An oh, too brief day in Florence
I woke a little bit like a kid on Christmas morning the day we planned to travel to Florence. A two hour drive north, we had to leave early in order to take full advantage of the markets and specialty food shops before they closed for the afternoon siesta at 1pm. In particular I wanted to visit the Mercato Centrale, an imposing purpose-built space opened in 1874. Yes, I'd read that the nearby Sant' Ambrogio market might be friendlier, but this sounded like a spectacular one-stop-shop kind of place that would showcase the very best of Tuscany's famous produce.
After two hours of white-knuckled driving up the A1, we spent what seemed like the same amount of time driving down pedestrian-packed one way alleys trying to get through Florence to the Mercato and more importantly, the parking lot underneath it. Maps were no help and when I tried Google Maps it told us to park immediately and walk the rest of the way. We probably should have, but ever determined, we continued driving in circles until we succeeded. Time for just a quick cappuccino before we headed into the fray (and while we stood at the bar more than a couple of market workers stopped by for a quick glass of wine).It is a lovely space and I kept saying over and over how terrific it would be to live nearby and be able to do our daily shopping here. Markets are among my favorite things, but in a location where I'm not going home to cook, I miss the banter with the sellers and the trading recipes with fellow shoppers as my basket grows steadily heavier with goodies to take home and cook. We did pick up a small block of lardo and some sliced bresola that was out of this world. A huge block of parmesan joined our basket and I flirted with the idea of getting a truffle or two.
After two hours of white-knuckled driving up the A1, we spent what seemed like the same amount of time driving down pedestrian-packed one way alleys trying to get through Florence to the Mercato and more importantly, the parking lot underneath it. Maps were no help and when I tried Google Maps it told us to park immediately and walk the rest of the way. We probably should have, but ever determined, we continued driving in circles until we succeeded. Time for just a quick cappuccino before we headed into the fray (and while we stood at the bar more than a couple of market workers stopped by for a quick glass of wine).It is a lovely space and I kept saying over and over how terrific it would be to live nearby and be able to do our daily shopping here. Markets are among my favorite things, but in a location where I'm not going home to cook, I miss the banter with the sellers and the trading recipes with fellow shoppers as my basket grows steadily heavier with goodies to take home and cook. We did pick up a small block of lardo and some sliced bresola that was out of this world. A huge block of parmesan joined our basket and I flirted with the idea of getting a truffle or two.