Oh nuts!

My morning began at the Mercato Centrale. Yesterday at Trattoria Sostanza, I asked the waiter where I could get some good finocchiona and he circled Florence’s central market on my map and wrote down the name Bronzin. The market is an enormous, enclosed two-story structure, the size of a small stadium, and inside are stalls from which food of all sorts is sold. It took me a bit to find Bronzin as most of the stalls aren’t labeled. However, the fish guys are with the fish guys, the bread guys with the bread guys, the cured-meat guys with the cured-meat guys, and so I inquired around until the stall was found. The vegetables are on the second floor which seems to make sense. Look at the size of those porcini mushrooms!



I had a 10:30 reservation at the Uffizi Gallery (again for 3 additional euros, no waiting in a 2 hour line), and unlike the David, I did not walk out let down. I sorta limped out though – 45 rooms and 1555 masterpieces. I let one of those headphone audio guides steer me around. No photography, but I did get this great shot of the Ponte Vecchio from one of the windows.



I’ve seen a lot of art at this point and I’m saturated, but Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is really something to behold and I got really obsessed with the clothing in Bronzino’s portraits of the Medici family.

The Uffizi was the palazzo of the uber-powerful Medici family. They had a pope too. Palazzo means palace and that’s what the Uffizi was, their palace. Have to keep in mind that Italy was not united until the late 19th century and that prior to that, it was but a collection of individual kingdoms. Construction began on the Uffizi in the 14th century and it is strongest in Gothic and Renaissance art. I’ve learned that the chronological order is thus: Gothic/Medieval > Renaissance > Baroque. I wonder how much of this I’m going to retain . . . where was I?

Lunch! Lunch was at Enoteca Boccadama. One of Erin’s Italian friends who owns a restaurant in a neighboring town (which I just may get to) recommended it. I had a salad of apples, raisins, cheese, chunks of ham, and sesame seeds. There are many salads on the menus which I have been happy to see, but they are never dressed. They just put down some of the most fragrant and delicious olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your table and it’s do it yourself. My entrée was ravioli stuffed like pillows with ricotta and spinach in a parmesan and sage cream sauce. So so good. The plate looked like it had just come from the dishwasher when I was done.

When sage is on the menu at the better Italian restaurants in NYC, it is only in one preparation – ravioli stuffed with butternut squash in a brown butter and sage sauce. It’s one of my favorites -- it pretty much defines the word “savory” -- but I was excited to see sage used differently. Here’s a pic of it along with a pic of what I’m having for dinner as I type. 3 plums and some kind of nut tarte with hazelnuts, almonds, pinenuts and some nut I don’t know on top of an orange marmalade-like filling with orange peel in it. Oh dear god. And mom, that’s a half bottle of wine. They sell little half-bottles here and I had the first half last night ; )



Tomorrow I’m going to get in the kitchen instead of only eating from them! Rome was big enough to absorb the tourists; Florence is bursting at the designer seams with them. I’m ready to get off the beaten path.

I’ve been telling myself that I must have tripe while I’m here (the beef stomach) – it’s a specialty -- but I saw it today in the market, and I’m a brave girl, but ooh boy:



Click here for more pics of the market, the Duomo, and others of Florence.

And oh yeah, here’s a decent pic of me. There have been others, but they weren’t fit for public consumption. For some reason, the people I ask to take my picture have this knack for cutting me off in the most unattractive places, like exactly the widest part of my thighs.



P.S. I fixed the gelato pic from yesterday. You gotta scroll down and check it out.