Photos - As Requested and with Gusto

A lot has happened since we've last written and even more since we've uploaded pictures.  It's been a bit of a challenge for us to will ourselves to take pictures as we're moving through the events, but we're managing.  Since arriving in Florence, we have traveled through the city, to Empoli and Pistoia, to outer-Florence and today, to Bologna.  We are tired.  This post may lack some of our usual pizzaz (that's sarcasm, folks).  Emily adds, "this may be due to the lack of wine before writing" although Ethan knows not of which she speaks.

We'll start by putting up the photos and commenting there.  For those of you with an inexplicable interest in us, we may also add some non-photographed adventures as well.

Way back when we were in Paris, we shared one of the best foods the French have to offer for a lunch in our apartment.  The French have mastered the manipulation of the potato here into wonderful mashed goodness.  Also, they make available rotisserie chickens that are just about perfect.  So, along side some fizzy water and some fruit, we enjoyed this lunch immensely.

Skipping ahead, we arrived in Milan and so like all travelers, we made for Grom.  Eventually, we also went to the Duomo.  It is a beautiful square.  There are even nice men who are willing to tie bracelets on your wrist for money.  If you ask nicely, they'll also alleviate the weight of your wallet.  Avoiding such luxury, we enjoyed the square, the fashion and the food of Milan.  I think I wrote in a previous post, we even found superb Neapolitan pizza. Ethan has failed as an Italian, because while partaking in the Milanese tradition of the apertivo, he found he does not like Campari, despite his best efforts to convince himself otherwise.

St. Ambrogio, the patron saint of Milan is buried in this church, also named for the saint.  The church is a fine example of Italian romanesque. Emily went there because she has taught this church numerous times.

Met up with a good friend, Yoko, who showed us around Padova.  This is in front of the Donatello statue of Gattamelata (the honeyed cat), a famous general who led the city's army in the 15th Century. Next to us is the church of St. Anthony - a major pilgrimage site.

Orsanmichele - take the 15th century guilds of Florence, a few sculptural niches and some of the greatest artistic talent the world has known.  Put them together for one amazing monument.  Our treat?  We happened upon the building when the upstairs rooms were open, meaning that we got to see the actual sculptures from the niches, not the copies that are on the outside of the building today.

One of our favorite restaurants in Florence - you can tell how much we like you if we tell you the name when requested. Also, Rick Steves has no idea this place exists.  Ethan might have mentioned the other night that we were really happy in Florence and his mood had been directly affected by our dinner here.

Empoli - when we told our Florentine landlord that we were headed to Empoli he responded with more than a little confusion.  “E brutto!” (It is ugly), he exclaimed.  This small tondo is what we came to see – I am not kidding.  Art Historians have their own kind of pilgrimages and this particular one took us to the tiny town of Empoli on one of the hottest days of the year.  The town museum, which is attached to the main church, is so small and so infrequently visited that the woman on duty had to turn on lights and open doors for us so that we could see the sculptures and paintings.  She was charming and wanted to know where we were from, let us in for free, and called after us to shut the door when we were finished with the galleries upstairs.  To put the museum and the experience in perspective, it is like a town the size of Crozet or perhaps Warrenton having several works by both major and minor figures of the 15^th century in a 6 room museum.  It gave Emily some small idea of the richness of Renaissance culture, even outside of major centers like Florence.  Also – if you ever find yourself (improbably) in Empoli over lunch, head for the local grocery.  You can buy sandwiches made to order with fresh-sliced meats and cheeses (mmmm mortadella) for about 1.5 euros a piece.  That, my friends, is a steal.

St. Andrea in Pistoia – later the same day as Empoli. (Side note – love the Italian trains!) Another Art Historical pilgrimage to a tiny church with one of the best marble pulpits completed in the 13^th century.  Now, some of you are yawning at this point….so I will tell you about Pistoia.  It is a gorgeous medieval town and has decided to give local middle school students something to do in the summer – they give free tours at the cultural sites in town in all languages.  Just look for the friendly girls in the red tee-shirts and tell them “English.”

As mentioned, Pistoia is a small town.  Still, like we have Starbucks, they have churches.  And of course, they’re all done up in multi-colored marble.  This gem was San Giovanni, the first of the many we passed navigating the medieval streets.  Fortunately, the locals were all kind and helped us right our often wayward path responding kindly,“Niente” – it’s nothing to our thanks.

Any town of size is going to have a Duomo. Empoli did not but Pistoia, which used to be much bigger, did (below). They also had a detached Baptistery. It may look a little familiar and in between the welcomed rain drops, it provided alternately some shade and some shelter.

It seems many of our favorite Florentine restaurants fall on the other side of the Arno. This has been fine as it has resulted in lovely evening strolls back across the bridges. This particular evening we visited Al Trenvai (it’s okay to tell you since Time Out already mentions it). Emily enjoyed zucchini carpaccio and tortelaccio (big tortellini) while Ethan satisfied his requirement for ribolita followed by fried rabbit and scrumptious fried zucchini. In the US, we may make some killer fried Twinkies, but why not more fried zucchini? Come on kids, eat your greens! We followed up our dinner with panna cotta. All in all, a great dinner followed by a nice walk. It was so good, we even skipped Grom that night.

 Last night, this was the view as we ate Grom.  Jealous?   You should be.  Brunelleschi’s dome never seemed so sweet.  Florence is coming to an end, but this memory was so good, we even remembered to photograph it for you.  When are you booking your trip?

 Okay, enough for now.  We’ve done some other great things, like a dinner party with new friends on the edge of the Florentine hills, visited three churches and the Academia in one day and sampled the goods at San Lorenzo market, but we don’t have pictures of those, just memories.  They’re pretty spectacular.  Now, as is always our pleasure, we’re off to find some dinner.  We are looking forward to hearing from you!