A Couple Of Days In Florence 2015

  It's getting harder to leave Italy every year…the longer stays mean our roots are digging deeper into the soil of our adopted second home. 

  Back home for almost three weeks now, and we still find ourselves slipping into the "double-kiss" when we meet a friend on the street, or throwing out "grazie" "prego", and an occasional "mi scusi" while shopping in the local market or standing in line for coffee in the morning.

  Sigh. We miss it. It's true.

  But, hey…home in California is just fine, thank you. Could use a tad more sun, perhaps a few days of  gentle rain…It's great here, too, and I appreciate this place very much.

  Thankfully, I still have a zillion photos I can go through to keep the dream going, and several kazillion ideas for my little bloggy. 

  This evening, as I sit here in bed, I'm thinking it might be fun to head on back to Florence for awhile.

  

What a swell town.

  We like to spend our last couple of nights in either Florence or Rome, depending on where we fly home from. This year, it was Florence. (Coming soon…a post about a day trip to Roma!)

  The weather in Florence was stellar…very warm, but so pretty and so clear...

The Duomo is really looking fine, with all the exterior cleaning
over the past few years.

  For the first time in many years, we really didn't have a big plan of attack. There wasn't a special show we wanted to see, so we just caught up on some sights we had missed in the past, ate at some favorite spots, and found some new adventures just walking around town.

  It was pretty great, too. Nice to be relaxed…no big hurry to see this and that.

  The one place we did want to visit this time was the Brancacci Chapel, located inside the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Johnny especially wanted to see the frescoes here, which were done by various artists, including Panicale homeboy, Masolino da Panicale.

  For me, these frescoes are all about the color. I just love the sensitivity of the color and shadow. I'm the first to admit my almost complete ignorance of this work…Johnny was able to give me most of the lowdown, which is always a nice bonus, but I enjoy these excursions in my own way, taking it all in slowly with an eye for color, texture and line.

  

  Listening to the low hum of reverent voices is soothing, as I sit in a pew, remembering long hours spent in church as a youngster. I watch as groups large and small walk through, while Johnny takes his time to really absorb it all.

  I think my favorite aspect of these particular frescoes were the various structures that were in the background...

  We spent a good amount of time in the Chapel.

  Again, it was great to have no real plans for Florence. Art, food, wine….what can possibly be better?    Florence is a jewel, all the more beautiful to enjoy at a snails pace. Lesson learned!

  While deciding where to head next, we popped by I Due Fratellini for a quick glass of wine. This is a place we'll stop by when we are in the area. No tables or chairs, it's just a curbside wine and panini place. It's perfect for a hit and run glass of reasonably priced wine.
  

  

Always some good people watching here, too...

  All this stop made we want was an actual "sit-down"…my feet were beginning to speak out, and it was getting warm. Time for a more serious rest..

  Of course, that meant heading across the Arno to a new favorite, Le Volpi e L'uva.

  We love this tiny, off the main drag, friendly and tasty enoteca/cafe. What the folks behind the bar do with a couple of toaster ovens and a couple of cutting boards, well..it's outstanding. (thanks for the tip last year, Elizabeth & James..still love it!)

  We were happy to sit inside at the bar, as it was getting uncomfortably warm for us outside. Plus, watching the action is more than half the fun. We ended up going twice, once each day we were there. Why not? So many tasty crostone (open faced sandwiches) and salads to try.

Perfect to share with some good olive oil and garlic bruschetta..

    What a great spot to kill some time while chatting to strangers and watching the world go by. It was wonderful to relax, eat and drink…just chill for a spell. 

  We found out that the BBC was coming by the following day to do an onsite interview featuring one of the women who work there. She would be explaining why Chianti wines are so important, and just how they pair with different dishes. We had fun listening to their "practice" interview, and became part of the scene very quickly, as they all wanted our opinion on how it came across.

  Lots of laughs, teasing and nerves, too! We hope it all went well with the actual BBC crew the next day. I need to look for the video online…

  With the late afternoon ahead of us, we wandered back over the Arno to make a stop into the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, another must see that we hadn't yet seen. It is a Renaissance palace, built between 1444 and 1448. 

  On it's own, the building is impressive. It's known for it's rusticated stone walls, and inner courtyard, along with some outstanding interior frescoes, most notably by Benozzo Gozzoli.

  Ok, truth be told…this is all info I just gleaned off Google. 

  Sure, I enjoyed it, and the courtyard with all it's potted lemon trees is really beautiful….but…I was so happy that they were featuring some contemporary art in various rooms the day we were there.

  Paintings, photos, a couple of interesting installation works…all great to see. My favorite, though, was the outside garden room which had an amazing show of ceramic work by Marcello Fantoni.

One cool Italian dude.

  The space itself was a work of art, and how sweet to be the only visitors! It was a decent sized show, with lots of variety of form and color. 

  A seriously nice treat. I wasn't too familiar with his story, but had seen some of his ceramics while at the 2013 Venice Biennale.

  Me like, very much.

Captivating.

Hard to keep my hands off this work!

  

Classic Mid-Century Modern, Italian style.

  Well, that show was a real highlight for me. 

  Now, what's for dinner? 

  I'll tell you, I'm so glad I had made reservations for dinner at 5eCinque, another favorite spot, in the delightfully wacky Piazza della Passera. This little piazza has a fantastic vegetarian restaurant, a couple of other great restaurants, an artisan gelateria, and a small but very mighty bar.

  We go for all these reasons. A fun, fun place to spend a warm evening. Added bonus…benches all around, to make it all the better to hang out. It's just over the Arno, on the way to the much larger Piazza Santo Spirito.

  So, 5eCinque, which I have written about before, is the vegetarian place. Small, with small tables…I recommend reservations…especially for the two tables outside. 

  They set up a table for us on the sidewalk, bless their hearts, since the others were booked. I hadn't reserved for outside, not knowing if it would be too cool, but it was lovely, so they made it work. Grazie!!

We have sat at this table on past visits..It's just fine!

A menu sample from Trip Advisor…
I forgot to take a photo myself, but you get the idea..

  We were ready for something different, and that's what we went for. We both ordered different salads, which are always so good here.

Oh, yum…lots of toasty crunches on top..sunflower and sesame seeds,
as well as radishes and pumpkin seeds...

Don't know where they are coming from, but we were so happy
to taste a perfectly ripe avocado… Johnny's choice.

Also Johnny's choice…Rice with vegetables.
Not risotto, but with a more Indian spice profile.

Bad, bad photo…Good, good risotto with saffron.
Simple and tasty.

  We opted out on dessert, which isn't all that strange for Johnny and I. I know we didn't have gelato…I would have remembered. Guess we called it a night and moseyed on back to the hotel. 

  Travel is exhausting, even when you aren't really doing anything.

  Next morning we were awake early and ready to head over to the famous Mercato Centrale. This is always a must do, because I bring back loads of dried porcini to give as gifts to friends and family.

  Big changes this year, though! I had read that they opened the upper floor to house a "food court" type space, but wasn't prepared for just how modern it would be.

  There were a bunch of purveyors, some making the jump from food truck status, some just smaller versions of nearby restaurants. Tables are in the center, with stalls of deliciousness all around. The idea being..grab something yummy, get yourself a glass of wine, artisan beer, or juice, and sit down to enjoy.

  I didn't take lots of photos, because it was very early in the day, and not much was going on yet.   Naturally, we enjoyed some proseco with the best cheesy bread sticks I've ever had. Breakfast of Champions! Well, it was like… 11:00 or so…

  Anyway, you can get an idea here. It's going to be fantastic, I imagine, once people get used to the idea of it all. It sure smells good in the morning, as all the stalls are making magic in the kitchens.

  Oh, and BTW…We were both knocked out by the Daniel Buren installation here! Having just experienced his mind blowing work in San Gimignano earlier in our trip, this was a most perfect last day surprise.

The Daniel Buren pieces are the small red/white and blue/white striped boxes
all above the main area…so cool!

It's all about the scale of it..

  Yes, I know…I should have more shots of the foodie end of the place, but that's what the next visit will be for!

  Afterwards, we strolled through all the market area, and then just took our time walking around Florence. It was great…I know we made it back across the Arno..at least twice…I wanted to head way up above for a shot of the city at sunset time. That would be my first photo of this particular post.

  We enjoyed another visit, this time lunch, at Le Volpi e L'uva, we checked out an antiques market in Piazza Santo Spirito, had wine behind the Duomo, did the requisite shopping at Zecchi, (the art supply shop of Johnny's dreams)….We really did so much, considering we had no big plans.
  That's what I love about having no big plans, now that I think about it.
  We just cruised around….

We found a new spot to have a glass of wine….
Ummm…do you all get the general theme here?

Discovered this interesting shot of the Duomo….

Took a fun "Mirror Shot"….

Saw more art….

Explored an area we hadn't been to before….
What a great visit to Florence!

  Naturally, we had one more dinner in Italy, last night and all that.

  We had promised our local pals and owners of Carmel's own La Balena, Anna & Emanuele Bartolini, that we would say "ciao" to their pal, Nicolo, at one of our favorite places in Florence, Coquinarius.

  We planned to have our "last meal" there anyway, so what a special treat to make this new connection so far from home.

See that very sad looking gal on the left?
That would be me.

  Sure, I was sad…who wouldn't be, eh? It was the last night of two magical months in Umbria…in Italy…sigh. Tough to leave, my friends.

  Ok, I know…I'm so lucky to get to…blah, blah, blah..it's still TOUGH! 

  That's all.

  The  good wine and great food helped….

I am officially in love with Vernaccia di San Gimignano.
This was recommended by dear Nicolo, and we loved it.

  I know we split an appetizer and ended with sharing a salad, but I guess the photos were not too good, because I deleted them at some point. Also deleted, Johnny's very good artichoke and potato torta, like a big slice of savory pie.

  I did manage to save one nice shot of my pasta, which was two large ravioli, filled with winter squash and served with a buffalo mozzarella sauce. No kidding. It rocked my sad little world. Put a happy smile where there had been a frown.

We ate and ate and ate.
And drank some, too. Again, last night and all that.

  A spectacular last dinner in Florence. Thanks Nicolo! Thanks, Coquinarius! Thanks dudes in the kitchen!

Dudes from the kitchen, taking a little smoke break.
Classic.

  We said our goodbyes as we walked across the River Arno, checking it out and holding it all close.

  We'll be back soon, I just know it.

  Until next time…Buona Notte, Firenze!!

In Florence

  The first time we went to Florence, we were with my Mom and Dad. We were staying together for several days in a great place they had rented. We had planned to travel some on our own, and then spend  some quality time together before heading back home to the states. 

  We had been in Paris for a week, and took the night train to Florence. It was great. I booked a sleeper, and though it was near impossible to sleep, the experience is one I will never forget. As I dozed at one point in the upper bunk, Johnny whispered from below "are you awake? Look out the window..." I could see we were passing by a lake, with snow capped mountains all around. The moon must have been close to full, because the reflection on the water was magic. All around the lake were the tiny lights of small villages along the shore. We were going through the alps, of course, on our way into Italy.

  After being picked up at the station by M&D(hugs, hugs.... in Italy! Together!), and settling into our new digs with the parents, we just chilled for a day or two, taking short drives to nearby villages for all the best goodies. To this day, 7 years later, Johnny still waxes poetic about the alimentari in Inno... he can still see the classic little nonna bringing out a "fresh from the oven" focaccia, salted and glistening with olive oil. Honestly, he would hop on a plane this instant for that focaccia. Also, the donkey outside.

  We took off on our own for awhile, but came back to Villa Lysis and my folks, to spend the last of our trip with them. That's when we went to Florence the first time. I still can't believe how well my Dad drove around that place. It's intimidating enough for us on the back country roads, but he knew how to get in and out of Florence... and where to park. Fortunately, Florence is a great walking town, and you can easily get to most of the big sights on foot, once you've parked. 

  The day we spent with M&D in Florence, they took us to one of their favorite places, Osteria Bella Donna, on Via Bella Donna not too far from the train station. We had a fabulous lunch together. I remember a raw zucchini salad that just killed. The zucchini had been grated, salted, and tossed in a simple vinegar and oil.. we have tried to recreate this, but no can do. 

  We always go back to Bella Donna, and it is now a fave of ours, too. We had dinner our first night in Florence on this past trip in March, and loved it like always. Sadly, the photos are just horrid. The lighting was way too low for good food shots... next time we'll do lunch instead of dinner, or sit outside. I will be happy to share it then. I did enjoy a wonderful raw artichoke salad. Thin, thin slices of small artichokes, simply tossed with olive oil and lemon, served with slices of pecorino on a bed of arugula. Yum. Tri-colored pasta with porcini, of course. Very tasty. Perfect. Johnny had arugula topped with slices of soft Toma cheese and pine nuts. His pasta was pici with artichokes and a little cream sauce. Shockingly, he ordered a side dish of roasted potatoes. I jest. Johnny is a man who loves his carbs. It was all so good!

  The next night, our very last night in Italy, 2011(so far, that is... it's only August...), we stumbled onto a restaurant that we now know to be really popular. We had spent the day climbing The Dome, shopping for dried porcini and candies to bring home, going to Johnny's favorite art store Zecchi, and hiking over the Arno to see the views from the Piazzale Michelangiolo. We had a great time hoofing it all over town, seeing all we could, stopping for espresso and vino, taking in our final hours of a five week adventure to end all adventures. It was April 1st, the weather was sweet, sweet, and we were just filled up with it all. 

  As the afternoon wore on, we took time to walk back to our hotel to freshen up, and headed back over the Ponte Vecchio and into the Oltrarno district. The other side of the river. I had read about the Piazza Santo Spirito, and wanted to just check it out. On the way, we spotted another tiny piazza, Piazza della Passera. There wasn't much to it but a couple of cafes and a gelateria. We stopped and had a glass of wine at the very tiny, charming Caffe  degli Artigiani. Sitting outside, it was just warm enough and we had fun people watching. 

Small, local, and totally buzzing! Outdoor seating around the side, on the right.

I just love the Italian bar scene! Small, but mighty.

  We finished our wine and moved on to the larger, and quite lovely, Piazza Santo Spirito. It wasn't very far. There were loads of people around, some young folk playing guitars, little kids riding tricycles and kicking balls, the usual bench of Nonne.... it was probably one of the first nice evenings of the season. Everyone was out and about. We liked it. We sat for a long time watching these two "carbinieri" (police), one a young woman, the other a young man. They were having the best time chatting with each other, and everyone who stopped by. It was classic. I imagined they must be talking about food, because of the hands moving this way and that, and all the smiles and laughing. Tough, tough job. Great uniforms, too.
  After yet another glass of wine, we walked around, but I didn't take to any of the trattorias in this piazza... in fact, I think there was a little fight over it. But I just knew I wanted to go back to the tiny piazza we had been to earlier. Back we went, and we were lucky we did. We did not have a reservation, but we still got an outside table at Trattoria 4 Leoni, in Piazza della Passera. We were lucky. It was totally booked, and not too many people wanted to eat outside, as it had cooled down a lot. We were happy, had sweaters, and there were tables. No Problem! The outside quickly filled with other people like us that didn't have reservations.. Who knew? We had found a most popular and well loved gem. Lucky us.

The entry.

  Scoping out the menu, which was only in Italian... very good sign... I found several tempting dishes to try. Johnny was craving pasta with red sauce, simple, no cream, no mushrooms, just plain old red sauce. Other than that, he let me order.  

  A carafe of house white, thank you, and I had a plate of grilled vegetables with house made burrata, still slightly warm. To - Die - For. The veg were grilled perfectly, still a little crunchy, but grill marks of caramelized goodness. I loved that there was raddicchio. All were seasoned just right. Creamy burrata heaven.

I kid you not, I ate every bite on this plate. Hey, we walked MILES that day.

  For Johnny, I ordered an amazing salad- chunks of avocado and caciotta (a mild Italian cheese) served in a beautiful cabbage leaf with spinich and arugula, drizzled with a pesto dressing and topped with pine nuts. Johnny loved it, and I think he even ate the cabbage. The house wine was just great.

Isn't this pretty?

  For my main dish, I had gnudi. Gnudi are kind of like gnocchi, but little or no potato. There are different kinds, too. These were made with ricotta cheese and spinich. Probably an egg to bind them. A little nutmeg in the seasoning. They are very carefully brought to an almost boil, so they don't fall apart while they cook. These were gently tossed in butter and sage. What is not to like? Nothing. I loved my  gnudi!

Let's get gnudi!

  As he asked for, Johhny had a very simple penne pasta with a perfectly made pomodoro sauce. He was as happy as he could be.

Simple, and it looks really good right now. Think I'll be making pasta this weekend....

  Since it was our last night and all, we had to have a little treat. No, not sweet, that would be later. We both spied the "carciofi fritti" on the menu as a side, and could not resist fried artichokes, especially after seeing plates of them going by to other tables. These were dee-vine. I don't know how they did it, but these were really crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Not crispy, crunchy. And creamy. Oh, and just a little salty. The triumvirate of food I crave the most. I want a plate of them right here, right now. I'm not kidding. And none of those ridiculous dipping sauces. Just nutty, rich artichoke flavor to enjoy.

Do these look good, or what?

  It was a perfect meal to end a perfect trip, and one we won't forget. As the night went on, the piazza kicked into gear and really came to life. Loads of families were out, kids running around with gelato from the fantastic gelateria across the way. Young people hanging around the bar we had stopped at earlier in the evening, with music playing just loud enough to make you feel really vital. We sat enjoying and soaking in the scene for a little while. We realized there were customers yet to get tables, and asked for "il conto, per favore". 

  After paying, we scooted over to the gelateria ourselves, but the door was now closed. Madonna! What a tease! Oh, wait... the young scooper had just popped over to the bar for a moment, and was soon back behind the counter, with a line quickly forming. We wanted in, so in we joined. The little bitties in line had a heck of a time deciding on which flavors to get, so why not two? It was good fun, all around. And it seemed like a real neighborhood scene, too. I love how families are out at ten, eleven at night, with the kids. Just hangin' in the piazza, with everyone else from the neighborhood. All the parents keeping eyes on all the kids. All the kids running around like bitty demons. 

  As for the sweet treat? If I remember, I had my favorite, hazlenut. Of course it was fantabulous. Johhny loved his pistachio.  Honestly, next time you are in Florence, spend an evening in the Oltrarno, and especially in Piazza della Passera. A little heaven on earth.

Gelateria della Passera. A must. All hand made, seasonal and small batch.

  We didn't want to go back to the hotel, because that would mean our trip was over. So, we walked back over the Arno, through Piazza della Repubblica, all around the Cathedral and Dome. Just squeezing every last moment out of this last night. The lights at night make it all so dreamy and golden. We did come across a wonderful, last night sort of scene at like, midnight.... from the side entrance of the Cathedral, in a long line, were all these black clad and hooded figures, heads downcast, hands clasped together, walking slowly and silently up the steps and into another door across the way. Not scary, just solemn. Who were they? No idea. But it was an excellent way to say good night to one of the world's great cities.