Day 20 - December 29 - Culture in Florence

The breakfast in our hotel was minimal with very hard rolls. As you go south, the type of bread rolls change, and we had our last good brotchen in Sud Tirol! We had read people on Trip Advisor rave about the breakfast in Annalena, but none of us found much to our liking.



We walked, again, past the Pitti Palace, across the Ponte Vecchio, and zig-zagged the narrow streets to the Mercato Nuovo, formerly the Straw Market. This market is now quite touristy, but I wanted to see the statue of Il Porcellino - the wild boar after which the one in Garmisch and several others are copied. This is also a copy, as people rubbed the pig's nose so much it was damaged, and the original was placed in a museum. I have a picture of me with my Mother in front of the statue in 1976. You are actually supposed to put a coin in the boar's mouth, and only coins that fall through the grate count toward "good luck". The theory is that only the higher denomination coins will fall through, giving the municipality more revenue. Also, in this square is a place marked with an "X" high on a building where people who had become bankrupt would be hoisted to hit their head and then dropped to the ground, presumably to kill them.

Pitti Palace - Residence of the Medicis

Ponte Vecchio - Silver & Gold shops

Il Porccellino at Mercado Nuovo

A one-person car - she was delivering liquor

Our destination was Via Tornabuoni, which has been one of the most luxurious streets of Florence since the Renaissance, and today houses all of the "name-brand" designer boutiques, including many designers who come from Florence including Ferragamo. My goal was to find Caffe Giacosa, owned by the designer Roberto Cavelli. It is next to his flagship fashion store, and serves what is reputed to be the best capuccino in Florence. And, some of the best people-watching with ladies in their fashions and boots of all kinds. We had to battle our way in to find seats.

The famous cappuccino with swirl of chocolate

  

From there we walked to Santa Maria Novella, and in that area we found a place that said "Pizza", which is what Pat and Ron were hungry for. Pizza is not something considered to be very good in this area of Italy - pizza is from Naples. However, Il Grillo offered many pizzas and an extensive menu of other items. Mary had an omelette (over-cooked as tends to be the case in Europe), and the rest had pizza.

Santa Maria Novella - only the facade is marble

Santa Maria Novella was the first significant basilica in Florence, and is the main Dominican church.

Florence is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance. After the decline of Rome and the years of dark ages, all of the creative minds of painting, sculpture, and architecture seemed to suddenly blossom in Florence. The four of us are not deeply interested in these arts, and did not do a lot of the cultural things that are famous - such as the Uffizi Museum. We did, however, try to learn a bit by taking a four-hour private tour with a licensed historian guide, Paolo Migliorini.

We met Paolo at our rendevoux point at the Savoy Hotel in Piazza Republica,
and she took us in her van to the area above Florence, which we were so happy to see.  Such a different perspective - the prestigious area of beautiful villas and being in the "countryside" just outside the city. An interesting thing she told us was that Italian names ending in "ini" such as hers means people are from this area of Italy. You would never find someone from Rome or Naples with a name ending "ini".

We stopped at the Benedictine Abbey, San Miniato al Monti, considered one of the most beautiful churches in Italy (Romanesque). Paolo took us into the cemetery and the building. The monks are still there and doing their Gregorian chants every evening at 5 PM. The monks motto was "Pray and Work", and they had to produce things such as olive oil to sustain themselves, and are still doing so to this day.

Mike was interested in the Monk's Farmacia since he was a pharmacist!

Paolo was very knowledgeable  a graduate in art and previously a language major, speaking five languages. We were comfortable in her VW van and all felt we were glad to have taken the tour. If we had taken a walking tour we would not have seen the beautiful areas above the city, and Paolo also spoke to us in so much more detail than a group tour guide would have done.

She suggested she should take us to Santa Croce - saying it was a much more "important" place than the Duomo. We really didn't want to go there, but found it to be very interesting, as we saw the tombs of Gaileleo, Michaelangeo,  Donatello, Rossini, Machiavelli, and a memorial to Dante. These were not just tombs but very ornate with fabulous sculptures. Santa Croce is the largest Fransiscan church in the world.

Gallileo's Tomb

We went back into the city to see more sights, and Paolo parked and  we walked to see the most famous sights of Florence, the Baptistry with its famous "Doors to Paradise" by Lorenzo Ghiberti in the early 1400'sand the Duomo and its famous dome by Brunelleschi. At the time the cathedral was built, the technology for building the dome did not even exist, and it sat with a hole until a contest decided who would design and build the dome. 

Paolo dropped us at our hotel about 5 PM. Up the 45-stairs we went one more time. The hotel has quite an interesting history. The palazzo was given to a young Annalena as part of her dowry in 1439. After her husband was murdered, she turned the house into a convent and home for young women and widows. It changed hands through the years and at one time was a luxury brothel and at one time a gambling parlor. It became a hotel/pension in 1919, and has been popular through the years with artists and actors. The building is falling into disrepair and can definitely use some updates.

We later set out walking to Santo Spirito to a restaurant Paolo had suggested. We had tried to call, but no answer. We should have given up then! We first got lost walking around the narrow streets - why can't we pause to read the map long enough to understand it? Anyway, we did not care for the Square - which I had earlier read was popular for drug dealers, but Paola had told us "not to worry"! I felt I was correct, as there were young people with mean dogs (often a sign they are homeless or dealers), and wine and beer bottles strewn on the ground. After 45-minutes of walking we finally found the restaurant - but it was closed  for the holiday season.

We consulted our map and found the most direct route back to our hotel, as Pat had noticed an adorable little restaurant nearby, Ristorante il Santo Graal (the Holy Grail). Once we arrived there the person told us there was no availability, but eventually someone else came and organized a table for us. The ambiance was charming, almost like a cave made of bricks mixed with up-market walls. The service was fantastic, and it was not a typical trattoria, rather a more modern take on Tuscan recipes. They actually had two menus - one traditional and one modern.

The waiter first presented us with an "amuse bouche" which we really don't know what it was, but it was pretty and tasted good!

Amuse Bouche

Next, Ron and Mike had antipasti which included a warm chicken liver pate.

Pat had shrimp with noodles. Ron - pasta with "faux" meat sauce (spicy).

Mary had  Rissotto with pears, Parmesan - crispy Parmesan crust on top (NOT GOOD) - Ron wouldn't eat it either!

Mike had the most unusual dish -  poached egg with chestnut and rosemary in a mushroom.

Very unusual food - not flavors I cared for, but still loved the experience of beautifully presented food, neat atmosphere and great service. The waiter was fantastic - very patient to explain things in English. 

Then we continued on to dessert with creme brulee parmesan for Pat - it was much too strong with the Parmesan - much prefer the traditonal! With her dessert also came a cannoloni filled with some type of cream, and a third item which was a glob of something we think was mascapone cheese.

This was followed with a teeny tiny Espresso.

We didn't have to walk far back to our hotel - almost next-door, but once again up 45-steps! We wonder why the hotel does not suggest this convenient and very nice place to their guests. It may be most people would find it too unusual.

So, a very nice day in Florence despite the unnecessary extra walk for our "exercise"!