Italy Day 6 – Culture Shock (or An Oasis on the Square)

Breakfast and arrivedercis, one last bounce down the long dirt road ensuring yet another rental car deposit to be forfeited.  Mandy weeps as we leave the Tuscan countryside, such is the emotion this place elicits.  Regaining composure, she resumes her duties as navigator, Ellen Griswold to my Clark.  

The highways are great here and we get to the Florence city limits in about an hour.  Florence streets are infamous, so it takes another 30 minutes to get to the rental car dropoff in the historical center.  The closer we get the more frenetic the pace, the more narrow the streets and the more dense the pedestrians.  We sacrifice a handful of tourists in the last few blocks in the name of progress, and the cabbie, a cute but fiery woman of about 30, takes out a few more on the final approach to our hotel.  The place is packed packed packed during this end of the high season.  Romantic couples, wedding parties, guided groups and oblivious selfiers buzz the piazzas and connecting streets.  Our hotel is on the corner of Piazza Della Signoria, the famous square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and home of the Ufizzi Gallery.  Coming from the tranquility of the Tuscan countryside, we have a physical reaction not unlike that of too much espresso, which we probably also had. 

The door to the ten room In Piazza Della Signoria B&B is marked only by the number “2” nameplate to the right of the doorway and the name in small letters by the buzzer to the left.  Walking in, our pulse immediately settles.  A warm reception by family members and we are shown to our room.  Huge by any international city standards, three times the size of the average hotel room in Paris or NYC.  The rooms are named after the Masters, and ours, Leonardo, is beautifully adorned with high ceilings, period correct furnishings, fantastic artwork and two big windows overlooking the square.  It’s a much-appreciated oasis from the craziness outside. 

We set out, through the square to the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge over the Amo River, enjoying the street artists along the way.  Although the artists typically paint what sells, depictions of the Duomo, Fierenze cityscapes and Tuscan landscapes, we start to notice each artist’s individuality and aesthetic.  Scattered in at each stand are a few passion pieces, markedly different then the rest and a peek into the artist’s sense of their art. 

Mandy pre-purchased tickets for the Ufizzi and thank god she did.  The lines are crazy, but we’re inside in about 10 minutes.  Loaded with the Italian greats, my favorite is Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, which we take a few special minutes to absorb. 

On Lindsey’s recommendation we have dinner at Trattoria Marione, a dining institution in Florence for many decades.  We’re seated at tables elbow-to-elbow with other diners and order traditional dishes such as Bistecca alla Florentina, a massive roasted T-Bone they serve only rare (perfecto!)  We watch as table of four large European men, we assume a bike team, order then each quickly slurp down enormous plates of fresh made pasta and entire roasted chickens and potatoes and are out the door before our entrée arrives.  In true Italian style, dinner ends with small crisp biscotti with a glass of sweet dessert wine for dipping.  The high end shops are closed, market merchants packed away for the night and the streets are mostly cleared as we stroll leisurely back to our flat in the cool autumn air.  Viva la romance!