Day 12: Florence
It has turned cool and breezy this morning but it is not raining. We take our little electric bus to the Museo di Firenze Com’era (The Museum of Florence As It Was). The museum is located near the Duomo in an old convent and it has a collection of maps, models and paintings of Florence dating back to the 14th century in one room and exhibits showing what Florence looked like during Roman times in another. There is a copy of fascinating large wall map showing Florence as it looked in 1490…most of the buildings are still in place, except for the wall that encircled the city. There is a model of the old market which was torn down to build the Piazza della Repubblica, sketches of that lost neighborhood, and plans—never realized—for building large piazzas and buildings if Florence had remained the capital of united Italy. The Roman Florence exhibit showed models superimposing the buildings of the Roman city on a map of today’s Florence. The forum is on the site of today’s Piazza della Repubblica, the arena is where Santa Croce is today and Piazza della Signoria was the site of a large Roman bath. We are almost the only visitors but we spend a fascinating hour or more examining all the holdings.
We next head for another Last Supper…the Cenacolo di San Salvi, painted by Andrea del Sarto…located on the far east side of Florence. We take the nearest bus that I think will get us close to the Cenacalo but we actually end up about eight long blocks away. We walk about half way, looking for another bus to take us the rest of the way. Unfortunately at the first bus stop we come to, the bus only runs once an hour so we have to cross the busy road to catch an alternate bus which takes us about a block away from our destination. (Ironically, we could have taken this bus (#6) if we had walked two blocks north of where we picked up our first bus. I guess that discovery falls under the umbrella of research.)
This Last Supper is housed in the refectory of the former Monastery of San Salvi which has been turned into a museum with many del Sarto paintings in addition to the Cenacalo. This is a very beautiful version…the colors are warm, the people painted realistically, the situation is captured very dramatically. It has less overt religious content, but is a strong depiction of a dramatic historical event. Of course, it is wonderful for us to be alone with the fresco and have the opportunity to examine details leisurely and just sit and admire it. There are also some del Sarto drawings in side cases with terrific sketches of hands, feet and faces; we had noticed the finely drawn feet that peeked out from under the table in the Last Supper fresco. We are very glad that we had made the effort to see this great del Sarto work.
It is an easy ride back to the center on bus #6 (now that we know about it) and we get off near the Arno to have lunch at a sandwich place called Mariano—on the Via Parione, steps off the main shopping street, Via Tornabuoni. The lunch place is a few steps below street level and is filled with Florentines—ordering made to order sandwiches and having glasses of wine. The sandwiches are cheap and good—salami, porchetta and ham—and we appreciate that they have a place to sit down while eating.
We then head back to the apartment for some rest and to do some writing and work…..
Later in the afternoon, we stop at the store that makes shoes made to order, Mannina. Diana decides, in the hope that she will for once have a comfortable pair of shoes and in spite of the extravagance, to order a pair. They will be sent to us in about a month. We buy some postcards and head back to the apartment.
Tonight we are having dinner with friends of my sister Holly, Deb and Annie. We had met them at her wedding and I have helped them with their three trips to Italy. Deb is a professional photographer and her pictures of Tuscany are fabulous. We have several on the walls of our house. They come to the apartment for a glass of wine and then we set out for Zibibbo, a restaurant that I have wanted to try for several years. It is run by Benedetta Vitali, the ex-wife of Fabbio Picchi, the owner of Cibreo and is always written up very favorably. It is located in a suburb of Florence called Careggi and we go to the nearby taxi stand to get a cab. The first cab driver refuses to take us…he says it is too far. After waiting about 10 minutes, we walk to the nearest hotel and ask the desk clerk to call a cab for us.
It is a long ride to the restaurant…it takes about 25 minutes and the cab costs more than Euro 20 (I had read it was a 10 Euro ride from the center). The restaurant is very stylish and the menu is inviting. They offer us glasses of prosecco, on the house, as well as some humus with bread sticks and vegetables. The food is quite good….my tortelli is especially delicious, Diana’s arancini (rice balls) are very well prepared, Deb has a cheese and tomato bruschetta that we all like and Annie’s maltagliati (wide pasta strips) with duck ragu is excellent. For secondi, we have tripe alla parmigiana, two orders of duck in a grape sauce, and one order of stuffed pigeon—they were all fine. One dessert is shared…a dense chocolate tart. We all like the wine…a Rosso di Montalcino 2001 from Casanova di Neri.
The ride back seemed to take about half the time of the ride out, but it costs the same. Although we all enjoyed our meal, we all felt that it was a bit expensive and the portions were pretty small. Perhaps it was not worth the effort that had to be expended to get out there.
We drop Deb and Annie at their hotel, say our goodbyes and return to our apartment…we had a very nice time, but it was a long evening.
NOTE: I left out in yesterday’s report our stop—during a long walk searching for olive oil--at a great chocolate shop in the Santa Croce neighborhood called Vestri.
We next head for another Last Supper…the Cenacolo di San Salvi, painted by Andrea del Sarto…located on the far east side of Florence. We take the nearest bus that I think will get us close to the Cenacalo but we actually end up about eight long blocks away. We walk about half way, looking for another bus to take us the rest of the way. Unfortunately at the first bus stop we come to, the bus only runs once an hour so we have to cross the busy road to catch an alternate bus which takes us about a block away from our destination. (Ironically, we could have taken this bus (#6) if we had walked two blocks north of where we picked up our first bus. I guess that discovery falls under the umbrella of research.)
This Last Supper is housed in the refectory of the former Monastery of San Salvi which has been turned into a museum with many del Sarto paintings in addition to the Cenacalo. This is a very beautiful version…the colors are warm, the people painted realistically, the situation is captured very dramatically. It has less overt religious content, but is a strong depiction of a dramatic historical event. Of course, it is wonderful for us to be alone with the fresco and have the opportunity to examine details leisurely and just sit and admire it. There are also some del Sarto drawings in side cases with terrific sketches of hands, feet and faces; we had noticed the finely drawn feet that peeked out from under the table in the Last Supper fresco. We are very glad that we had made the effort to see this great del Sarto work.
It is an easy ride back to the center on bus #6 (now that we know about it) and we get off near the Arno to have lunch at a sandwich place called Mariano—on the Via Parione, steps off the main shopping street, Via Tornabuoni. The lunch place is a few steps below street level and is filled with Florentines—ordering made to order sandwiches and having glasses of wine. The sandwiches are cheap and good—salami, porchetta and ham—and we appreciate that they have a place to sit down while eating.
We then head back to the apartment for some rest and to do some writing and work…..
Later in the afternoon, we stop at the store that makes shoes made to order, Mannina. Diana decides, in the hope that she will for once have a comfortable pair of shoes and in spite of the extravagance, to order a pair. They will be sent to us in about a month. We buy some postcards and head back to the apartment.
Tonight we are having dinner with friends of my sister Holly, Deb and Annie. We had met them at her wedding and I have helped them with their three trips to Italy. Deb is a professional photographer and her pictures of Tuscany are fabulous. We have several on the walls of our house. They come to the apartment for a glass of wine and then we set out for Zibibbo, a restaurant that I have wanted to try for several years. It is run by Benedetta Vitali, the ex-wife of Fabbio Picchi, the owner of Cibreo and is always written up very favorably. It is located in a suburb of Florence called Careggi and we go to the nearby taxi stand to get a cab. The first cab driver refuses to take us…he says it is too far. After waiting about 10 minutes, we walk to the nearest hotel and ask the desk clerk to call a cab for us.
It is a long ride to the restaurant…it takes about 25 minutes and the cab costs more than Euro 20 (I had read it was a 10 Euro ride from the center). The restaurant is very stylish and the menu is inviting. They offer us glasses of prosecco, on the house, as well as some humus with bread sticks and vegetables. The food is quite good….my tortelli is especially delicious, Diana’s arancini (rice balls) are very well prepared, Deb has a cheese and tomato bruschetta that we all like and Annie’s maltagliati (wide pasta strips) with duck ragu is excellent. For secondi, we have tripe alla parmigiana, two orders of duck in a grape sauce, and one order of stuffed pigeon—they were all fine. One dessert is shared…a dense chocolate tart. We all like the wine…a Rosso di Montalcino 2001 from Casanova di Neri.
The ride back seemed to take about half the time of the ride out, but it costs the same. Although we all enjoyed our meal, we all felt that it was a bit expensive and the portions were pretty small. Perhaps it was not worth the effort that had to be expended to get out there.
We drop Deb and Annie at their hotel, say our goodbyes and return to our apartment…we had a very nice time, but it was a long evening.
NOTE: I left out in yesterday’s report our stop—during a long walk searching for olive oil--at a great chocolate shop in the Santa Croce neighborhood called Vestri.
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