Florence

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I really loved Florence after having visited Rome and Venice only over the last few years (and you all know how fun my last trip to Rome was!). I just found the locals so much more hopsitable to tourists. In Venice even if you try to speak Italian, even if you frequent the same spots over and over over the span of several weeks (ahem!) they treat you like a born yesterdayer. In Florence people were SO nice, they would always indulge my poor Italian and a couple of them actually even thought I WAS Italian--well, at least until after the point I said "buongiorno--then reality set in 😊 Seriously I went into some trendy boutique in the Oltrarno (other side of the Arno river) just to pretend I was chic and in line with my cover said "buongiorno" when I walked in--and the woman responded in Italian! I looked totally confused at what she said because I don't really speak Italian, and she paused for a moment, then smiled, and translated what she had just said in English (may I help you). I said no, thanks, and she actually apologized and said, "sorry, I thought you were Italian"!! I said, well that must be a good thing, you didn't think I was a tourist! And she said, "no no no, absolutely not!" But I gloat 😊

Anyway, the Oltrarno is definitely my new favorite part of Florence. It's got all the history and beauty but none (well, a lot less) of the tourists, except right on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio of course. You walk around and have all that architectural amazingness but it's like actually a place people live and work. But watch out, ladies, for some reason once you cross that river the Italian male libido starts creeping (as in creepy) out from the cracks in the sidewalk and it's out of control. It literally starts once you pass the halfway point on the Ponte alla Carraia. The Oltrarno is where all these photos were taken except the Ponte Vecchio.

Like the thousands of other people in Florence that gorgeous spring day I was awed upon finding myself before the Duomo and starting snapping photographs...none of which come even close to capturing what it's like to stand there. However, I did find it kind of cool to take advantage of my neat little video function and film what it's like to actually walk from the major shopping street between the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo as the cathedral starts to emerge into view. Obviously this doesn't do it justice, either, but after experiencing the walk I went back to do it again because it really was pretty cool! So I hope you enjoy it.

As I told Eva when she asked me how Florence was, it's FATTY. I mean, you order a bowl of pasta e fagiole and it's like 40% olive oil! That, and every dish you order at any restaurant comes with a bottle of olive oil and a bowl of parmigiano. Oh well, any adhesion I was attempting to maintain to the South Beach diet was lost along the way somewhere at lunch on the road from the Everglades to Key West two weeks ago, all memory of it definitively gone by the time I was scarfing mac and cheese at Blue Smoke in NYC (which even my uber foodie French friend Harold found rich!)...hence the belly--oh wait, that's the next blog--NOW I got you hooked 😊

love,

m

p.s. I really hope someone will be printing all these out for Baba because she's the one who encouraged me to write everything down yet she's the only one without internet access 😊

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Photos

View of the Oltrarno...
...the bank of the leer and whistle.

Beautiful facade in the Oltrarno
See what I mean? Someone like, lives here.

Only in Italy...
...would you find this on the exterior wall of some random house. I love it!

Little piggy in the Oltrarno
You see these awesome old school signs all over Prague...apparently they have them in Italy too.

Comments

[steve]

martina, glad to have you back. steve

[jim]

pasta receipes
hope you jotted down some new ideas for the Boston Sis!!! Keep it simple!!!