We started our morning with Nespresso in the cottage then stopped at Bar Pasticceria Piccioli for cappuccino and three pastries (yes we are piggies). They did not speak English and I was able to order our breakfast. I even asked for a knife (coltello) to cut the treats in half.
From there we headed to Santa Maria Novella Officina Profumo Farmaceutica. It’s one of the world’s oldest “pharmacies“. It started as an apothecary in 1221. Monks distilled rose petals to make rose water as a an attempt to treat the Black Death. They still use ancient recipes to make products including skin care, soap, perfume, and teas.
Next we visited the Basilica Di Santa Maria Novella.
Next stop was the Medici Palace. We had planned on visiting the Medici Chapel but it was closed today. They had a David Bowie exhibit. We had no idea he had an eye condition that cause one pupil to be permanently dilated. Both of his eyes were blue but it looks like the one with the dilated pupil was brown.
This bedroom is reserved for the president of the Republic whenever he visits Florence. Trey doesn’t believe he sleeps here.
We used the restrooms at the Medici and both came out with a picture.
It was an interesting toilet situation and hilarious that we both took pictures!
After the Medici we had lunch at Trattoria dall’Oste Chianineria. The service wasn’t great but the food was very good although it all came out at once, one of my pet peeves. We had mixed crostini: one with chicken liver spread, a Florentine specialty, one with tomatoes, and one with a meat spread with melted cheese. We also had a caprese salad. Trey had spaghetti marinara and I had a creamy truffle pasta with burrata cheese. I love truffles!
After lunch we followed the Rick Steves Renaissance Walk. We were planning to walk up the steps to the top of the Duomo but it requires reservations and they were booked until Wednesday when we are heading to Rome. We were both a little relieved to avoid those steps! Rick led us from the Campanile to the Baptistery to the Orsanmichele Church and so on.
Video of Duomo below:
The Duomo is 500 feet long. #Firenze
Posted by Traveling TwoGether on Monday, July 1, 2019
Bronze doors above were created by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Michaelangelo called them the Gates of Paradise.
After researching Florentine leather we decided to go to a Benheart leather store. This is a modern store started by a gentleman from Florence named Ben. He had a heart attack at age 29 and ended up getting a heart transplant. Prior to his medical condition he had worked as a leather designer and his new lease on life gave him the courage to start his own business. We didn’t take pictures of the store but we did buy a few items and I took a picture of President Obama visiting the store. It’s below on the left. He now has stores in several locations world wide. It’s a great story and they sell high quality products.
Dinner tonight was at Trattoria Armando, a restaurant with a menu filled with Florentine classics. We had a bread and tomato soup, spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli, salad with pears, pecorino cheese and honey, beef cheeks in a red wine sauce, and fried veal sweetbreads. That’s the second time for brains on this trip. These were breaded and fried and came with fried veggies.
We finished the meal with Vinsanto (the sweet wine), Cantucci (the biscotti like cookie to dip in the wine), and creme caramel (which is pretty much flan or panna cotta).
Cantucci and Vinsanto
This simple dessert is so nice!