Florence September 11

Tuesday, September 11                  (4.0 miles total on the pedometer)

We were up early for breakfast, which was similar to the hotel in Venice except that they had fresh fruit salad and better orange juice. 

At 8:15 we met our guide Olivera for our next excursion. 

Summer

She pointed out that most of the bridges in Florence were bombed during the Second World War. One such bridge was the Ponte Santa Trinita built in 1567, which was adorned with statues representing each of the four seasons. The bridge, including the statues, was rebuilt in 1958, using many of the original stones and pieces found in the river, although the “spring” statue was headless, until the head was found three years later.

Spring

Winter

Fall

Olivera pointed out an example of a 12^th century tower house, built in the medieval section of Florence. Rich and powerful families who were fighting against each other would build tower houses to serve as a defense and refuge. 

The clans would compete to build the tallest tower to symbolize their strength and wealth. Eventually the government decreed that all towers must be shortened to the same height.

 

We saw quite a few buildings that still had the remains of frescoes on their facades.  

Next we headed for a tour of a medieval palace. It was constructed for members of the Davizzi family, who were wealthy merchants around 1350. It remained in the family’s possession until 1838. It has been restored to show what a wealthy Florentine home would have looked like. Many of the walls were covered in colorful frescoes; some painted to look like heavy draperies, and others painted with the family’s coat of arms.

 

From a website

In the main bedroom, the upper section of each wall was painted to tell the tale of a tragic love story. Our guide explained the medieval soap opera, which unfolded like a graphic novel. There were scenes of sex, betrayal, murder and suicide. I can’t say that I would want that hanging over my bed.

For lunch we headed off to “In Tavola” an Italian cooking school, where our entire tour would learn how to make a four-course meal. 

 

We were divided into groups of 4-6 people. There were three teachers who would each be in charge of one or two groups. 

 

 

 



There were stations, set up like a cooking show on TV, with all of the ingredients premeasured and waiting for us in various bowls. 

 

We were assigned different tasks: kneading, chopping, and peeling, as required. 

Our teacher would oversee the sautéing, and every so often mix the ingredients in the pan by tossing them into the air with an Italian flourish.

As an appetizer we made Bruschette Al Pomodoro, toasted bread with fresh garlic and a mixture of fresh-cooked tomatoes, basil and olive oil. 

The pasta course included homemade fettuccine with a fresh Mediterranean sauce. 













I was a little surprised that wheat flour, water and salt could be kneaded into ball of dough, and run through a pasta machine, “magically” creating piles of fresh pasta. 

 
The sauce was a delicate mixture of fresh-cooked tomatoes, garlic, parsley and chopped capers.

 

Our meat course was Pollo Atta Contadina, chicken thighs simmered with roasted red pepper, onion, balsamic vinegar and, of course, olive oil. 

For dessert we made individual servings of Tiramisu, mascarpone cheese custard layered over a brandy and coffee soaked cookie. 

I was pleased that I could make my Tiramisu plain, omitting the coffee and brandy, which I dislike.

When all of the dishes were ready, we were seated in their wine cellar by our groups and served the masterpieces that we had created. 












Wow, it was so good. It was definitely the best meal of the trip. What an amazing experience.

 As we “rolled” out the cooking school, so full from lunch, the four of us decided to check out the Palazzo Pitti, or Pitti Palace. This enormous palace and beautiful gardens were bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and later the King of Italy. It is now one of Florence’s largest art galleries. Each room was covered from wall to wall with large, beautiful paintings. It was overwhelming.

 
At this point, we decided to split up. Greg went back to the hotel to rest. Pat and Lou had hoped to climb the steps to the top of Duomo, but ran out of time and ended up climbing the hill behind our hotel and enjoying a beautiful view of the city.

 

I was too tired to climb to the top of anything, but as I wandered off on my own, I did take the escalator up four floors to the outdoor patio on top of a department store and enjoy the “lazy person’s view” of the city. I think my view was better, because you can’t see the dome if you are standing on it

 

 

There was one store I found on my way that made me laugh--Tutto 99 cent. You guessed it, an Italian “Dollar” store. It was filled with many of the same things found in the ones at home.

I decided to try to find Massimo’s leather shop and look at purses. I wasn’t exactly sure where it was, and was pretty hot and tired by the time I arrived. The lady, who waited on me, gave me a nice cold bottle of water. Dang it, now I would have to buy something. I settled on a pretty blue leather purse and was pleased with my “special tour price” of only 30 Euro. I walked back to the hotel to rest up before our exciting evening doing laundry.

We met up with Pat and Lou, and rolled our suitcases that we had filled with our dirty clothes, down the street to the local laundromat. It was very small, and contained a total of 5 washers and 4 dryers. It cost 3.50 Euro each, to wash, and to dry. When we arrived, we found all of the machines were in use. It seems that other people on our tour had had the same idea. It was a race against time to finish drying our clothes, before the place closed, but we made it. 

It was fun when a group of young people heading towards a nearby nightclub, slowed down when they passed our group, who were chatting and laughing in front of the store. I am sure they paused to see if something “cool” was going on.

Even though we had never planned on ever eating again after our big lunch, we did manage to find a mediocre slice of pizza and a pretty good Gyro at some places near the laundry. I was surprised by how few ethnic restaurants there were in such a large city. Even though Pat and Lou and Greg were ready to go back to the hotel, I had one more thing on my agenda. Luckily it involved gelato, so it was a pretty easy sell.

For the last 30 years, the only thing I remembered about Florence was how good the gelato was at Vivoli’s. I went twice on that trip, and each time you could tell you were getting close to the store, because the streets were littered with their cups. 

 

You could get up to five different flavors in a serving. What amazed me was that instead of layering the flavors, one on top of another, the server arranged them side-by-side, like Trivial Pursuit pie wedges. The place was always packed with people. First, you would make your way to the cashier to pay for the size you wanted, and then worm your way up to the counter. I remember that I could only see a portion of the flavors, and since the labels were in Italian, I just pointed and hoped for the best.  For years I would tell anyone I met, that was going to Italy, to make sure and visit Vivoli’s. I knew it was still open, because I had heard back from friends who had visited.

So, at 10:30 p.m., I dragged Pat, Lou, Greg and our suitcases full of laundry, five blocks to relive the “magical experience” of my past. I am sure it will be just like I remembered. Well, even though there were no Vivoli’s cups laying in the street to show us the way; and we were the only customers in the place; and I only got two flavors, which were not really enough to make into wedges; I did get to tell my story to the owner. She was initially shocked when she realized that I meant 30 years and not 3 years since my last visit. The banana and chocolate chip gelato flavors that I got were “pretty good.” My journey complete; we rolled our suitcases home.