"The Patron Saint of Gluten-Free Dining" - Day 4: Florence
Journal Entry 10.00 pm
"Hotel Castagno" - Firenze
Firenze continues to impress us both. Not just the layout and beautiful surroundings, but the atmosphere and "feel" of the city is laid-back, with an undercurrent of intensity. That might seem contradictory so let me put it another way. It feels like everyone is in a rush, to get to the pub or a cafe. Much like Milan and Modena, Firenze is packed (often bumper to bumper) with scooters, motorbikes and tiny little city cars. We've seen quite a few weird looking single seaters, as well as "Mr Bean" style minis and Renault "Twizys". The streets are virtually single lane, but buses, taxis and bikes all tear along at breakneck speed, giving credence to my theory that all Italian drivers want to be racing drivers.
It's been a tough day for both of us, but Kara especially. We have done a lot of walking today and it's taken it's toll. We're both in "Pigiami" and ready for bed, really. On the other hand though, it's been great day. Let's start at the beginning.
Another crappy night's sleep. I am covered in what I assume are mosquito bites. I kept hearing them fly next to my head in the night. A damned shame as the bed is quite comfy. Breakfast was the usual Italian "continental" affair; croissant, yoghurt etc. It's pretty nice to have what is essentially cake for breakfast and not be judged. Speaking of "breakfast cake"; we went to "Star Bene" so Kara could get something. She walked out with two cakes and we'd barely crossed the road before one was gone. As we walked into the central part of Firenze, we stopped at two unlikely spots: a "Mail Boxes etc" (Kara works at one over here in the UK) and an Italian "pound shop". *sighs* To be fair, the halloween section was much better than most back home. I will get some naff gifts for the guys at work in there tomorrow!
After our pit stops, we went on to Firenze's "Duomo". While less impressive from the outside than Milan's Duomo, I enjoyed it considerably more. The distinct lack of pushy salesmen and string may be a factor in this. The inside was quite something, too. A fresco that covers the roof of the cupola is astounding, while the crypts underneath speak of an era of history that has only been hinted at so far on this trip. The crypt is built into the bones of an even older church that was falling apart and was replaced by the present church in the early 1400s. Tombs of knights, saints and popes ( I believe) are present. It's very impressive. I will need to read up more when I return home.
The activity I had been dreading was Giotto's "Campanile" or bell-tower. It was a hell of a climb as a "broad man" in very tight spiral staircases. We climbed the first set of stairs and were surprised at how easy it had been. There were three more flights to go, of course. The view of Firenze from the top was incredible. You could see out for every direction as a terrace ran around the top. Sadly, people with no respect for history or craftsmanship had scrawled in pen or carved into the marble, "A ned was 'ere 2014" (I'm paraphrasing slightly here.) Utter twats. One did make me smile, mind you. It just said...
"Russian Hooligans, 2014."
After the bell-tower, we went hunting for "Deanna's gluten-free cafe" to see if we could find Kara some lunch. We found it but the menu wasn't great for Kara. The guy behind the counter was great, however. After apologizing to two bumbling tourists because his "English was bad", he annotated a map with two or three GF places we could try. He is now Kara's patron saint. We went for lunch at one of these places; a little restaurant called "La Gratella". It was very nice, but Kara was still a little short of finishing her bowl of pasta. Italian food isn't cheap, but it's good quality and you get plenty of it.
After a visit to an amazing indoor foodmarket called "Mercato Centrale", which was like a mall foodcourt if Harvey Nicols ran it, we visited "Santa Maria Novello" as it was nearby and on our list of places to visit. It was nice and old, in a Catholic churchy kinda way. I feel like I have been spoiled by the Duomos. I honestly think I should have worked up to them, as I wasn't so impressed here. Just in case we hadn't seen enough pictures of Jesus, we decided to go to the Uffizi gallery. Now I'm no art critic, but the clasical themes of "The life and deaths of JC" are bloody boring after a while. It's like going to read an Avengers comic and finding out that it's just page after page of Hulk dialogue. It's something that warrants some time spent on it, sure, but change it up. Eventually, Jesus images should show him doing cool shit like...smashing helicopters out of the air. I guess Marvel comics were hard to find during the Renaissance.
Ridiculous comparisons aside, the gallery was quite nice. I observed some "HD images" including Boticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and Caravaggio's "Frickin' awesome severed head of Medusa on a shield" (I think that's the correct name, at least.) Kara was quite distraught for a while as it seemed like the Caravaggio exhibits were closed. It all turned out to be fine though, and we had a wander through the town on the way to "Accademia" where the statue of David is. We found a "Scottish Jock" bar that is ran by a Chinese couple. We spoke to a pissed up American woman who told us how good the whisky was, before telling us she'd been drinking Jameson. Urgh.
By the time we arrived, Accademia had closed for the night. We resolved to come and see David tomorrow and went for dinner at the "OK Bar". The name seems apt, as neither Kara nor myself were too impressed with their pizzas. It was fairly cheap, though.
Kara is in bed now, having pushed herself quite hard today. Tomorrow's plan includes sending postcards, topping up the cash-card (Italy is hella expensive, yo.), eating breakfast cake, Galileo's museum, Leonardo's museum, David and the Accademia, Ponte Vecchio and hopefully safe travels to our last city on the trip: Roma!
Definitely a marked improvement from our time in Milan and Modena. Florence is probably my favourite place that we visited. The people are almost universally beautiful, everyone seems friendly, the architecture and city layout makes all of the street seem like back-alleys but many of them are bustling with activity and almost all of them end with piazzas that are filled with some of the most incredibly beautiful buildings and sculptures I have ever seen. The history nerd in me loves that as you walk along, you never know what's around the corner. I know it's cliché but it's a city full of hidden surprises. I have learned to appreciate this aspect in Edinburgh and wished we had more time in Florence to explore all of the nooks and crannies.
There's certainly an intensity to Italian culture that is reflected in how they do things. We saw so many sharply dressed businessmen and women driving around at high speed on scooters, with 1950s racing style helmets on. It was pretty cool, and there's definitely a foundation for the stereotype of the well dressed Italian, showing up on a scooter. As the social hermits that Kara and I are, it was a little bit jarring to see how sociable and outgoing Italy can be. We like to stay in, and while I would like to think that I cook good food for us, we have functional meals then enjoy our free time in a different way; perhaps with a snack and a little drink of juice. Italian eating habits lend themselves to meeting up at 5 for a little bite or a coffee, then sitting outside talking until midnight. It's a romantic notion, but considering Kara can't drink and I barely drink, as well as being on a deadline and trying to stick to a budget, it was never going to be something we did.
Star Bene, at the northeast end of Viale Spartaco Lavagnini, close to Piazza Della Liberta is now Kara's favourite bakery, hands down. We went here again the next day, and Kara raved about this place all through the holiday. It's not cheap, but everything looks good and the range of food runs to savoury tarts too. (Not that it was enough to sway Kara, of course.)
I feel bad that I wasn't able to get anyone any gifts from Italy. We were both living out of a medium suitcase and we were beginning to appreciate that it was going to cost a lot to see everything we wanted to on this trip. The Italian "pound shop" had some cool little halloween things, but at this point we were still buying bottles of water regularly, just trying to keep hydrated due to the heat and the walking we were doing. My Aunt had told us that there are water fountains dotted throughout most major Italian cities that dispense cold, clean water. Milan had one or two that we found, but it was in Florence that we really started to come across them regularly. We saved a lot of money and time, not having to find bottled water to drink all the time. Many of the fountains are quite plain, with a steady flow, while other look hundreds of years old and are works of art in themselves. A great element of travelling in Italian cities.
The Firenze Duomo (Basilica Santa Maria di Fiore) is gorgeous, as well as old. The sculptures and frescos really are something else. It's a strange feeling to be looking at something and thinking to yourself that not only is this painting beautiful, it's also hundreds of years old. The crypt underneath the church was impressive, housing sarcophagi that put me in mind of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. I don't think they would have been too happy if I'd started prying off the lid to take a pencil rubbing of the shield of the knight that lay inside. There was even a spooky little alcove that looked like it may have been an ossuary as it contained a skull in a case. Kara was immediately interested of course. The floor of the medieval church that had become the crypt was preserved in parts, with mosaics that were basic but still very nice. Parts of the original architecture were preserved, but it was clear that it was very old. It's nice that the church have chosen to preserve what used to lie in here, as many other sites (especially in Rome) speak of them destroying or misappropriating that which they found "heretical".
Edinburgh is a gorgeous city that I would recommend to anyone to visit, but it comes to life at night in my opinion. It sometimes feels a bit like Gotham city; dark and mysterious. Florence, in contrast, is gorgeous during the day and almost seems lit by fairy-lights at night. There are old street lamps that light up the roads in the older parts of town, with the buildings often being soft pastel shades of ochre. The red rooftops that I ran around on top of as Ezio from the "Assassin's Creed" series of videogames dominated the view from the top of Giotto's Campanile. After climbing 414 steps, Kara and I enjoyed the blustery breeze at the top, as well as the view. It's quite a beautiful old city, with a much prettier skyline than Milan. I was disappointed to see the graffiti at the top, but I guess I should have expected it. We visited the Battistero across the courtyard after coming back down. It had several statues accredited to Donatello. Upon seeing them and knowing that we were going to be visiting the Uffizi later, I resolved to complete my "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" collection by seeing a painting or sculpture by Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo and Donatello. Even if this is a travel blog, it's difficult to keep the nerd factor at bay.
Mercato Centrale is an amazing place. It's like a modern version of an old food market. It's full of lots of little bakeries, restaurants, organic food shops, butchers, fishmongers, bars and greengrocers. There was nothing specifically gluten-free here, just a really nice market. I was somewhat glad that we'd both just eaten, as everything looked amazing.
Hamfisted similes aside, I really did find myself getting bored of seeing pictures of Jesus in his different states. I know, I know, it's from a time where the church paid a lot of very good artists to create artwork for them, while wealthy patrons tried to buy their way into heaven by decorating their homes with christian artwork. It's just quite repetitive, with scenes such as the nativity, crucifiction and the resurrection being depicted time and time again. The Medusa shield is incredible, though. The colours seem so vibrant, despite the age of the piece. It's no doubt abundantly clear that I am not the most reverent when it comes to art, but I did enjoy myself at the Uffizi, especially in the small section of ancient roman artifacts. There was a very cool sarcophagus that depicted the heroic acts of Hercules that was exciting to find.