Chapter 10 - Touring and Wandering in Florence

Day 2 of Florence Touring

Today was another day of touring with Sirena. We walked in a different direction across the city and saw "everyday", rather than tourist, sights. This was a small neighborhood outdoor market in a square with yummy looking produce.

Stopping at the market, we tasted very fresh mozzarella and a small apricot shaped fruit –nespoca.. Nearby, we passed a men’s clothing store called “Chewing Gum”. We were told the name was designed to be memorable to American tourists when it opened in the 1950s - go figure!

And, then, a larger formal city market.

We came across that eternal global type of merchant - the 99 cent store.

We saw some of the beautiful carved wooden doors of Florence.

Our first destination was the Great Synagogue that was built in the late 1800s to replace the prior synagogues. When we saw this shop, we knew we were close.

The synagogue combines styles from both the Ashkenazi (Northern European) and Sephardic (Southern European) traditions with a strong Moorish influence.  

Sadly, the security at the building was very tight so we could not take pictures or even take a purse in. And the inevitable police with submachine guns patrolling....

It is a beautiful building with a small museum telling its history and showing Florentine judaica. We had a wonderful tour. These pictures of the building are from the Web.

And here are some from the Web of the museum - a model of the ghetto and ritual objects..

We then reversed course and set out for the Central Market of Florence, not far from our hotel. It is on three floors inside a building right next to the mass of tourist leather shops and stands that we had encountered our first afternoon in the city and was recently totally remodeled.

For the signage, they used cartoon-like images. This is for a place for beef.

Here is where we learned another travel lesson - a great art and history guide cannot be a great guide at everything. Sirena wound up taking us to only one stand in the whole place, very different from our prior central market tours in Australia and Scandinavia. We would have been better offer by booking a separate, specialized tour Oh well....

The one shop was a good one with the kind of Italian goodies of high interest - vinegars, olive oils and cheeses. 

We did a cheese, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and truffle honey tasting...these were just the cheeses - a wonderful array of blue cheeses and parmigiana, morbier and others. 

We wanted to buy everything, but settled for 12 year old balsamic, truffle honey, capers, and local vinegar.

As we walked around, there were specialty stores for everything...beans

and mushrooms and many more.

Before lunch, we went to the Cathedral (Duomo) Museum to get a better understanding of how the Cathedral was reconstructed and to see the original Golden doors (the doors now on the Duomo are copies). The museum is in a new building, very modern and functionally beautiful, with an open patio overlooking the Duomo itself.

The reconstruction was challenged by the lack of information for some of the parts (the empty spaces here) of the major facade, built again on a huge wall of the museum. 

The individual sculptures are a mix of the traditional religious style,

and the more naturalistic Renaissance style.

There were many stunning objects in the museum, vestments

stone carvings,

and just flat out beautiful metalworks, including sculptures

and boxes.

This one, in particular was mindblowing - how did they make it?

 Look at the detail in the center!

Of great interest to Lester was a display of the "finalists" from a Competition held to design a revised facade.

However, the superstar of the Museum are the Duomo's original doors - yes, they are real gold.

Here is one panel in detail.

They are awe inspiring.  It is hard to imagine the pressure on the artists to produce such work, but as the guide told us, the purpose of the art was to educate the people and to demonstrate the power and wealth of the leaders.

An Wandering About Afternoon

Lunch was an adventure. A very local place where you share tables. There is not an inch to spare in the place. 

We sat with a young couple visiting Florence from Turkey.  It was great to hear their impression of the city. They had been to the restaurant three times. We had a veal chop and vegetables (beans) with house red wine. It is owned and run by one family with a stern but friendly mama running the place. The experience still makes us smile.

After lunch, we were on our own. Our plan was to visit a couple of yarn stores and a ceramics shop and then return to the hotel for a rest and, of course, have our daily dose of gelato. 

Well, the shops we targeted turned out to be nothing special. However, we did run across a small fine crafts gallery - the only one we saw on our whole trip. What first caught our eye was a handmade birdcage we saw through the window.

The small gallery was a family operation, Mom, Dad and son. We were soon attracted to a display of "organic -shaped" ceramics from Sicily.

The yellowish one in the top crate, on closer examination, looked as if were made by Antonio Gaudi, the famous architect of Barcelona. It now sits on our living room mantelpiece.

Dinner that evening was the best yet—Taverna del Bronzino. The waiter came out of central casting for an Italian waiter. The room was warm with beautiful drawings, white linens and silver—yet warm and friendly.  To keep from overeating, we followed our Italian trip regimen - one starter, one pasta, one main - all shared. That left room for a shared desert (or nearby gelato) and neither of us staggering. 

We started with a glass of Prosecco and calamari salad with fresh peas - light, refreshing and delightful. 

The second course was taglioni with smoked monkfish (smoked in house very gently) and mussels. The flavors were very well balanced.  

The final course was roasted goat with fermented milk and blueberries— indescribably delicious.The meat melted off the bone after being slowly roasted for several hours. The sauce was tangy yet mild. So good you wanted to lick the plate.We had two different Sangiovese wines to complement the goat—another great match.  

One of the things we discovered about Italy was that in spite of the fact that most restaurants do not list wines by the glass, they will provide a great glass of wine when you ask, or even two of them!

The coupe de grace was a delicious fruit tart for dessert with an amazing crust. No need for more gelalo! 

Florence just has great restaurants...