dessert wine, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
We had the grappa, but they also gave us little
platters of food, oh, and so solittle nibbling bits while
you're tasting the wine.
I felt like it was little.
It was actually quite a bit,because each of us got our own
little plate and we hadbruschetta on there.
We had salami, like a boar'shead salami.
We had head cheese, which I'mnot a fan of, but that's okay.
(08:14):
I traded that for some othercheese.
Yeah, head cheese is an acquiredtaste.
So all these different littlethings that you can snack on and
nibble on and, of course, somebread with their fresh olive oil
, because they do have their ownolive oil there.
Yeah, so it was really reallyfascinating.
So it seems like almost arelaxing day Very.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, go visit, have some wine and just kind of
kick back and enjoy the site.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah, so how long were you there?
We were there probably aboutthree hours total.
I mean, the wine tasting tookquite some time.
Oh, you know, it was very slow.
They introduced the wine, gaveyou a pour, let you try it, Of
course you know talked about thewine and then you went on to
the next one and the next one.
So it was a fast process.
(09:05):
And again, how many people werethere?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
We had a total of 27, including myself.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Oh, wow, yeah, so that's, that's quite a bit yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
They were actually serving a lot of people that
they were.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
They were and it was beautiful setting.
Also, when you went into thetasting area the tables and the
setting it looked like they hadjust done renovations to this
part of the area.
It was just very beautiful Lotsof lighting and the view.
They had huge windows, so theview was Chianti.
And again you were thereroughly late spring.
(09:35):
Yeah, I was there in April, sothat was nice weather.
It's beautiful weather,beautiful weather, roughly late
spring.
Yeah, I was there in April,right, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So that was nice weather.
Oh, it's beautiful weather,beautiful weather, yeah.
So now where did you go afterthat, though?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, I mean after that, after we did all of the
wine tasting and a lot of uswere a little, you know.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Time for a nap Time for a nap Time for a nap.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
So we all went ahead and jumped into the motor coach
Right and we hit start and headback to the villa, but before we
stopped before we got to thevilla we stopped at this little
town called Radam, r-a-d-d-a,r-a-d-d-a, and right in the
Chianti Hills, oh, and it wasabsolutely quaint little town,
(10:20):
little shops, few littlerestaurants.
Wasn't a very, very large town,right A lot of hills, so there
was a little bit of walking, alot more walking.
So we stopped in there.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
It was just a charming little town, wasn't
real, real hungry, but of courseI had to stop for a glass of
wine, because you know, onceyou're cute, once you start
drinking, you gotta keepdrinking, right?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Just keep going, keep going, keep going.
So we stopped for a glass ofwine and I found this little
cave bar.
Oh, a cave bar.
It was actually inside thewalls of the town.
It was inside like the rockwall.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Did they give you a history behind?
Why it?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
wound up in the cave.
No, no, we didn't get a historyor anything.
We didn't have a tour at this,it was just a little stop along
the way.
We had decided that we wouldstop along the way.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So that was very nice .
I mean now, I'm sure noteverybody wanted to go into the
cave bar.
Some people were wanderingaround the town.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I just went, it was were wandering around the town.
I just went, it was just acouple of us, you know everybody
else was wandering the town,going into the little stores.
There was a couple of cafes,and we were only there about an
hour, we didn't stay very long.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Just to wander a little.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Just a little stop so you know we could see another
part of Chianti.
So did you find out any of thehistory behind that little town?
Not, really, not really Because, again, like I said, there
wasn't a tour guide or anythinglike that.
So, yeah, I didn't know toomuch of the history but I did
enjoy sitting there.
It was nice and cool because itwas a little warm.
It was probably in the you knowwarm.
(11:52):
I'm a Florida girl here.
So it was.
It was probably in around thehigh seventies that day so it
was kind of nice to go into thatnice little area.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Right, particularly, with the cave probably being
cooler.
It was much it was much cooler.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Yeah, and I love the ambience and I had to get some
olives, of course you know,fresh olives, marinated olives.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Amazing amazing with the wine.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
So it was just a really really good day.
And then we headed back ontothe motor coach after about an
hour.
And then we went ahead and wentback to the villa and freshened
up and a few of us metdownstairs and we decided to
walk to the city center of thename Valdonado.
Okay, and that's the nameValdonado.
(12:37):
That is the city that the Villais in.
Right Villa Casa Grande is in.
We found this little pizzeria.
Oh, okay so this time it'sprobably around seven o'clock.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Right, right and then , it's later.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So it's about seven o'clock, right.
So we went ahead and went tothe pizzeria, a couple of us,
and you said it's walkingdistance.
Oh, it was walking distance,it's just a couple blocks from
Villa Casa de Mar, that's nice.
That's very nice, very nice,very nice.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Now you said at the beginning of the tour, when you
went to Chianti, that the tourguide met you there.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Is that correct?
Did I get that right?
Actually, when we got to thecastle, there was a tour guide
right outside the castle, andhe's the one who gave is the
tour of the castle.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Oh nice, okay, and they were waiting for you.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yes, yeah, they were expecting us.
Yeah, because Celtic Tours wentahead and took care of
everything.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
So they were expecting us.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
They knew exactly how many people were going to be
there.
And it was a very nice tour.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
The day sounds.
Even though you were doing alot of walking, it sounded very
relaxing.
It was we drove through theChianti.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Hills.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Chianti Hills and it was kind of relaxed.
You know, you went into thecastle, you kind of toured the
castle with your tour guide andthen you were treated to see all
of the hills with all of thevineyards that have been
replenished over the yearsthrough all the different
families that own the castle andhad a little bit of a snack
(14:06):
while you were drinking yourwine.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It was a really relaxing day.
I mean, there wasn't a lot ofwalking, not like in some of our
previous days where we wereconstantly walking from one
location to another, so it was alittle more relaxed day, which
is kind of nice, yeah, I thinkwe all really just enjoyed that
day of relaxation.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Almost like a little breather.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Yeah, because we had so many days where we just did
so much walking, especially likethe first day, right.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
We were very busy.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Walking up and down the hill.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
So I think it was just nice and relaxed and, again
, the views were justspectacular.
The hills were gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Hills and then to see that little town.
I always love to see the littletowns because a lot of times
you don't see that on tours.
Yeah, you know, you go from bigplace to big place to big place
.
The little towns were so muchfun yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
And it was.
It was just such a great littletown.
Again, it was just a quicklittle stop, you know, along the
way.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
People are probably saying were you able to get by
speaking English?
Oh, absolutely, Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So that's a good thing to know.
Now, when you wound up back atthe villa and then everybody
kind of went down to the towncenter and had some pizza, what
was the pizza like?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, let me tell you , and different regions of Italy
have different pizza, so likein Sicily, it's thicker.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
You know, they have a thicker crust, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
And then in this particular region it is a
thinner crust, it's a very thincrust and then towards the end
it's a little thicker Right andthe pizza is very different.
They just put a little bit ofsauce on it and then, if you
want, like prosciutto, it's bigpieces of meat that are topped
on top of it If you want cheese.
(15:53):
It's not, you know, sprinkledshredded cheese.
No, it's big gobs of cheesethat are on your pizza, right?
So it's just a completelydifferent pizza than what you
would expect here.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
But it sounds delicious.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
So now everybody's hanging outat the town.
What did you do?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Well, we went like I said the first, there were just
a few of us in the pizzeria.
And then, the next thing, youknow, a couple more came.
The next thing, you know, acouple more came Before.
Before we knew it, our groupwas there and we were laughing
and having a lemon channel andbefore I knew it, it was 11
o'clock at night, oh yeah, andwe had an early start the next
day.
(16:32):
The next day was a big day, alot of walking.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
The next day.
A lot of walking the next day.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So I'm glad that this day was really relaxing for us.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay, so are you going to tease me a little with
what's coming on day six?
Let me tell you you know whatit is?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
A famous statue.
A famous statue.
Yeah, we're going to a placewhere there's a very, very
famous statue.
Okay, there's a lot of famousstatues in Italy, yeah there are
.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's a big city.
Okay, the big city, the bigcity the famous statue.
And it took all day.
Oh, so that day.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Day six is going to be an all day.
It was an all day adventure.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, so you managed to get home late that day to the
villa on gay five and everybodykind of I can't tell you that.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
You know, one of the things that I really, really
love about doing these chores isthat we all really came
together as a group.
We enjoyed each other's company.
We got to know each other as agroup.
That's so nice and it wasreally nice.
And for those who didn't want,there was a lot of people who
just went to bed, you know, andthat's fine, but it wasn't like
(17:43):
they were excluded from thegroup.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right, we still.
If they wanted to go, they can.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Exactly, they can do what they want we give everybody
enough free time to do whatthey want to do.
I think even a couple of theladies went and did a massage at
the spa, right, you know, afterthey got back.
So it was really, really niceand a couple of people just went
to the restaurant there at theVilla, because there was a
restaurant.
So you just go to the frontdesk and tell them you want to
(18:08):
have dinner.
They'll make a reservation foryou and you can just go to the
restaurant there.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
And again, this is Villa Casa Grande.
It's Villa Casa Grande and theyhave the pool there, they have
the spa there and they haverestaurants, so you can actually
just chill out there if youwant.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
It's all vineyard where their bottles of wine are
only 7 euros to start.
I think it goes 7, 10, then thereserve gets obviously a little
more expensive.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
So people can either go out or they can just stay and
kick back.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I love that you can go purchase a bottle of wine at
the rent, that They'll give youa couple of glasses They'll open
it for you and you go back toyour room and you sit and enjoy
the view.
The views were beautiful.
I mean I opened my windows andI had a gorgeous view of the La
Casa Grande and some of the townand the gardens.
It was beautiful and every view, everybody's view, was
(18:58):
spectacular.
Not one person said their viewwasn't spectacular.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Right, so they weren't looking at a wall or a
garbage.
Can Correct?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
No, it was all different because of the way
it's laid out.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
The way it's laid out .
Speaker 2 (19:09):
So everybody had a different view but it was all
just beautiful.
It's really really nice.
Now again, if somebody wants tosee this part of Italy and
somebody wants to go to VillaCasa Grande, they can contact
their travel advisor.
Or, you know, if they don'thave a travel advisor, they
Contact your travel advisor,yeah.
Or you know, if they don't havea travel advisor, they can
(19:29):
contact Celtic Tours, and it'sso easy.
The website is so simpleCeltictourscom.
Yeah, and we just got a newwebsite.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I know, I've seen that, that is absolutely
beautiful and really easy tonavigate.
It's very easy to navigatethrough.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, so that's very good.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Yeah, that's very good.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well, I can't wait to hear what's next with the
famous statue for day six.
So again, Diana, thank you forcoming and sitting with me and
telling me all about this tripthat Celtic Tours does in Italy.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
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
(20:27):
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
(00:27):
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
(00:51):
destination at a time.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
This is Zee Michelson here, and I am here again with
Diana.
We are still in Italy, we arestill with Celtic Tours.
And, diana, where are youtaking us today?
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Oh one of the most beautiful regions in Tuscany,
Chianti.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Isn't that the wine?
Chianti, yes, chianti.
The wine.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
That's what they're known for the region, the wine
region.
Yes, it's just absolutelyspectacular the sights, the
views, the wineries, thevineyards absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Now this is close to where you're staying Correct.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It was about an hour, about an hour, but it's going
uphill because you're going upthrough the hills of.
Chianti.
So the views are spectacular.
Let me tell you our motor coachdriver.
We got up and actually stoodand clapped for him after we got
to the top of the hills inKiyotii.
Big bus.
Skinny little roads, yeah,skinny little roads, yes, and
(01:50):
some of them there was only roomfor one, only room for one.
So it was absolutely.
We just again stood up and thenwe had to clap because the
roads were so, so small.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I understand that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So we got up in the morning and, of course, had a
beautiful breakfast.
At what place were you at again, cambrula, casa Grande, right
in the heart of Tuscany, andagain, we stayed in one location
the entire trip, which is nice.
It was very nice, yeah, becausewe didn't have to move from
place to place to place, Right,so you can unpack, yep, yep.
And then, of course, we wentthrough the Chianti Hills and
(02:24):
then we stopped in Greve, inChianti, greve in Chianti.
And we stopped at this castle,this beautiful castle.
Yeah yeah, it was called Castledi Verrazano, verrazano,
verrazano, like the bridge inNew York.
That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I was just going to tell you the bridge was actually
named after Mr VerrazanoVerrazano.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Like the bridge in New York.
That's exactly what it is.
I was just going to tell youthe bridge was actually named
after Mr.
Verrazano.
Oh yeah, so he was actually atraveler and he was an explorer
and he discovered New York andall of the East coast of the
United States.
So, that is the reason why thebridge is actually named after
him what a little piece ofhistory that I didn't know until
I got there.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
But I'm sure the castle looks nothing like the
bridge.
No, no.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
It was just spectacular, just stunning,
stunning.
And again, it's right in theheart of Chianti and it's
between Florence and Siena, sokind of right in the middle of
the two cities.
And the castle, of course, wasthe property of the Verrazano
family in the 7th century and Iknow the Verrazano who was the
(03:31):
navigator and the discovererright, so his family is the one
who actually bought the castleand then started, you know,
built the castle and renovatedthe castle and so on and so
forth.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So now did you, were you actually able to tour the
castle?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Oh yeah, yeah, we had a beautiful tour of the castle
and I'm going to tell you alittle bit more about that,
because there's a lot of historybehind the castle as well,
because the Verrazano familydoes not own it any longer.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
But the Verrazano family built it.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
They actually built it correct.
But then the Florentine familyactually they seceded and
actually took the property,because the Verrazano family,
after the death of the lastdescendant in 1819, actually
took over the property.
So they kept the property until1958.
Oh, and now the Cappellinifamily owns the property.
(04:19):
They restored it back to itsoriginal almost as original, of
course it's a little more modernrestored it back to its
original, almost its original.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Of course it's a little more modern Right.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
So they restored it and restored all of the
vineyards and now are makingtheir wines there.
So I'm assuming they makeChianti, all kinds of wines.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, they had like six or seven because we did do a
wine tasting.
Of course we did.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
We did a complete wine tasting, and so, of course,
we got there.
We met our guide.
Our guide took us through theproperty, took us up to the very
top to oversee the ChiantiHills, where all the vineyards
were.
All the views were spectacular,absolutely spectacular.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And again, celtic tours put this all together.
Yes, they did.
Okay, well, that's good, that'sgood to know that they put it
all together.
And when you're going on thesetrips, a lot of people they
don't want to worry about wherethey're going.
When they're going, they justwant to get there and then say,
okay, take me to wherever.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, they just want to be taken care of, that's nice
, they don't want to have tothink Exactly, you're on
vacation.
Yeah, exactly, you're onvacation.
Yeah, you're on vacation.
You don't want to have to thinkand we do all the thinking for
you, we do all the planning foryou, we do all the planning.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I like that, there it is, and travel advisors should
know that Celtic Tours will alsowork with travel advisors so
their guests, their clients, canhave a good time as well.
Yes, yes, now you're here inChianti and you're here at the
castle and you're looking at allthe vineyards and you toured
(05:49):
the castle.
How big is the castle?
Speaker 3 (05:50):
roughly.
Oh goodness, I couldn't eventell you.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
It's pretty large.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I have no idea if there's any rooms in it, because
basically what we saw was thevineyard.
He took us to, obviously, whereall the wine is stored, where
it ages.
He showed us all the barrels.
He talked about the aging ofthe wine is stored where it ages
.
He showed us all the barrels.
He talked about the aging ofthe wine.
He went through the entireprocess of the winemaking, right
, and he even took us to theirprivate little.
It was a room, probably, Iwould say maybe an eight by
(06:17):
eight room, and it was a privateroom for the owners and they
had their private stock up there, Right, and I'm like are you
sure you wouldn't bring in allthese people into their private
stock of wine?
It was a huge stock.
Yeah, so now I'm going to see.
If I remember correctly and itwasn't locked up, which was even
more Right.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Now the Cappellini family owns it.
Now, Correct, Okay, so I didget it all actually right there.
Okay, so the Cappellini family.
Are they living there on theproperty?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
You know, they didn't mention if they are actually
staying in there.
They own it, they restored it,it is their vineyard, the
gardens are beautiful.
They didn't show us any of theresidential homes, the
residential apartments.
I'm sure there are.
I'm sure there's someresidential, but there's no
place.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I don't believe that you can stay there and ride.
They don't take guests.
Correct, okay, correct, becauseit's more of a visit, a tour
Right, sure, the vineyard, seethe castle, yep, learn the
history, learn the historyBehind everything.
Yeah, and do some wine tasting,and yeah, do some wine.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
So the gardens again, they were just beautiful.
They had lemon trees, freshlemon trees.
The lemons were actuallyalready in.
They were there and looked likethey were ready for picking,
which was curious Do they do thelimoncello Of?
Course they do the limoncellothey're lemon trees, limoncello.
So, of course, then they sat usdown, we did a wine tasting.
(07:38):
We tried six I think it was sixdifferent types of wines, and
then, of course, the very lastone, the grappa, which.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I think I told you was one of our last.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
The dessert, the dessert wine, yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
We had the grappa, but they also gave us little
platters of food, oh, and so solittle nibbling bits while
you're tasting the wine.
I felt like it was little.
It was actually quite a bit,because each of us got our own
little plate and we hadbruschetta on there.
We had salami, like a boar'shead salami.
We had head cheese, which I'mnot a fan of, but that's okay.
(08:14):
I traded that for some othercheese.
Yeah, head cheese is an acquiredtaste.
So all these different littlethings that you can snack on and
nibble on and, of course, somebread with their fresh olive oil
, because they do have their ownolive oil there.
Yeah, so it was really reallyfascinating.
So it seems like almost arelaxing day Very.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
You know, go visit, have some wine and just kind of
kick back and enjoy the site.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah, so how long were you there?
We were there probably aboutthree hours total.
I mean, the wine tasting tookquite some time.
Oh, you know, it was very slow.
They introduced the wine, gaveyou a pour, let you try it, Of
course you know talked about thewine and then you went on to
the next one and the next one.
So it was a fast process.
(09:05):
And again, how many people werethere?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
We had a total of 27, including myself.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Oh, wow, yeah, so that's, that's quite a bit yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
They were actually serving a lot of people that
they were.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
They were and it was beautiful setting.
Also, when you went into thetasting area the tables and the
setting it looked like they hadjust done renovations to this
part of the area.
It was just very beautiful Lotsof lighting and the view.
They had huge windows, so theview was Chianti.
And again you were thereroughly late spring.
(09:35):
Yeah, I was there in April, sothat was nice weather.
It's beautiful weather,beautiful weather, roughly late
spring.
Yeah, I was there in April,right, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So that was nice weather.
Oh, it's beautiful weather,beautiful weather, yeah.
So now where did you go afterthat, though?
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Well, I mean after that, after we did all of the
wine tasting and a lot of uswere a little, you know.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Time for a nap Time for a nap Time for a nap.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
So we all went ahead and jumped into the motor coach
Right and we hit start and headback to the villa, but before we
stopped before we got to thevilla we stopped at this little
town called Radam, r-a-d-d-a,r-a-d-d-a, and right in the
Chianti Hills, oh, and it wasabsolutely quaint little town,
(10:20):
little shops, few littlerestaurants.
Wasn't a very, very large town,right A lot of hills, so there
was a little bit of walking, alot more walking.
So we stopped in there.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
It was just a charming little town, wasn't
real, real hungry, but of courseI had to stop for a glass of
wine, because you know, onceyou're cute, once you start
drinking, you gotta keepdrinking, right?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Just keep going, keep going, keep going.
So we stopped for a glass ofwine and I found this little
cave bar.
Oh, a cave bar.
It was actually inside thewalls of the town.
It was inside like the rockwall.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Did they give you a history behind?
Why it?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
wound up in the cave.
No, no, we didn't get a historyor anything.
We didn't have a tour at this,it was just a little stop along
the way.
We had decided that we wouldstop along the way.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
So that was very nice .
I mean now, I'm sure noteverybody wanted to go into the
cave bar.
Some people were wanderingaround the town.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
I just went, it was were wandering around the town.
I just went, it was just acouple of us, you know everybody
else was wandering the town,going into the little stores.
There was a couple of cafes,and we were only there about an
hour, we didn't stay very long.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Just to wander a little.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Just a little stop so you know we could see another
part of Chianti.
So did you find out any of thehistory behind that little town?
Not, really, not really Because, again, like I said, there
wasn't a tour guide or anythinglike that.
So, yeah, I didn't know toomuch of the history but I did
enjoy sitting there.
It was nice and cool because itwas a little warm.
It was probably in the you knowwarm.
(11:52):
I'm a Florida girl here.
So it was.
It was probably in around thehigh seventies that day so it
was kind of nice to go into thatnice little area.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Right, particularly, with the cave probably being
cooler.
It was much it was much cooler.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Yeah, and I love the ambience and I had to get some
olives, of course you know,fresh olives, marinated olives.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Amazing amazing with the wine.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
So it was just a really really good day.
And then we headed back ontothe motor coach after about an
hour.
And then we went ahead and wentback to the villa and freshened
up and a few of us metdownstairs and we decided to
walk to the city center of thename Valdonado.
Okay, and that's the nameValdonado.
(12:37):
That is the city that the Villais in.
Right Villa Casa Grande is in.
We found this little pizzeria.
Oh, okay so this time it'sprobably around seven o'clock.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Right, right and then , it's later.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So it's about seven o'clock, right.
So we went ahead and went tothe pizzeria, a couple of us,
and you said it's walkingdistance.
Oh, it was walking distance,it's just a couple blocks from
Villa Casa de Mar, that's nice.
That's very nice, very nice,very nice.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Now you said at the beginning of the tour, when you
went to Chianti, that the tourguide met you there.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Is that correct?
Did I get that right?
Actually, when we got to thecastle, there was a tour guide
right outside the castle, andhe's the one who gave is the
tour of the castle.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Oh nice, okay, and they were waiting for you.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yes, yeah, they were expecting us.
Yeah, because Celtic Tours wentahead and took care of
everything.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
So they were expecting us.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
They knew exactly how many people were going to be
there.
And it was a very nice tour.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
The day sounds.
Even though you were doing alot of walking, it sounded very
relaxing.
It was we drove through theChianti.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Hills.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Chianti Hills and it was kind of relaxed.
You know, you went into thecastle, you kind of toured the
castle with your tour guide andthen you were treated to see all
of the hills with all of thevineyards that have been
replenished over the yearsthrough all the different
families that own the castle andhad a little bit of a snack
(14:06):
while you were drinking yourwine.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It was a really relaxing day.
I mean, there wasn't a lot ofwalking, not like in some of our
previous days where we wereconstantly walking from one
location to another, so it was alittle more relaxed day, which
is kind of nice, yeah, I thinkwe all really just enjoyed that
day of relaxation.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Almost like a little breather.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Yeah, because we had so many days where we just did
so much walking, especially likethe first day, right.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
We were very busy.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Walking up and down the hill.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
So I think it was just nice and relaxed and, again
, the views were justspectacular.
The hills were gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Hills and then to see that little town.
I always love to see the littletowns because a lot of times
you don't see that on tours.
Yeah, you know, you go from bigplace to big place to big place
.
The little towns were so muchfun yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
And it was.
It was just such a great littletown.
Again, it was just a quicklittle stop, you know, along the
way.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
People are probably saying were you able to get by
speaking English?
Oh, absolutely, Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So that's a good thing to know.
Now, when you wound up back atthe villa and then everybody
kind of went down to the towncenter and had some pizza, what
was the pizza like?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, let me tell you , and different regions of Italy
have different pizza, so likein Sicily, it's thicker.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
You know, they have a thicker crust, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
And then in this particular region it is a
thinner crust, it's a very thincrust and then towards the end
it's a little thicker Right andthe pizza is very different.
They just put a little bit ofsauce on it and then, if you
want, like prosciutto, it's bigpieces of meat that are topped
on top of it If you want cheese.
(15:53):
It's not, you know, sprinkledshredded cheese.
No, it's big gobs of cheesethat are on your pizza, right?
So it's just a completelydifferent pizza than what you
would expect here.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
But it sounds delicious.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
So now everybody's hanging outat the town.
What did you do?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Well, we went like I said the first, there were just
a few of us in the pizzeria.
And then, the next thing, youknow, a couple more came.
The next thing, you know, acouple more came Before.
Before we knew it, our groupwas there and we were laughing
and having a lemon channel andbefore I knew it, it was 11
o'clock at night, oh yeah, andwe had an early start the next
day.
(16:32):
The next day was a big day, alot of walking.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
The next day.
A lot of walking the next day.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So I'm glad that this day was really relaxing for us.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay, so are you going to tease me a little with
what's coming on day six?
Let me tell you you know whatit is?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
A famous statue.
A famous statue.
Yeah, we're going to a placewhere there's a very, very
famous statue.
Okay, there's a lot of famousstatues in Italy, yeah there are
.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It's a big city.
Okay, the big city, the bigcity the famous statue.
And it took all day.
Oh, so that day.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Day six is going to be an all day.
It was an all day adventure.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, so you managed to get home late that day to the
villa on gay five and everybodykind of I can't tell you that.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
You know, one of the things that I really, really
love about doing these chores isthat we all really came
together as a group.
We enjoyed each other's company.
We got to know each other as agroup.
That's so nice and it wasreally nice.
And for those who didn't want,there was a lot of people who
just went to bed, you know, andthat's fine, but it wasn't like
(17:43):
they were excluded from thegroup.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Right, we still.
If they wanted to go, they can.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Exactly, they can do what they want we give everybody
enough free time to do whatthey want to do.
I think even a couple of theladies went and did a massage at
the spa, right, you know, afterthey got back.
So it was really, really niceand a couple of people just went
to the restaurant there at theVilla, because there was a
restaurant.
So you just go to the frontdesk and tell them you want to
(18:08):
have dinner.
They'll make a reservation foryou and you can just go to the
restaurant there.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
And again, this is Villa Casa Grande.
It's Villa Casa Grande and theyhave the pool there, they have
the spa there and they haverestaurants, so you can actually
just chill out there if youwant.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
It's all vineyard where their bottles of wine are
only 7 euros to start.
I think it goes 7, 10, then thereserve gets obviously a little
more expensive.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
So people can either go out or they can just stay and
kick back.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I love that you can go purchase a bottle of wine at
the rent, that They'll give youa couple of glasses They'll open
it for you and you go back toyour room and you sit and enjoy
the view.
The views were beautiful.
I mean I opened my windows andI had a gorgeous view of the La
Casa Grande and some of the townand the gardens.
It was beautiful and every view, everybody's view, was
(18:58):
spectacular.
Not one person said their viewwasn't spectacular.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Right, so they weren't looking at a wall or a
garbage.
Can Correct?
Speaker 3 (19:05):
No, it was all different because of the way
it's laid out.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
The way it's laid out .
Speaker 2 (19:09):
So everybody had a different view but it was all
just beautiful.
It's really really nice.
Now again, if somebody wants tosee this part of Italy and
somebody wants to go to VillaCasa Grande, they can contact
their travel advisor.
Or, you know, if they don'thave a travel advisor, they
Contact your travel advisor,yeah.
Or you know, if they don't havea travel advisor, they can
(19:29):
contact Celtic Tours, and it'sso easy.
The website is so simpleCeltictourscom.
Yeah, and we just got a newwebsite.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I know, I've seen that, that is absolutely
beautiful and really easy tonavigate.
It's very easy to navigatethrough.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, so that's very good.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Yeah, that's very good.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well, I can't wait to hear what's next with the
famous statue for day six.
So again, Diana, thank you forcoming and sitting with me and
telling me all about this tripthat Celtic Tours does in Italy.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
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
(20:27):
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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