Florence: Cathedrals, Gelato, and Italian Men
My travels continue in Italy...Saturday morning we were a bit more leisurely in the hotel as it was the last day and had to tie up loose ends. We returned to our regular café for one last coffee (or hot milk for Dad) and pastry! We did some people watching in the little town of Loro Ciuffenna. In particular, we watched Wayne. My dad had enjoyed watching all of the people in this sleepy little village, but he liked Wayne the best. Wayne was an older man who could be found slowly strolling up and down the streets of Loro with his hands clasped behind his back clearly in deep thought, or so it seemed. Sometimes he was getting a coffee, sometimes standing on the little bridge peering off into the distance, reflecting on life. Who knows what his name actually was, but my dad decided that he reminded him of our cleaning man, Wayne Lovegren…strange as Wayne has ginger (red) hair and bore very little resemblance to this Italian, but I was willing to go with it. On a side note, my dad also thinks that my cat, Roxy, looks like Wayne too…not sure why the fixation is on Wayne, but it could have something to do with the fact that we used to tease William as a child that Wayne was actually his real father, but I digress…
Once all was settled at the hotel and the car was packed with every last sausage, jar of honey, bar of soap, and red man purse, we were on our way! We headed into Florence, or Firenze, as the Italians say. There, I would part ways with my parents and William as they flew back to the US. We got to Firenze in time to find parking and enjoy one last meal together. We had a quick lunch including vegetable antepasta, radicchio & walnut risotto, salads, and so on… After finishing, we had to say our goodbyes. As my parents drove off, I had a sudden pang of loneliness and a touch of nervousness as I was now alone in Italy and at the time, still unsure of where I would spend my first night!
I walked a few blocks to a B&B I had found online with good reviews and a great price. I found it in a quiet area near the Arno river and across from a theatre. I climbed the 5 stories to the B&B through a dark, old building. At the top, I was greeted by a friendly man who informed me he had given away his last room 5 minutes ago! I was kicking myself the whole 5 flights down for not booking it when I called earlier! Oh well…on to plan B, another B&B also full…I started to get nervous now thinking I might have to spend my entire afternoon searching for a decent bed. I tried the third number I had, for a hostel called Academy. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of staying in a hostel. I have had the hostel experience many a time when backpacking through Europe in college and when studying abroad, but I feel like I have finished with that phase of my life. I no longer want to wake up to use the communal bathrooms and find that the walls and floors are covered in vomit, deal with a hostel shower flooding the bedrooms, or hear thumping music from the hostel bar one floor down. The only reason I even considered this hostel was because on their website they advertised that they were not like the average hostel. They tried to give each customer a more private experience. I called them, and they had a spot for me so I was on my way!
To get to the hostel, which was actually in a great location in the historic center of Florence, I walked along the Arno River. This is a beautiful walk as one can admire the many bridges that traverse this river including the famous Ponte Vecchio. The Renaissance style buildings along the banks are colorful and beautiful creating a wonderful reflection in the water. I was briskly walking to my hostel and taking in the sights, when I heard someone say, “You lost something!” Of course I turned my head and looked up to see a tall, well dressed Italian man of probably 35 or 40 years of age, walking towards me. He said, “You lost your sense of humor!” He went on to ask me why I looked so serious walking through Florence. I briefly explained that I was on the way to my hotel. So he introduced himself and started chatting me up…the usual “where are you from” and “what are you doing here” talk. For an Italian, his English was really good. He told me he worked in women’s fashion (how stereotypically Italian!) and clearly had that womanizing way about him!! Coincidentally, he had actually been to New Jersey many times including the Short Hills Mall and knew many towns in my neck of the woods. I had mentioned that I was in England studying for the month, and so he went on to say “I don’t know if you like Italians, or maybe you just like English men, but perhaps we can take a coffee while you are here!” I said something political along the lines of yes, I like all kinds of people but I have an American boyfriend! He didn’t seem to mind and proceeded to give me his number if I should like to get together while I was visiting! I played along to some extent but I knew there was no chance I would take him up on the offer!! I had always heard the Italian men were forward but now I was experiencing it first hand!
After meandering through Florence, including some of the famous spots like the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza Vecchio, I finally found my hostel! It had a heavy, huge wooden door and a bell to ring. Once buzzed in, I passed through the giant door, and then a metal gate, past a courtyard and up a flight of stairs. I was greeted by a friendly girl with a British accent. She informed me that unfortunately the private rooms were all booked, but I could stay in a 4 or 6 person room. Of course I went with the 4 person, but she warned me I would be with all men. That didn’t bother me at all, so I handed over the credit card and for €28 I had a bed at last!! She showed me to the room and gave me a little LCD lamp to use at night. I have to say that I was pleased with the accommodations and glad to be given a locker as well.
I set off to make the most of the few hours of sunlight I had left in this beautiful Tuscan afternoon! I was first impressed at how busy and touristy Florence was! There were foreigners everywhere which was quite a difference from the small cities we visited earlier. There were Japanese snapping pictures, American students shopping for leather boots, and Spanish school groups at every juncture! The busiest area is close to the river where the streets are closed to traffic and all of the shops are located. They have everything there from the mediocre to the high end Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, and so on. I admired the Duomo, the famous red, white and green tiled cathedral in Florence. It is truly a sight to see and it completely dominates the entire skyline as it is the tallest building in the city. I found the interior of the cathedral much less impressive than the exterior. I quickly crossed the Ponte Vecchio, which was much to jammed with tourists for my liking, and continued on to the opposite side of the river called the Oltrarno. This area is a lot less crowded. It has many antique shops, leather stores, and fancy hotels. As I walked through Florence, I was overcome many a time by the strong scent of leather wafting out of the many shops. Florence is known for its leather goods from the affordable to the out of this world!
After walking for perhaps 30 minutes, I decided to cross back over the river. While I was on the bridge, I stopped in the middle to admire the views and take some pictures. All of a sudden I heard someone saying, “Ciao! Ciao! Ciao!” I finally looked in the direction of the noise and saw that the excited voice came from a short, chubby, balding middle aged Italian man who also had very long noise hairs, in fact they were like little tufts puffing out of his nostrils. He walked over to me, standing very close, and started to talk to me in Italian with the biggest smile. I don’t speak Italian, but it was pretty easy to figure out what he said. He asked if I was European, No…he asked if he could offer me a compliment, and then he told me I was “bellissima,” put his arm around my shoulder, squeezed me, and kissed me on the cheek!! He said that Italian men are very sentimental…I like to think that “horny” is a better word…but anyway, he proceeded to also invite me for coffee. Then I sort of acted like I didn’t understand what he was saying and said goodbye. He kissed me again on the cheek before I walked away…talk about violation of personal space!
I wandered back to the Piazza deln Duomo and found a bench from which I could relax and enjoy the scenery. The sun was lower in the sky so there was some great lighting for photography. I also got out my zoom lens and was enjoying taking pictures of unassuming tourists and locals! Through the camera, I spotted this one middle-aged Italian guy, lurking across from the cathedral, smoking a cigarette and watching the crowd. He looked like he stepped out of The Godfather! I wanted to take his picture, but I was pretty sure he caught me aiming the camera in his direction and the last thing I wanted t o was get on the bad side of a man I decided was probably part of the mafia! So I diverted my attention elsewhere. Not long passed before I heard a voice next to me, I turned and there was my mafia man sitting on the bench next to me! He started to chat me up as well! By this time, I had a story down and told him that I was there with my family and just waiting to meet up with them. He asked me if I would like to get together later and I said I would be with my family. He said then perhaps we can have a drink later on!! I said well I will most likely be out for a late dinner. He said that was ok, there was always time for a late drink! I kept making excuses and then he switched gears, asking me how long I would be in Florence. I said I was leaving for Pisa tomorrow. He asked at what time and I explained I wasn’t sure, just playing it by ear. He said, “Noooo, you are lying, like Pinocchio, your nose is growing!” He eventually got the hint and left me alone!
The sun was going down at this point so I headed back to my hostel to regroup. I used the free internet to get caught up on my correspondences. Then I noticed a guy sitting at the computer in front of me, and in fact I remembered he had been in that exact same spot when I left the hostel a few hours ago! When I was finished emailing, I said Hi to him and asked if he had been sitting at that computer all day. He said no, and then offered to share his bottle of red wine with me! So we sat down in the hostel kitchen and got acquainted. His name was David, and he was also traveling alone through Italy. He was half Australian and half Chinese but lived now in Malaysia, but had lived at different times in Indonesia and South Africa, just to name a few! He had come to Italy for the first time recently for work and really loved it and so he decided to plan a 2 week journey through Italy. He had just come up north after spending the past week or so in Sicily and southern Italy. We chatted until the bottle was gone and then decided to get dinner together!
I was happy to have a non-threatening male escort to fend off the feisty local men! We bundled up and wandered out of the hotel to find a restaurant that wasn’t too touristy. This apparently is not too easy to find in the center of Florence but nonetheless we found a suitable place. We shared another bottle of wine, some acqua frizzante, and tried some Italian dishes! I had something called, Gnudi (I really like the sound of that word!), which I had never heard of before but noticed at the next table. It was basically a ball made of spinach and ricotta cheese, although I am sure there was more involved than that. And it was in a milky kind of sauce. Being that I have some what of a love affair with ricotta cheese, I absolutely loved this! Why haven’t I ever seen this in the US?? For dessert, we shared tiramisu and chocolate cake (which was like a rich delicious brownie). We exchanged travel stories, Italian experiences, medicine, and I learned about his interesting life! Then we decided to stroll around Florence. It was still quite busy with tourists and locals alike. There were some people playing music in the streets and young people congregating. We decided to treat ourselves to a 2nd dessert and have some gelato! I tried a mixed berry flavor and he had Kinder gelato (Kinder brand chocolates are my new guilty pleasure). We enjoyed this while taking in the beautiful historic sites of Florence at night! When every last drop of gelato was consumed, we headed back to the hostel as both of us planned to get up early and enjoy the city. Coincidentally, David ended up being one of the guys with whom I was sharing a room!
I settled into my little cot, with my LCD night light, popped in my ear plugs and donned my eye patch and I was off to sleep. A few hours later, I awoke when our Italian roommates came in from a night out on the town. Once they settled in, it wasn’t long before one of them was very loudly snoring-loud enough that I could hear it through my earplugs. Not only did he snore, but after a few seconds of snoring, he would go into a phase of heavy breathing, and so the pattern went. It actually sounded like he was suffocating and trying to breath. Of course I have to end up rooming with the dude who drank so much he has sleep apnea! But I guess it could have been worse, at least he didn’t puke all over the bathroom…
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