Life in Florence, part II

Sunday, December 29, 2013
I guess we won't be writing 13 anymore in just a couple of days,.....
It was either take a siesta or write on the blog.    So, I decided to write because even though a siesta sounds inviting, it will ruin my sleep tonight.
Let's see, what have I been doing since I last wrote you?   Not much, but I do lots of walking and entering buildings and just enjoying the surroundings.

December 25, 2013 - Christmas Lunch
I have pictures from my Christmas lunch with Maria.... you will see them later.   I never know how to enter them so you can see them at that point.   Let me try......  YIPPEE, I did it!

Here's the primo piato... it's always pasta.  The left one is
tagliatelle, big noodles, with wild boar sauce, black olives, and
parmesano.  On the right are three ravioli with white
cream sauce, stuffed with, what else in Florence?
Spinach and ricotta cheese.  Don't ask me which
one was my favorite.....  couldn't pick one.

This is a side dish of lightly fried vegetables:  carrots, zucchine (the plural of
zucchini is zucchine) and baby artichokes.   It reminded me of
the best tempura I've had.  And, again, the vegetables tasted heavenly!

This is Maria and yours truly toasting to our friendship.

Okay, so this is the secondo piato.... this is the meat plate, or fish
or whatever you order, pretty much animal protein.  The left
is wild boar in a lovely spicy sauce, and the steak on
the right is the famous Tuscan steak.   You'll see where they
get the meat for these.  The steaks usually weigh
1 kilo (2.2 pounds), so I was glad the restaurant
did like a fixed menu, and I didn't have to buy that monstrous
steak, although I certainly would devour it in due time.

Okay, here is the dolce, dessert.  On the left are the spectacular
mascarpone-stuffed little balls, like donut holes, and then
drizzled with dark, dark chocolate sauce.   The one on
the right is merengue, not the dance, of course,
but the egg whites but this was more like an
ice cream, because it was frozen and cold.

Thursday, December 26, 2014
So, I started going on "soup tours".....
I went to the same restaurant that Maria and I ate to have their daily vegetable soup.

It was a sort of creamy soup (all kinds of vegetables) and the green
parts you see are, of course we're in Florence, spinach!  It was
very delicious and different.

There was a large table with a pretty big family like 10 people,
and we said hello very informally.   At the end of their meal,
the waiter brings this cake out with the fireworks all lit up!
I asked if I could take a picture and that did it!   They asked me to join them
I ate some of the cake, which was absolutely delicious and then
here comes the bottle of prosecco.    Even these two little
girls got a cute little glass and they had maybe like 1 ounce.
It was one of those moments you remember.   It was
so spontaneous.

Friday, December 27, 2013
I am going to set a personal goal of tasting as many minestrone soup as I can find.  So, here's that one.
I was walking in the Ponte Vecchio area and I went into a little restaurant, 4 tables!  Ordered the minestrone and it looked like this.   This was some of the best I've ever tasted!

Loaded with tender, fresh veggies of all kinds, and it's not a RED soup,
it's mostly clear broth.   And, I have still to see any pasta in
any of these soups.   I just want to make sure I know what
is the authentic version.

After my soup, I went to the Pitti Palace to see an exhibit of impressionist art that is on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.  But the Italians are so clever.  They don't want the world to think that there were no impressionist painters here in Florence, or in Italy for that matter, and that the French can claim impressionism and their very own.  So, they interspersed Italian impressionist paintings to make their point.   It was a lovely, small exhibit, about 24 paintings:  the beautiful ballet scenes of Degas, those lovely outdoor places from Renoir as well as the still lifemade famous by Gauguin.  I had a lovely time, and then, of course, there is the palace.   Ayayay...It's hard to describe it to you because of its grandeur.   This is the palace at the other side of the Ponte Vecchio where that secret passageway is. On the other side of the Ponte Vecchio was the Medici Palace.  So imagine the goings on in that passage way.   There are many paintings in the museums depicting what they looked like in their incognito comings and goings.   In some of those paintings, the clothes the people are wearing are absolutely unbelievable, very very fancy, lots of head wear, the women used to shave the front of their heads to wear jewelry and lots of hair ornamentation, and lots of very light powder on the skin.   The jewelry was unbelievable... in any case, the rest of the palace is a museum.  Now, it's called the Accademia d'Arte, and the Pitti Palace sort of sits inside.   This is the place where many young people, and older ones, I suppose, come to study art.   When you go by it, you see dozens and dozens of people, looks like in their 20's, sitting outside, in the big flat area, eating what else?   Gelato!  

This is the palace, partial view, because I couldn't get it all in.

This is the inside courtyard and all those arches are part of the palace.
They don't allow photography anywhere inside, so this is it.

I bought my gelato to eat while I walked back to the hotel, plain vanilla like you never tasted before.
At the social hour, I met two couples, one from London and the other one from Moscow.   We all hit it off and had some of the liveliest conversation.  It was entertaining and certainly enlightening to hear all kinds of different points of view.

Saturday, December 28, 2013
A couple of weeks ago, I met a couple who were form Cyprus but now live in Brussels, Linos and Vicky recommended a restaurant near the apartment, so of course, I went today to have lunch:  octopus with potatoes.   It sure doesn't sound like an appetizing combination, but let me tell you:  the octopus was butter-soft, and the potatoes just gently boiled, everything drizzling with the bounty of the oglio nuovo....and just a little parsley thrown in for color.  It was totally superb.  The only other place I have had octopus this good is in Puerto Vallarta, Mexican style, but also superb.

It's true.... simplicity is the best option, and, of course,
the BEST ingredients.  

Remember I told you about a street that was beautifully decorated but I could never get a picture? Well, in my meanderings around this side of the Ponte Vecchio I saw the street!   Look at these decorations, aren't they unique... too bad it wasn't at night because every one of them lights up.

Suspended in the air...

Doesn't it look like they're all flying in a line?

Another view, from the other side....

Sunday, December 29, 2013
Today was dreary, grey, rainy, and windy.... INDOORS DAY!   I got a lot of things done, like repacking my suitcase because when I needed something I had to unpack everything!  Now, what I don't need is on one half of it, and what I use is in the other half.   Believe it or not, it took me a couple of hours.   Then, I came downstairs to work on the larger, faster, computers (MACs) they have here because it takes me forever to type on the Galaxy.  I watched CNN International, only to be depressed about the sorry state of our world.   But, guess what?   Esquire, I think, named Pope Francesco as the Best Dressed Man... and I had not noticed how really elegant he is.   And, then they showed the previous Pope, Benedict, looking so unappealing, it was a little bit awful, but you do have to admire this new rock-star!  Everybody I talk to is so impressed, whether they are Catholic or not.
No soup today, I had some fruit and yogurt in my room, and sliced cherry tomatoes with balsamic vinegar... simple but yummy as well.  
So, this is where that siesta decision started.  I am so glad to put this down.  I don't want to forget anything!  Since I didn't go out today, I will include some pictures I have been taking which catch my attention because the Italians have such style!

This is a public water drinking fountain.   They are all over
where people congregate.

This is a window display in one of the restaurants that I go by, it's all
real.   those two sort of see-through crustaceans I think are
second cousins to shrimp.   They were sure different.
I bet you they are delicious!   Mmmmm, must try.  Look
at the fish behind.

Don't you think these would make some of the best grilled shrimp, or a
shrimp kabob?
Look at the fish in the background... they don't look happy.  Grumpy!

Okay, Paco, this is for you.

This is the little balcony I have outside my room.

This is the view across the balcony.  

This is very lovely terrace where you can have breakfast, except
it's too cold right now, although I have seen people eating
there in the mornings.  The flower box is part
of the balcony.

Well, folks, yabadabadoo! or that's all folks, or arrivederci, or hasta luego.....   More next time.
And, it just might be in 2014!   So, I take advantage of wishing you all THE VERY BEST OF EVERYTHING, AND,  FELICE ANNO NUOVO!