Fired Up Over Firenze
March 27, 2010
When we first started planning for our trip to Italy we didn’t give much thought to including Florence as it just seemed a little too far and complicated for a day trip from our home base in Montalcino especially with all the restrictions around driving and parking within the city and taking a bus or train just wouldn’t give us enough time. The other issue was it would be double the price in lodging to stay overnight in Florence since we’d still need to be paying for our rental apartment in Montalcino while we were away. After giving it some thought we decided that Florence would need to be filed under Next Time We Go to Italy.
Flip the calendar ahead a few weeks to today and as our plans now stand we’ll be staying in Florence for four days and three nights and though we’re scheduled to be in Italy for 30 days it’s those four days in Florence that I’ve been planning for and thinking about the most. So why the decision to add Florence to our plans? First on the list would be Florence herself. My good gnocchi, have you seen fotos of the place?! The visual impression of the city alone hooked me like a flapping carp on a fishing line, and there are all the people who inspired my recent Florence fondness and I list them in no particular order.
1. Judy Witts Francini. I happened upon an interview with Divina Cucina on a podcast episode of How to Tour Italy. The host, Anthony Capozzoli was talking with Judy about her walking and tasting day tours (emphasis mine) through the central market in Florence for food-lovers called “Mondays at the Market.” The descriptions of the market and the passion and joy that came through in the interview grabbed me since one of the things I most enjoy doing locally is going over to the farmer’s market at San Francisco’s Ferry Street Building on Saturday mornings to cruise the seasonal produce, artisan cheeses, and munch down a cone of tasty, salted pig parts from Chris Costino’s Boccalone Salumeria, and so with this kind of shared passion for food porn, Judy had me at 30 year old balsamic.
2. The Florence Fans over at Slow Travel Talk who share some amazingly alluring stories of their travel adventures and discoveries to this beautiful city.
3. Samantha Brown in her episode on Florence. Okay, first of all she was her usual adorable self, staying in deluxe accommodations that are out of reach for everyone but the ruling class and celebrity travel guides but still, everything about her tour of the city was splendiferiously charming. Splendiferiously. My word. Use it wisely.
And finally,
4. David. The David. Michelangelo’s David. I must see that 17 foot hunk of gorgeous marble man close up and personal at least once in my life. He’s my bucket list boyfriend.
These are the people and reasons, among many others, while we’ll be hitching the train from nearby Buonconvento to Florence for a few days to explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world. So they say. So we shall see! As I mentioned in a previous post we’ll be staying at il Bargello Bed and Breakfast, which we also learned about through How to Tour Italy as well as finding it came highly recommended by Rick Steves and several other travel sites like Trip Advisor. Geobeats has a nice video on the place along with some other fun videos related to Florence.
In addition to spending time ogling my bucket list boyfriend, D and I have booked a “Monday at the Market” tour with Divina Cucina for Thursday since we’ll still be at our Montalcino basecamp on Monday, and as it happens Judy will be in the Bay area this Spring and so we’ll have the chance to meet up with her at an upcoming book-signing in Napa. I want to add that in exploring other local resources in Florence online I discovered Taste Florence, that also leads walking food tours in the same general area of Florence as those led by Judy. While we opted to go with Divina Cucina due to hearing her interview and following her blog for sometime, I’ve been equally impressed and grateful with the personal correspondence I’ve had with Toni at Taste Florence and I hope to shadow her tour for a bit or chat for a bit over an espresso in vetro within the sound of a piazza fountain.
And this is what it’s all about for me. The connections with people, whether Italian by birth or ex-pats by choice. I’ve done the tourist thing; rushing from location to location, moving in a pack of other gawking, camera-toting tourists like me and isolated from the real life of the people. That’s how I’ve seen Rome twice before, and that’s the difference; I saw Rome but I wasn’t in Rome. I was just a passive observer, no more engaged with the life or the people than had I watched a travel show on Rome from the comfort of my own couch. I’ve also had the opportunity one time in my life to spend three months in Jerusalem. I lived in a small neighborhood on the edge of the city, waited at the corner bus stop, walked to the market, chatted as best as my limited Hebrew allowed over the backyard fence with the neighbors, and avoided the tourist areas like a bad rash. Kosher Heaven.
I’m probably just dreaming the dream of all travelers but I’m hoping to experience a little of what I came to know in 90 days in Jerusalem in 30 days in Italy. Sure. I want to see the land and the places that come to anyone’s mind when you talk about Italy but just as much I hope to have some chance encounters with people; to learn what their village or town means to them, how long their family has been there, and what life is like for them. Italian people. Italian life. I want to do a little more than observe Italy. I want a chance to taste it. In the lively chatter in the piazza. In spirited exchanges in the market or a small shop. In friendly conversations over dinner at a nearby trattoria.
A girl can dream, can’t she?
Posted in 
