Day 7: Florence

Grocery shopping is on the schedule for today…..coffee, tea, wine and snacks, stuff for lunch—prosciutto, cheese, etc. Our first stop is at the Hotel Torre Guelfa to say hello to the owners, Sabina and GianCarlo. We have stayed there in the past and I used it frequently for my clients.

Next we visit the Santa Felicita’ church, just at the end of the Ponte Vecchio. According to the guide books, it is one of the oldest churches in Florence although it has been redone several times over the centuries. The church shares its piazza with an old column and several restaurants with outdoor seating areas.

Inside the church, it is quite dark and we are not too enthusiastic about the decorations or the architecture. There is one striking painting…only visible when you pay 1 Euro to turn the lights on in the chapel. It is a Deposition by Pontormo—a 16th century Mannerist painter, notable for the rarely used pinks, oranges and blues and the absence of the usual symbolism associated with crucifixion scenes.

We buy some ham, salami, and cheese in a nice store called La Dispensa (we meet the “concierge” from the apartment building—Mauro--also buying lunch staples) and some fruit at the “fruttaverdura” next door. We walk on through the San Spirito neighborhood and stop at a very nice wine store to pick up some prosecco and buy some coffee and tea. We make a quick stop for a pre-lunch coffee and pastries and then hop on the little electric bus to take our groceries back to the apartment.

Lunch is a delicious spread of prosciutto, salami, cheese and bread eaten at our kitchen table….

In the afternoon, we take the bus to the Duomo and follow the itinerary of Walk 1 in the book Florence Walks by Anne Holler. These walks focus on the historical Florence, “illustrated” by the streets and buildings one passes, and, in the course of a two hour stroll, one learns many details about the families, key historical figures, houses and palaces in each neighborhood. Walk 1 is Dante’s Florence and takes us from the Duomo and Baptistery—early Roman Florence—through the rise of the great families and the emergence of the Medicis as well as the economic growth that financed the Renaissance. We used this book on our first trip in 1993 and enjoy retracing the guided tour again.

We stop for a break at Rivoire, a café on the Piazza della Signoria famous for their hot chocolate, and then push on to finish our tour, ending back at the Duomo. Although there is a lot of reading to do for the itinerary, we find it very worthwhile…it gives a very good historical perspective on the city.

We are going out to dinner tonight with Rita and Lino from Tartaruga Tours (in Greve). They will come over to the apartment for drinks first so I go out in search of some snacks. I walk up the road past the Pitti Palace and find a small supermarket where I get some pretzels and chips.

The evening is very pleasant….Rita is from Forest Hills, NY and Lino is from Greve in Chianti. Rita organizes and escorts group tours in Italy…mostly for Americans and British…and Lino is in the restaurant business. We get along very well. We take them to the Osteria Vasari and of course we get a very warm reception from the staff. Tonight there are three or four tables filled so maybe business is picking up.

Dinner is very good….crostini and a mixed plate of salumi to share, then risotto with radicchio for Diana, taglioini with tomatoes, basil and an egg yolk for me, linguine all’arrabiata for Lino and a pasta with creamy walnut and arucola sauce for Rita. Lino and Diana have the porchetta which they share with Rita and me. We drink a couple of bottles of a nice Chianti. Everyone enjoys the food and the restaurant and the company. After dinner, we walk over to the Piazza Santa Felicita’ and back to the apartment before saying good night.