EN ROUTE // VOL. ITALY

CHAPTER TWO: FIRENZE

May 07, 2023

BLISS POINTS

“You’re my favorite right now” was the actual quote my waiter, Roberto, said to me at Trattori Cammello, when I asked him what his favorite dessert was on the menu. Florentines! They’re FLIRTS first… and then everything else next!

I have actually been thinking this same sentence with every turn I take here in Florence. Duomo, you’re my favorite right now. Michale Angelo Piazza, you’re my favorite right now. Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens, you’re my favorite right now. Low priced wine that yields no headache the morning after, you’re my favorite right now. The list goes on and on and on…

I am soaking up these final minutes (I’m talking… 20 minutes more until my taxi arrives to take me to the train station where I’ll travel to Arezzo then to Poppi for a weeklong cooking course in Tuscany. I can’t begin to describe the beauty of this place I’m sitting right now, though. This trip to Florence, I decided to stay outside of the city center and good lord am I happy I did. The greenery, the smells, the sites, the smiles, the locals, the donkeys, the everything — it’s all simply magical. Down to even the crow that flew away with my breakfast croissant this morning. (Yes… this happened an hour ago… giving the terrace full of guests a good cackle!) Even that is my favorite right now!

I hope to maintain this feeling for the rest of my life. I keep thinking back to the saying “teach a child the word tree and they’ll never see a tree again.” I feel the same with Italian landscapes. I don’t want to know the proper names of anything. I want to stay in the wonder with my kidlike eyes. I am inspired to the inth-degree.

BACKDROP

RUNNING WEEKLY THEME + INSPIRATION

Self policing.

We noticed this lack of policing in Rome – or shall I say, the abundance of trust. Everyone trusts everyone. If you look and act the part – you are trusted. The maitre d at Dal Bolognese trusted that we were telling the “we have a reservation under Vick” truth when he didn’t check the books for confirmation nor ask for our validation card from the hotel. We noticed it when we went to see the Pope. No one asked to see our tickets when we entered the Vatican nor asked us to remove anything (belts, shoes etc) before we walked in. And now… on our first stroll away from our INCREDIBLE home for two nights, Hotel Torre Di Bellosguardo, we walked a path that led us to an unlocked gate to someone’s private yard + street. We passed the most handsome man walking his dog who clearly lived on this private street. He didn’t flinch when he saw us nor did he question the two lost American strangers in his backyard. Nope. Instead, he just smiled and waved us through. I have a feeling he would have invited us in for espresso if we had asked.

Oh!! And the train. We bought first class tickets for our ride from Rome to Florence. (Yep! It’s the way to go if you have a long journey, or if you just have an hour and a half ride (us) but woke up at 5:30am to see Il Papa (Pope Francis) and need shuteye before we arrive in what I would consider Italy's most elegant city.) Even with these tickets - that came with bigger chairs, ac, cleaner toilettes, and LUNCH, the attendant didn’t wake us to ask for our tickets. It wasn't until we were minutes from arriving to Florence and started to stir that she came over to verify us. She trusted that we were in the right car.

It’s official. There’s only self policing here in Italy! They are trusting. And it makes me trusting! Isn’t that wild? The more they trust that I will do right by their country (keep it clean, be kind, etc) the more I want to do right! It works.

DELIGHTS

THE INN CROWD + SNACK TIME

Jane and I were still stuffed from the decadence of Rome. After we left Il Papa we ate our final “free breakfast”at Hotel Locarno before catching the train. Salmon, eggs, toast, and cappuccino for moi, and ham and cheese panini with a lemon and coke for a sweet mama Jane. (Sidebar – one of the many perks in staying at Hotel Locarno… you get loads of service and loads of complimentary things (fresh made to order breakfast, snacks with your glass of wine, extra visits to your room to tidy while you’re away (yes our bags were basically packed the night before we were to check out), and let’s not forget the mini gummy candies on the bedside every night for turn-down!)

We both zonked out on the train to Firenze and had another green light moment when hailing a cab right when we arrived — easy breezy! Cabbies jump at the bit to take you before they have to cue up in a forever line of lost tourists (if you’ve been to LaGuardia or JFK recently … you understand the taxi cue… these are the kind of lines I’m talking about!). Driving up the winding hills, across the Arno to Oltrarno neighborhood (quite literally meaning across the Arno river) was magic. It was WAY better than either of us had expected. A tailored suit, named Lorenzo, greeted us at the door as if he had been expecting our arrival all day. He showed us around the estate – lush gardens, views of Florence for days, a green house, swimming pool (closed due to the “wind” (sigh) – eh, I went anyway. Had it all to myself. Bliss!), three donkeys (Jane literally lost her mind – over the next two days we visited the donkeys often and shhhhh fed them our “chippies” - causing a stomping and kicking fit amongst the three), a terrace, a sunroom the size of Versailles, and finally, a semi self served bar.

In the words of Jane… everything was authentic!

We walked down to Florence the first day to explore. We walked through Boboli Gardens EN ROUTE to the Oil Shop – a recommendation from one of Jane’s friends and wild enough… my very favorite sandwich shop when I lived here many moons ago studying. When we learned they were closed permanently (devastation) we decided to cab it back up the hill to our paradise. I made friends with the receptionist who later did his new pal a favor pouring my $6 wine with a heavy-hand. We snacked on “chippies” and talked with another of the guests, Georgina, who was staying in number 9 — one of the six rooms that was occupied. (Can you handle it? There are 16 rooms in total and only six were being used. We had hit the relaxing, private, quiet, jackpot.) Jane read up on all the history – I love this about her — forever curious. Turns out this castle (turn hotel) in 1512 belonged to the noble Medici family, who confiscated it from Cavalcanti's heirs. They later were forced to flee and had to surrender it to Michelozzi, an Italian architect. He embellished the property by inviting painter, Bernardino Poccetti, and sculptor, Pietro Francavilla, to add their flare to its splendor. The property has since been a boarding school and is now a 16 room paradise for good ol wanderlusts like Jane and moi!

The next day Jane and I took coffees on the top terrace and overlooked the backside of Florence into the hills of Tuscany. Jane invited Silver (the resident Garfield) to sit on her lap as she fed her mounds of prosciutto. We walked back down the hill after, passing our other new furry friends, the donkeys, to explore Florence. We made our way over to Gucci Gardens – where we sat for hours. Me, drinking cappuccinos and Jane enjoying the yummiest of lemony mocktails. Gucci Gardens overlooks Piazza Della Signoria where we tourist gazed as they came in droves to get into the Museo Galileo. We didn’t go. Had no interest. Jane is my kind of traveler! We like to people-watch, eat, roam, shop, stay in beautiful places, and not really do all the “must dos.”

From there we took the long route to Vivoli Gelateria where we thought we would get their signature flavor the “Fantasia” (Sicilian cassata flavor – a type of Sicilian cake). Alas, both the (most adorably handsome) cashier and server suggested the “rice.” Chewy texture and wildly refreshing. Jane and I both took a scoop!

Winding through the city – Jane, dodging speeding vans and vespas (she seemed to always miss the area designated for pedestrian crosswalks and just headed straight into traffic!) – we found Ino, another glorious sandwich shop that rivaled Oil Shop. I got the COSTIERA (stracciatella de burrata, acciugh del cantabricco (anchovy), and olio al limone), and Jane got the ALE (finocchiona, pecorino fresco di maremma, and salsa pepedoro (red pepper jam). It was exactly what we had craved. We shopped for Jane a trench for her plane ride back – found the perfect denim duster and then strolled back up the hill. Today we decided to walk everywhere since Jane will not be able to walk for next to 24 hours the next day on her three flight leg home!

Our final night together we ate our sammies in our room (this was NOT our intention. We wanted to stay in the enormous and gorgeous sunroom enjoying our chilled white wine and lemon soda over our long awaited Italian sandwiches – alas, we were asked to not eat in the common area by the owner. We accepted that this was our one red light on our avenue of greens… so we obliged.) When we finished, we went for an evening stroll and the next morning, Jane left early for her long journey home. I enjoyed my first solo coffee of my trip that morning on the terrace and then made my way to Ad Astra.

After I checked into my new hotel, I wandered up to Piazza Michael Angelo for the view of a lifetime - took in the city, kept quiet and listened to the language. And!! I found my old school! I googled it to find the address. When I arrived… It was definitely not in the same spot it used to be and the young new teachers didn’t know where it was (ahem 15ish) years ago. So I just started walking until I FOUND IT! I got chills when I realized I was there. Hadn’t seen this little gem of an area tucked away in the city center for a decade more. I walked up the stairs and was flooded with memories and youth! The door was shut to the school (siesta timing after all), but that stairwell was all I needed! Felt incredible to be back!

Late afternoon I took myself to Trattoria Cammillo for a very long and very full meal. Roberto sat me (with a wink of course) beside Camille. An American who was doing the same thing I am going to be doing this summer. Living in Europe for three months. She is living in Florence (instead of Paris, like moi) and learning the Italian language (instead of French, like moi). She was so excited! It was fun to see her enthusiasm. Roberto couldn’t have had a bigger crush on her. He invited her out with him when he got off… she blushed! Have I mentioned yet? Love is in the air here! Newlyweds, pregnancies, and (in front of my eyes) budding romances… ahhh these FLIRTS!

Back to my meal… I had a rocket salad with pine nuts and parmesan, then fried artichokes (they were out of sautéed artichokes so ahhhh I had to (with pleasure) eat those tart crispy fried veggies). Then, pasta makes perfect! My first bowl of pasta since in Italy if you can believe it – meat sauce over homemade tagliatelle. It tasted like AIR. Just as I was practically licking the bowl, Roberto came over with another wink and an amaretto digestive. With that… I ask what his favorite dessert was to go with my dessert liquor and that’s when he answered “You're my favorite right now.” I blushed as Camille did — then ordered the flourless chocolate cake. Biss!

Final morning in Florence was bellissimo. Ad Astra looks over a private garden and is full of young, attractive people. There are many couples. The ones who are dining behind me on the terrace are honeymooning, the ones in front of me are baby mooning - I love being surrounded by all this LOVE. It’s in the Italian air!!!!

I took it all in before I cabbed it to Florence Santa Maria Novella train station with Laura (pronounced, loud-a), the most feminine and glamorous taxi driver I have ever seen. I thought… this is quite appropriate… as my week with all women commences! In t-minus 5 mins, I’m off to a weeklong cooking class that I just know will be with all women. I have a hunch! More to come on that in my next EN ROUTE…

ADDRESS BOOK

HOTEL TORRE DI BELLOSGUARDO // Via Roti Michelozzi, 2
1. I learned of this place by way of one of Jonathan Green’s Monday night Charleston Salons. (This is one of my favorite things to attend in Charleston. The coolest, most traveled, attractive, and intellectual people in the Holy City gather weekly to gab about happenings… and obviously give GREAT advice… as this is where I learned of this hotel gem in Firenze!)
2. When I reserved the date, the hotel appeared to be sold out - so I could only secure one of the two nights I needed. Given my running track of green lights - I sent an email with my two night request and held my breath. Only a short day later… could you guess it? There had been a cancellation and Jane and I were inn… oop I mean in for two consecutive nights! My green lights continue…
HOTEL AD ASTRA // Via del Campuccio 53 // INN-CREDIBLE
GUCCI GARDENS // Piazza della Signoria, 10 // Fun fashiony place to people watch and eat beautiful food while admiring the staff’s uniforms — all 100% more expensive and stylish than what I brought for my trip!
VIVOLI GELATERIA // Via Dell'Isola delle Stinche, 7r // Oldest gelateria in Florence. Get the Rice flavor!
INO // Via dei Georgofili, 3r/7r // Greatest sandwich shop. Simple and scrumptious!
TRATTORIA CAMMILLO // Borgo S. Jacopo, 57/r // There is no direct website because the rest of the world hosts them on theirs … Conde Nast Travelers, and Goop readers alike!
OFFICINA PROFUMO FARMACEUTICA SANTA MARIA NOVELLA // Via della Scala, 16, // One of the world’s oldest pharmacies founded in 1220. Jane is now the proud owner of multiple scents!