I reached Florence around 3 and without a place to stay I had to take care of business first. I walked around for about 30 minutes past some of the busy areas until I found a quiet street in which I saw Ostello Archi Rossi. It was what seemed like a small hostel crammed in the wall but turned out to have a beautiful large courtyard, garden and balcony in the back, free internet (sometimes hard to find), free breakfast, a few empty beds left and a locker with key to store my bag. Nice find, if I might say so myself! Since I hadn’t eaten for about 6 hours I was quite starving, which completely sucks when you are Italy and looking for a decent place to eat at 4 in the afternoon! Siesta time :) Unless you want a pizza, kebab or snack food you are pretty much out of luck. I was pretty bummed because I knew if I was going to eat now I probably wouldn’t have dinner later which meant I would miss out on trying something new that day. So I broke down and had another Italian pizza on the street. I ordered the quatro-formaggio this time instead of the Margherita but it was way to much cheese; much more like an american cheese pizza. Lesson learned; Margherita is much better :)
That evening I spent the night walking around Florence taking pictures and checking out the sights. I must say that Florence is a beautiful city and although I thought it would be my favorite place on this trip, it was my least favorite. It was sooooo crowded with people and I swear most of them were American, as I rarely heard a word of Italian. Imagine going from a large city populated with over 2.7 million people to a small city with 370,000 but having the same number of tourists. Bah! Maybe it’s just me but I was a bit disappointed and felt clastrophobic most of the time. It probably doesn’t help that I’m traveling at the peak vacation time of the year.
Florence is in the region of Tuscany and for that I was very excited. Tuscany has unique and delicious culinary tradition as well famous wine country. What a better time for me to do a wine tour! I checked online and found a half day tour in the Chianti region scheduled the next day on www.viator.com. I was ready to drink Chianti in Chianti!
That morning I went for my first run in Italy and it was great. The morning was cool and the city was a little bit quieter. I ran by the river, over the beautiful bridges, and through the narrow cobblestone streets of the city. Florence is very easy to navigate since it is a smaller city, it has a river running through the heart and there is an amazing HUGE cathedral you can see from all throughout the center. So if you mark the sites you can always find your way back to where you started. After my free breakfast of muesli and yogurt at the hostel I decided to set out looking for a food market before I had to get on the bus for the countryside wine tour. After asking around and walking through the San Lorenzo market, a large area packed with outdoor vendor stalls selling everything in leather and italian souvenirs, I found the amazing Mercato Centrale. Apparently it is the best food market in the city and now I know why. It was set up in a large warehouse building and you could purchase everything from local produce to pasta to meat, cheese, wine, and olive oil. Beautiful! I was extremely bummed I didn’t find it earlier because it closed at 1 and it was already 12:30. I flew through the walkways taking pictures and making a couple purchases to take back with me. You could purchase dried pasta or fresh pasta and even a colored variety. I was very impressed by the ingredients of the colored pasta in contrast to most American varieties. It wasn’t chemically created with Yellow #5 or Red #40 but more healthfully beautified with spinach, paprika, tumeric, and tomato. Yeah Europe! In many of the meat cases, it wasn’t uncommon to see piles of tripe or animal hooves. Tuscany has a long tradition of cooking tripe, a part of the stomach of various farm animals; cow, pig, goat, sheep etc. I have seen it often on the menus and although I never did try it, I will say that if it was free...I’m not afraid...bring it on! Maybe next time.
I could have stayed at the market all day but since it was closing and I had already paid for the wine tour I figured I best get on my way. I met the tour guide and about 30 other people at a bus stop near the train station for the start of our 45 minute drive through the Tuscan countryside to a Castle in the vineyards. Tuscany is so beautiful with green rolling hills covered in vineyards, olive tree fields, cypress trees, and cedars. I have often dreamt of owning one of the large, rustic, stone Tuscan homes that freckle the landscape.
When we reached the castle we toured the grounds, walked through the cellar and ended with an hour long tasting of 4 wines along with a small feast of pecorino cheese, wild boar salami, bread and their very own extra virgin olive oil. I have seen Pecorino cheese and boar items all over the menus here. Pecorino cheese is a family of hard italian cheese made from sheep milk. It is often paired with something sweeter such as pears or honey or is used to top pasta dishes rather than the more expensive, Parmigiano Reggiano. Very delicious and perfect with the Chianti. Boar meat is common in Tuscany as well. Wild boars are commonly seen roaming the fields at night and they apparently like to destroy the vineyards by eating all the grapes after they ripen. I’m sure the farmers are very happy when it is wild boar hunting season. The salami we had didn’t taste much different than other salami but perhaps seems as though it was better quality and local is the way to go.
While sharing travel stories with a delightful woman from Hawaii, I enjoyed a glass of Chianti Rosa, Chianti Classico Reserve (private collection), Chianti Merlot and a taste of dessert wine with biscotti. It was all worth the 45 euro and 5 hours of my travel time.
On the way back I overheard a couple of couples my age complaining about how long the waiters expect them to sit during their meals and drink cappuccino after cappuccino and the busiest places they have seen are McDonalds and Hard Rock Cafe. First of all, what the hell are you doing going to McDonalds or Hard Rock when you are in a country with some of the best food in the world and even if you weren’t.....McDonalds? Really? Secondly, many Americans, including myself sometimes, need to learn to slow down and enjoy the moment; slow food; its not just about satisfying or over-satisfying your hunger and moving on; sit, take it in, relax, reflect and enjoy the moment, the company you are with, and life itself. Some of the most wonderful characteristics of Italians and their food: they aren’t afraid to take their time, be choosy about what they order, and ask questions about what is special on the menu that day or inquire about how each dish is prepared. They are genuinely interested and present. Most menus are not books with several choices. When the menus are especially small you know you are going to get the freshest, local ingredients and that is what’s most desirable.
On our way back from the winery, we stopped in a small village in the Chianti region to just walk around the town square. There was an “ancient butcher” in the middle of the square that I had to check out and explore a little bit more about these wild boars. It was crazy! The ceiling was covered with hanging hams and their was no space not filled throughout the entire shop. They even had a stuffed wild boar guarding the door outside. Apparently this place is quite popular and I suppose if you were an avid meat eater you would be in “hog” heaven. Ha!
A quick walk through the rest of the market and we were headed back to Florence. The rest of the evening was spent walking the streets and sitting down for a dinner at one of the small trattoria’s with a few outdoor tables. I ordered the bruchette, pecorino pear risotto and of course a glass of local red wine. The risotto was ALMOST “to die for” except a tad too sweet after a few bites....definitely delicious. I visited with a man from Korea at the table next to me, dropped by a gelatoria for a little evening gelato and then was off to bed so could catch my train to Cinque Terre at 6am the next morning.
That night was the first night I actually felt extremely full. I think maybe all the cheese, bread, pasta and wine was catching up with me. I don’t even think I have had any fruit or vegetables at this point. Yikes! This, I knew, could not be maintained much longer. Not sure I’m cut out to be Italian although I did very much enjoy the exploration experience.
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