It almost sounds as if I'm writing the foreword to a romantic story when I speak about how I went to Florence, ate pasta and bought myself flowers. Some of that statement is true, but not all, I did not buy myself flowers. I actually did spend the weekend in Tuscany, touring Florence and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I found that Tuscany has some of the best food I have eaten while in Italy, however the bread was a bit of a disappointment to me. The bread was very dense and lacked salt, (I prefer light and airy with flavor). I found a small piece of history that evoked the truth of salt- less bread. During the 12th century, when Pisa was fighting Florence, the Pisans thought that blocking the Florentines salt shipment would make them surrender, and in fact, it didn't. The Florentines were too stubborn to lose a war and thought it would be better to make bread without salt. I think maybe they should have re-thought that one.
Even though the bread was a disappointment, I had some of the best pasta in Florence and in class when we studied that region. I always talk about pasta and I hope you are catching on to my endless love for it. I ate my first does at Trattori 4 Leoni with one of my best friends from home, Katie, who happens to be studying in Italy as well. I could not have asked for a better day! For lunch, we both had beggars purses of tender pasta stuffed with pear and coated with a taleggio cream sauce. Later that evening, I had large ravioli stuffed with black cabbage and coated in cinghiale and a cocoa sauce (cinghiale is wild boar, which is so popular in Tuscany that they recognize it with a statue in the city). So many flavor profiles that actually worked very well together and left me wanting more. In class we made a pasta dish called pici senesi, where we hand rolled each strand of pasta, boiled them and served them tossed in olive oil with pepper flakes and croutons. The texture of the pasta was perfectly al dente and the crunch of the tiny, buttery croutons was ever so satisfying.
The Florentine streets have so much character. Aside from the posh clothing stores and high-end restaurants, I was reminded at every turn that this city is known for history and art. I passed a man painting in his studio that also doubles as an art gallery. Before I could sneak a picture, he turned to me and smiled. Then there was a woman making violins in a closet-sized workshop that only she could fit in. There she sat, amidst curls of shaved wood and instrument parts, building the perfect piece of art.
As we approached the Ponte Vecchio, my dear friend Katie explained to me that during WWII, Hitler thought it best to keep the Ponte Vecchio bridge standing because of how captivating its artwork was. Once again, such an historical and beautiful thing to see and walk across, gazing at all of the gold and silver while eating mint gelato topped with whipped cream.
And then, there it stood, the Duomo. I kept hearing about how beautiful it is, but hadn't a clue what to expect. There is such magnificence in this world!
A quick excursion to Pisa to see the tower up close. It was much smaller than I had perceived it to be, and funny enough, my mother said the same thing before I could give her my two cents about it. And to be quite honest, I was more fascinated by how many people were taking photos of themselves next to the tower pretending to push it over, or hold it up.
To top the trip off, it was recommended to me to visit La Menagere in Florence, a hip, rustic yet modern eatery that triples as a restaurant with bar, florist shop and retail store. I went there for a Spritz Menagere with aperol (a popular Italian aperitif), fresh currants and citrus slices that lined the inside of the glass. It was so pretty, and very tasty, but what fascinated me more was the florist stand with all of the blooming protea and anemone flowers. I asked the florist the name of each flower she had for sale. I think it's the sweetest idea to have a florist shop in a restaurant. How romantic to purchase a free spirit rose for your date on the way in or out!After a quick breakfast with Katie the next morning at the same place, my schoolmates and I headed back to Lecce. A whirlwind of a weekend!