One Day in Florence

Well, we’re finally back on Canadian soil after almost a year of travel and housesitting. It’s incredible how fast the time flew and looking back at our adventures we consider ourselves very lucky to spend time in parts of the world we love and to discover new, inspiring places.
Returning home was a bit of a rough landing, breaking a tooth in the Glasgow airport, resulting in dental surgery and seemingly cycling through all the illnesses we had avoided while travelling, but we are coming out the other side of all that now and getting down to the business of writing.
Our three months in Italy were incredible (excluding the house sit) as usual and like many trips, as the end approached we found ourselves with a long list of things to check off before we left. This meant we had to get organized and get out there instead of sitting behind the computer tending to the blog. The result was a whirlwind of activity that swept us away and before we knew it, we were sipping a pint in Glasgow Scotland with Italy behind us, for now.
Writing this and looking back, my mind reels with memories of the time we had and it will take a few more posts to tell the stories that Italy has left us with this time around.
We could not leave Italy without visiting my favourite city, Florence. A vibrant and moving city, Florence has everything that makes me smile. The food, art, culture, architecture and people all make Florence a must see on your trip to Italy.

Early on a crisp and absolutely beautiful morning we drove to Orvieto and then boarded a train for the short two hour journey to Florence. Since it was just going to be a day trip we took the time to write out a quick itinerary so we could hit the spots we wanted to see and avoid arriving at times when businesses may be closed.
Jumping off the train we headed straight to the central market to walk the aisles of magnificent produce, fish mongers and butchers selling the bounty of Tuscany. A quick macchiato amongst the hustle and bustle helped us on our way and after the purchase of a couple of bags of dried porcini mushrooms and incredible sun dried tomatoes for our suitcase, we were off to our next stop.
The sun was shining and the people were out in droves enjoying the spring like day as we walked towards Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. Having been before on a previous trip we knew the secret beauties that this magnificent and old building held within. Despite its fairly nondescript entrance, we easily found the place and headed in, this time on a mission for a specific purchase.

Nat had been tempted by a beautiful plumeria perfume on our last trip here and decided that she would spoil herself with a bottle. Entering into the main store the interior is stunning and decorated with original pieces and displays dating back to its opening in 1612.

The sales women, dressed in black, looked like they had been ripped from a fashion magazine standing at their posts as if held at gunpoint, lacking any smiles and looking down their noses from their elevated positions behind the counter. Approaching the perfume station we inquired about the cost of a bottle of the fragrance we were after. “Eighty” the woman dryly responded without showing any emotion, quickly running her judgmental eye up and down determining we were not worthy of further conversation. Realizing we were donning the best in Canadian backpacker chic we giggled at how we had just been classified as unworthy customers of this clearly superior human being wearing an epic crank face and now turned just slightly away from us to avoid having to look directly at us. We walked away to discuss whether an eighty euro bottle of perfume, much more than Nat remembered, was in the budget and to take in the rest of this beautiful store. In the end Nat decided that it was just a bit too much and dealing with “crank puss” was enough to have us heading for the door. Still giggling on our way to the door, I told Nat I would give the clerk a good old Canadian “look” as we passed her towards the exit. Pausing for a second I caught her attention and then melted her with my best stink eye. Satisfied that I got my message across, we pushed through the doors out onto the street. Who knows, we might be able to buy the same perfume through some Canadian online shopping sites.

Next stop was Florence’s annual outdoor chocolate festival just up the street. Although apparently smaller than previous years we still indulged in way too many samples and managed to be enticed into making a couple of purchases of some delectable artisanal chocolates to take with us.

Humming with chocolate we wasted no time in heading towards Florence’s landmark Duomo to balance out the chocolate with another coffee at the sublime Scudieri caffè, touted as having the best coffee in Florence. The interior is classic and brimming with style, in keeping with the tux wearing servers. The coffee was as good as we have tasted and with the Duomo looming just outside the window and people bustling past, the scene could not have been more picturesque.

Completely re-energized, we walked towards the Arno river to get a glimpse of the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) and the city lining its banks. It’s a view that is impossible to miss and worth the time to linger and take in.

Photos taken and ready to dive back in, we took a quick turn down a narrow alley to find Porcelino, another landmark of Florence, sitting in front of a piazza of souvenir vendors. The brass statue is a must to stop at because rubbing its snout or tongue, along with a small donation of coins, ensures that you will return to Florence again. It seemed to work the first time, so we were not going to miss it this time.

More walking and window shopping, filled with photo ops and pauses for people watching in the midday sun and we were ready to find lunch. We knew of a few great places that we could return to but wanted to add something new to our list, luckily we found Alimentari Uffizi.

A tiny deli with a handful of seats crowded in front of the counter and filled with wine and goodies all around, it looked like the perfect place for a panino.
With a super warm welcome we entered to discover that all of the salume were made in house and that a custom warm panino made with perfect foccacia was the speciality. Taking a seat at a tiny table, it wasn’t long before our lunch of two mouth watering panini arrived, mine with savoury finocchiona and Nat’s with prosciutto and sun dried tomato, both with melted buffalo mozzarella.

A couple of plastic cups of Sangiovese and I was in heaven because for me it doesn’t get much better than a perfect sandwich. Lunch ended with a pleasant conversation with the owner, Alessandro, along with a few snaps of the camera and we were off again towards the antique market across town.
Taking our time, stopping for pictures and enjoying the beauty of the streets of Florence, the afternoon flew by and by the time we ended up at the antique market many vendors had closed for the day. It didn’t really matter because we were just curious shoppers and a quick nosing around satisfied our curiosity enough to move on and continue back towards the train station.

A good seven hours of shopping, walking and exploring had our dogs barking and Florence had delivered a full day of fun. It was time to catch the next train back to Orvieto and bid farewell to this amazing city until next time.
Collapsing onto the train seat we sat back and enjoyed the scenery whizzing by as the sun set on the rolling hills of Tuscany, ending our visit to fabulous Florence, in darkness by the time we arrived at the station in Orvieto.
Walking to the car, inspired by our day we started our plans for the next day as we headed back to home base, excited to check another thing off of our long list.