I've been to places with good cycling. I've been to places with accessible language/culture to outsiders. I've been to places with good food. And I've been to a few places with rich history... and Florence has all of them combined, and in quantities beyond what I ever expected. I can't think of a place I loved being anymore than this.
We did some shopping, mostly window shopping, but did get a few things. Huge fashion and shopping district here. Beautiful streets full of people at night. I get why Italians believe in god so much - there was a shop selling whispy scoops of the clouds angels sit on in a hundred different flavours, so we decided to partake in some gelato of unearthly goodness. Wow.
With all the fashion pics everywhere, we decided to part ways for a while with the "look at the camera and smile" approach in exchange for an aloof look of Italian-ness portrayed by models in ads. Cindy is doing her best!
Again, a random spot for dinner was beyond what our taste buds have been used to their whole lives. At home I never really craved going out to Italian restaurants, or even trying at home. Mario Monti has a lot of issues on his plate right now, but he should send in cooks to set Mercato ("Italian" restaurant down the street from our house) straight. A noodle can have layers upon layers of flavour, or it can taste like boiled water with a slight burn. The Italian national food police wouldn't approve. Parmesan cheese in those Kraft cylinders from a grocery store are only an approximation, it's like saying a Wal-mart Huffy and a creation of Ernesto Colnago are the same. Whether its cars, or food, or wine, or art, or fashion, or I'm sure dozens of other things, the Italians have pushed far past adequacy to make utter refinement available as well.
I've splurged a bit on hotels, and this one is the best yet (using one chain in the three cities to simplify reservations). The Relais Santa Croce Florence is a 24 room small hotel that was originally a house the Pope's treasurer Marquis Baldinucci built for himself in the early 1700's. Their web promo photos will do more justice than our phones. Perhaps a second statement of the obvious... but the guy with his hands on the Pope's treasury, in Italy, 300 years ago didn't seem like he was short of money. It's like staying in a museum. But really, all three of their properties we've stayed at are close to where the cool attractions are, only a few minutes walk, so we could skip taxis and stuff in each place we stayed. The top floor has a window showing through to the truss construction that has held the arching ceiling in the music hall up for 300 years. I need to wait for daytime to get a picture for Jon and Craig to see.
When we got back last night from dinner, they had a concert violinist playing in the grand music room, so we sat 15 feet away and listened until he stopped. Simply magical how rich real sound is in a room like that, up close. And watching a violinist play is spellbinding like watching fire. It's so elegant, but making those things not squeal is beyond me... I'll stick to bikes. Makes listening to an MP3 like... well eating Kraft dinner vs. eating here. They said Mozart had played in that same spot too for the Pope and his crew. This was our little taste of old world charm. Cindy says there's nothing Italy could do to be more romantic than it is.
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