All of my Florence pictures are at: http://www.piccirilloinperugia.shutterfly.com/
Besides the amazing Duomo, we were able to see a lot of the major attractions in Florence. The Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge over the river) was so exciting to see! As corny as it sounds, seeing all of these things on TV pales in comparison to actually being there. Our Florence group (there were quite a few of us) wandered around the city and just looked at all of the buildings and statues.
One of us, Jenna, had been to Florence before, and remembered eating at a great restaurant not far from the Ponte Vecchio. We were somehow able to find it! Me, Ashley, Jamie, John, Jenna, and Brittany all went to a 9:15 dinner at Ristorante Dell Buca’Orafo (I’m pretty sure I butchered that spelling). First of all, it’s really off the beaten path and wouldn’t give it a second look if you didn’t know any better. There are maybe ten tables inside, and we were the only non-Italians, which was a good sign!
For our primi, we got gnocchi again,which is becoming pretty typical, and a spaghetti artichoke dish. To say this may have been the best food I ever tasted wouldn’t even be a little bit of an exagerration. For our secondi (meat dish) we all got a rosemary beef with pecorino cheese. The beef was done very rare, drizzled with a very basic rosemary oil sauce, and topped with shaved pecorino. It sounds so basic, but it couldn’t have been better. Finally, we got a huge tiramisu for the table, which was, in case you didn’t guess, amazing!!!
What I haven’t mentioned quite yet is the atmosphere we were dining in. We were surrounded by what must have been regulars to this restaurant. They knew the waiters and chef and were very loud! Once all of us Americans finished dinner, we got a little tap on our shoulders. (In Italian) They asked us if they could smoke. We didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but of course we said yes. All of a sudden,every single person besides us was smoking in this restaurant. It was as if they all had a ciggarette in their hand under the table and were waiting for the moment we finished dinner. It was actually a really courteous gesture, and it was so funny to watch! The minute people started smoking the waiters turned on some music and everyone started drinking wine and sambuca and whatever alcohol you can drink after dessert!!! The Italian men were all loosening their ties and getting louder and louder.
We look to our right and see the Italians to our right dancing all over the place! They danced with the chef and the waiters and just didn’t care who watched. This went on for an hour, and they made us dance with them for awhile!!! (A little sidebar-After a little we realized our friend Jenna was missing and we found her with the owner of the restaurant torching crème brulee in the kitchen). Oh, and did I forget to mention that the Italians made US dance on tables with them? A Joe Biden Italian look alike (no joke) made me speak Italian and then twirled me. It was the funniest night, and all of us couldn’t stop talking about it and still really can’t. I hate to say it, but it’s definitely one of those things that you have to see to appreciate! I’ll remember that meal forever though.
After our dinner, which didn’t end until past midnight, we all headed back to sleep! The next day we woke up, grabbed some pastry, and had breakfast on the Duomo steps, which was an experience in itself. From there, we wandered around to shop. I purchased my first pair of Italian leather boots, which Ashley and Jenna BOTH bought too! (What can we say, they were really cute!!!) There are tons of street markets in Florence, and you can find some really great stuff.
I have so much more stuff to write. I’m way behind!!!! I’ll put up some more posts later. I just got back from Spain and I have alot to say.
Love everyone!
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