At the beginning of the week, I met up with Diana Haler, a friend of Aunt Barb and mom from high school. She lives in Florence and when Aunt B told her I would be studying here, she wanted to get together. I was so glad to be able to meet someone who had experienced both the states and Firenze. She generously invited me to dinner with some family and friends, my impression being a small gathering of people. Nope!
We went to a restaurant called La Terraza Principe and we literally had the entire terrace overlooking the city and hills outside of it ALL TO OURSELVES. There was about 20 of us total, some of which were visiting, but most who were Florence residents. It was by far the most incredible view I have seen of Florence yet.
The meal was amazing, starting with bread and Proseco (my new favorite white wine), followed by two kinds f pasta (which I’ve found to be pretty typical in most restaurants, the first one with vegetable or fruit flavor [ours had a hint of orange flavor] and the other with meat), two kinds of salad (garden and steak), chicken, & fried vegetables. Dessert was a lemon sorbet with fruit.. delicious. Then we got caffe (espresso) and ended the meal with the best limoncello I have ever tasted. For those of you who don’t know, limoncello is a lemon vodka that Italy is famous for. You typically get it in a shot glass at the end of the meal. It’s a traditional way to end a meal by sipping on your limoncello. And yet another way to prolong the meal to enjoy time with your family and friends. This meal lasted 4 hours, which is pretty typical for Italians. They do not eat fast. Every time my roommates and I get caffe “to go” (a phrase that they don’t really have an equivalent for in Italian, which shows how foreign the concept of eating while on the go or eating quickly is to them), it is not unusual for a particularly grumpy tabaccheria (place that sells croissants, foccacia, sandwhiches, gelato) worker to roll his eyes and mutter “Americans” under his breath. All in all, the meal was incredible, the view was breathtaking, and the people friendly and engaging. I even made out with some of that limoncello, for free! I tried to ask if I could buy a few bottles, and instead she got the bottle from our table, filled it up and handed it to me. They didn’t sell their limoncello (which they made in-house), so she just gave it to me! So sweet. Great night & I’m so glad Diana invited me along!
Later that night, friends and I went to a bar close to our apartment called Bacco, which is suppose to be great on Monday nights. It was a great time; met some Italians, got some free drinks, sat outside. But none of that compared to the wonder of.. THE SECRET BAKERY.
We had heard about the secret bakery every since we got to Florence. I’ll give you some details. There are a few secret bakeries in Florence dispersed throughout the city, but they are not related or anything like that. These bakeries are open from 1-6am and are located in the shadiest, most concealed places. The one we went to had a door that you knock on and someone opens the door a crack and asks you what you want. You have three choices: a chocolate croissant, a slice of pizza or a donut. They do not tell you this, you just have to know. Then they close the door, come back in a few minutes with your goods and then you pay one euro for each. A great deal for the most delicious munchie food ever. We literally were going heel clicks (or attempting, anyways) on our way home because they were so good. You also have to be completely silent while there, or else they will tell you to leave and sadly, no chocolate croissant for you. After a few nights of trying to find it, we finally found it. Incredible. This foreshadows the 10 pounds I will pack on while in Italy. Oh, well.. when in Florence.. Here’s a picture that I took of the secret bakery door, after which I ran away as fast as I could. Hey, I didn’t want them to see my face and then never get another chocolate piece of heaven ever again! And the second is a picture of my roommate Jamie getting fed a chocolate croissant and Megan in the background enjoying hers.. hahahaha. Love this picture.
On Tuesday we finally went to Lucca! This is the town we were going to go to on Sunday but didn’t because it was raining. We took the train down and spent the day there. There is a village wall surrounding Lucca because they wanted to completely separate themselves from the big cities of Rome and Florence.
We had a nice lunch there and then explored on our own. By exploring, I mean getting lost but enjoying it nonetheless.
Wednesday night we made pasta alla carbonara & salad at our apartment while enjoying a cheap bottle of wine from our extensive collection. In other words, they made a nice dinner and I sat and watched. But don’t worry, karma bit me in the butt when a bird pooped on me during dinner on our balcony.
Later that night we went out to what is known as the best club in Florence called Central Park. It was HUGE and we had yet another great night. I sound like a broken record but whatever, deal with it.
Thursday was a holiday here in honor of St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence. Many people had the day off, so Florence was extra crazy. We watched the Italy vs Slovakia game (tear tear) outside on the river again. At night, we got gelato and watched the fireworks by the river. Florentine fireworks completely dominate American fireworks, just FYI. We went home early because the next day we were heading to ROMAAAAA!!
I shall blog about Rome another time. My roommates just cracked open a bottle of wine and were about to watch Gladiator. Life is good.
XOX
Hill
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