Day trip to Florence
Firenze is Florence in Italian. It was a small thrill that we could get on a train and go there; it was almost just that simple. But the real purpose of the trip was to help Rosanne get settled there before she flies home on Sunday. It had rained all night and looked pretty threatening all day so we took a taxi to the train station. It cost an astounding €15. Crazy.
Ken, rolling Rosanne’s suitcase through the very wet Piazza del Duomo
Anyway…we caught the train which took about an hour and 20 minutes. Walked (easily for Rosi and me, not so much for Ken with Rosi’s luggage in tow) right by the duomo! and to Tourist House Ghiberti where Rosanne got checked in.
Next mission was lunch. We went on a mini tour of the Mercato Centrale, buying some truffle salt at Conti. I thought we would just eat upstairs, but when we got up there it was so crowded we couldn’t see a table anywhere! Last time Ken and I were there, in spring of 2014, there were about 8 people up there; I think it had just opened and we were there at an off hour. Anyway, it was too much to deal with so we left and went to Trattoria Za Za, a place my friend Sandi loves.
for Sandi.
We had a great lunch there, in the outside area. There were blankets on the backs of the chairs but it really wan’t cold, just stormy. When the winds started blowing they electronically raised the glass panels on the edges of the patio for protection. Lunch started with a very refreshing spritz–the first one of the trip. Rosi and I shared a very interesting salad of artichoke carpaccio with shaved parmigiano and black truffles–really nice flavor combination. And we shared a grilled veal steak with roasted potatoes. Ken cleaned his plate of pappardelle with wild boar (cinghiale) sauce.
Rosi really wanted to revisit the Medici Chapel so that was our next stop. Watching her soaking up the art mixed with her past experiences as a student here in Florence made it all the better.
Medici floor
The weather was really threatening, so we went to the nearby Santa Maria Novella church where we had never been before. It was so gorgeous and so full of beautiful art it would be the highlight of any other city, but here in Florence it’s almost an after thought.
Found this della Robbia work in the bookstore of the church
We said an all too quick goodbye to Rosanne scampered to the train station just in time. By the time we had our tickets it was really raining! The ride back, it rained the whole time and it was still coming down when we got back to Lucca.
We took off our damp clothes and I heated up some leftovers and we had salad and that was dinner.
It was a great day despite the stormy weather! We were sorry to see Rosi leave as we appreciated her great travel companioning and friendship.
Lovely post and so much fun even in the rain. My daughter worked as a hostess at Za Za during a time after her undergraduate college graduation so that restaurant has always held a fun memory for me too. Florence is such a special city.
Thanks for the reports…sounds like you are having a great trip.
One comment….
“Firenze is Florence in Italian.”
In fact Florence is Firenze in English. 🙂
If you have a chance in Lucca, have a meal at Vecchia Trattoria Buralli in the Piazza Sant’Agostino. Tuscan fried chicken with fried vegetables……yum!!!!
so right! and thanks for the restaurant rec.
You have reminded me it is way too long since we have been in Firenze. I am way behind because Martin’s sister died unexpectedly on .minday. We were not up to trip to Virginia on such short notice, but tI volunteered to call all the cousins. Looking forward to catching up.