…. and walk more than 10,000 steps.
We reserved Saturday for a walking tour of Firenze with Mia, seeing the sights and taking pictures. The weather was drizzly at the worst of times, cloudy at the best. We started with the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy, one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. It was originally operated by the Dominican monks shortly after their arrival in Firenze in 1221, when they began cultivating medicinal herbs to prepare medicines and ointments for the convent. In 1612 the pharmacy opened to the public. Today the pharmacy sells soaps, perfumes, and potpourri in additional to the traditional “ancient preparations.” It is a beautiful and unusual place to visit (Via della Scala, 16).
Medici Chapel tickets must be purchased by 1 pm; we waited in a long line to get in to see an interesting exhibit of items relating to the history of the Medici family. Artworks included paintings lent by the National Gallery in DC, as well as museums in Boston and Detroit. After viewing the splendors of being Medici, and trying to understand the family tree (Pope Leo X was Leopold the Magnificent’s son, and Pope Clement the VII was Leo’s illegitimate cousin – I think!), we left the Chapel to walk through the nearby leather market.
Next was lunch at the Trattoria Toscana Gozzi Sergio, on Piazza S. Lorenzo. The line here was also long, but we eventually were seated and had a very nice lunch – pici, etc. – followed by cantuccini and Vin Santo for dessert.
We walked from the leather market to the Orsanmichele building, where Mia gave us a tour of the Ghiberti bronze statues. Inside the Orsanmichele church we saw the square rectangular holes in the walls where grain was once poured when the structure was a commercial building, before it was turned into a beautiful church. The altar is breathtaking. We also at some point looked at the bronze doors on the baptistery next to the duomo, and noted the sophistication of the doors by Ghiberti (he did two doors but one is currently off the premises for restoration and cleaning).
At 6 pm we had a wine tasting scheduled at the Cacio Vino enoteca with Mia and her friend Brad. Her enoteca friends had ordered a special lambrusco for us, and had saved Mia a bottle of her favorite white wine. They served the wine with a platter of local Tuscan meats accompanied by bread with a beer spread and a melon balsamic vinegar. Next was a platter of Tuscan cheeses, all of them various types of parmesan. The wines were delicious. Before we left, they gave Mia a large chocolate egg for Easter, and for us, a bottle of lambrusco.
We walked from the enoteca to the Conad grocery store to buy the ingredients we needed for Easter dinner. Then we went to Brad’s apartment, where he had prepared a lovely dinner of beef broth with tortellini. After dinner, we caught a cab at the piazza. A lot of steps in one day!
No comments:
Post a Comment