Day 9: Florence
The morning is overcast as usual, but it turns out to be another day without rain. We enjoy our regular breakfast in our kitchen….two or three cups of strong coffee for me, toasted great Pugliese bread from the bakery around the corner, fresh ricotta and mozzarella and delicious Italian butter and jam. While we are eating, the laundry is being done in our washing machine. We could get used to staying in an apartment.
Our morning activity is to do another of the Florence Walks….this one in the Oltrarno….which takes us through the neighborhoods of Santo Spirito and Borgo San Frediano. This area was established after Florence grew too large to be contained by the north bank of the Arno and rich merchants moved across the river to build grand palaces and locate their businesses. The walk threads its way through narrow alleys lined with incised and painted wall decorations (sgraffiti) and leads us into beautiful hidden courtyards….one—just behind Santo Spirito—is a very high class mini-shopping mall with residences in back circling a beautiful green lawn in back. The route gives a chance to stop and have a delicious cornetto and cup of coffee at our favorite pastry shop, Marino, and we spend some time in front of Elizabeth and Robert Browning’s house—Casa Guidi—reading about their life in Florence.
We have to cut our walk short because we have been invited to lunch by our friend (and my colleague) Jane Nyhan. Jane is the guide that I use most frequently for clients in Tuscany. She lives up in the mountains between Florence and Bologna in the area of Tuscany called Il Mugello…a beautiful area that has remained relatively untouristed in spite of its proximity to Florence. We take a train that follows the Arno River east and then turns north along the Sieve…climbing into the hills, dotted with grapevines—this is wine country. Jane and her daughter pick us up at the Vicchio station and take us to their Tuscan farmhouse about 10 minutes out of town. Jane’s husband Carlo (a high school chemistry teacher) has been cooking a big Saturday lunch for lunch for us, which is as good if not better than the lunch he prepared for us on our previous visit. We were charmed then by their children Tommaso and Frederica and are looking forward to seeing them again. We have risotto with saffron and cauliflower (from their own garden), stewed pigeon in a rich sauce and wonderful Tuscan beans. (Italian trattorie aspire to duplicate this sort of excellent home cooking.) We drink a lightly sparkling chardonnay from the Veneto and an excellent Refosco from Fruili. For dessert, cookies, fruit and vin santo….I particularly enjoy the extremely tart green skinned tangerine-like fruit. The lunch is wonderful and we have a great time talking about the travel business, family, Italy and their recent trip to Croatia.
Before we leave, we get a tour of their garden….lots of herbs, tomatoes, squash, figs, vegetables….and admire the view into the mountains. We take a different train back to Florence….the more westerly route back. This train stops at a different station in Florence—Campo di Marte—and I find the bus that will take us back to the apartment. We stop to buy some groceries—sugar and tomatoes— while we are waiting for the bus.
We get back to the apartment about 7 pm….we are both pretty tired and not too hungry after our late lunch with wine. We decide not to go out to dinner and we snack on bread, cheese and salami. But we do head back out for a stroll and a late evening gelato….We cross the Ponte Vecchio, walk through the Uffizi courtyard (where a large crowd is listening to another street musician) and down the Via dei Neri. The gelato is very good…coffee and stracciatella (chocolate chip) for me; “messicano” (chocolate with hot peppers) and pine nut for Diana. We finish our dessert while crossing the Ponte alle Grazie and quickly return to the apartment. A very nice excursion to end the day.
Tomorrow we are off to Prato….
Our morning activity is to do another of the Florence Walks….this one in the Oltrarno….which takes us through the neighborhoods of Santo Spirito and Borgo San Frediano. This area was established after Florence grew too large to be contained by the north bank of the Arno and rich merchants moved across the river to build grand palaces and locate their businesses. The walk threads its way through narrow alleys lined with incised and painted wall decorations (sgraffiti) and leads us into beautiful hidden courtyards….one—just behind Santo Spirito—is a very high class mini-shopping mall with residences in back circling a beautiful green lawn in back. The route gives a chance to stop and have a delicious cornetto and cup of coffee at our favorite pastry shop, Marino, and we spend some time in front of Elizabeth and Robert Browning’s house—Casa Guidi—reading about their life in Florence.
We have to cut our walk short because we have been invited to lunch by our friend (and my colleague) Jane Nyhan. Jane is the guide that I use most frequently for clients in Tuscany. She lives up in the mountains between Florence and Bologna in the area of Tuscany called Il Mugello…a beautiful area that has remained relatively untouristed in spite of its proximity to Florence. We take a train that follows the Arno River east and then turns north along the Sieve…climbing into the hills, dotted with grapevines—this is wine country. Jane and her daughter pick us up at the Vicchio station and take us to their Tuscan farmhouse about 10 minutes out of town. Jane’s husband Carlo (a high school chemistry teacher) has been cooking a big Saturday lunch for lunch for us, which is as good if not better than the lunch he prepared for us on our previous visit. We were charmed then by their children Tommaso and Frederica and are looking forward to seeing them again. We have risotto with saffron and cauliflower (from their own garden), stewed pigeon in a rich sauce and wonderful Tuscan beans. (Italian trattorie aspire to duplicate this sort of excellent home cooking.) We drink a lightly sparkling chardonnay from the Veneto and an excellent Refosco from Fruili. For dessert, cookies, fruit and vin santo….I particularly enjoy the extremely tart green skinned tangerine-like fruit. The lunch is wonderful and we have a great time talking about the travel business, family, Italy and their recent trip to Croatia.
Before we leave, we get a tour of their garden….lots of herbs, tomatoes, squash, figs, vegetables….and admire the view into the mountains. We take a different train back to Florence….the more westerly route back. This train stops at a different station in Florence—Campo di Marte—and I find the bus that will take us back to the apartment. We stop to buy some groceries—sugar and tomatoes— while we are waiting for the bus.
We get back to the apartment about 7 pm….we are both pretty tired and not too hungry after our late lunch with wine. We decide not to go out to dinner and we snack on bread, cheese and salami. But we do head back out for a stroll and a late evening gelato….We cross the Ponte Vecchio, walk through the Uffizi courtyard (where a large crowd is listening to another street musician) and down the Via dei Neri. The gelato is very good…coffee and stracciatella (chocolate chip) for me; “messicano” (chocolate with hot peppers) and pine nut for Diana. We finish our dessert while crossing the Ponte alle Grazie and quickly return to the apartment. A very nice excursion to end the day.
Tomorrow we are off to Prato….
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