I’m not certain, but I may have previously mentioned that I love Florence, so it seemed like a logical starting point for my Totally Subjective Guide series. Branded “Totally Subjective,” of course, because these are things and places that I liked, and I want to cover my a* in case others do not like them as much or indeed at all. And so, without further ado …
EAT
Trattoria Za Za
www.trattoriazaza.it
Piazza del Mercato Centrale, 26r
Completely obvious recommendation because every man and his dog recommends it, but this place really lives up to all the hype. Za Za’s premises have expanded significantly, so getting a table is nowhere near as hard as it used to be, but they are still consistently packed out (er, despite what the above photo may suggest), so making a reservation may be a good idea (although I did not). Service is friendly tending towards polite, and also fast (not fast as in rush-you-out-the-door-fast, just fast considering how many diners they have).
My favourite dish is the chicken with truffle sauce, and my meal is always followed up with strawberries in some kind of Custard from Heaven. I super recommend this.
Trattoria Pallottino
www.trattoriapallottino.com
Via Isola della Stinche, 1r
{scene of the lemon showers incident}
Oh my, this place has just the best tomato bruschetta on planet Earth. Ok, so I haven’t tried all the tomato bruschetta on planet Earth, but I have eaten a lot of tomato bruschetta, and Trattoria Pallottino does it best (in my Totally Subjective Opinion, of course). The rest of the food is great, too, because you were probably wondering about that and contemplating something beyond a mere antipasto. Traditional Italian meals in generous serves and, as a bonus, Pallottino is next to (or a couple of doors down from) Vivoli (just look for the queue), so you can have awesome gelato as a chaser. Not that I am saying that Pallottino’s dessert is no good, mind you, just that you may (also) like some gelato.
Osteria De’Benci
Via de’Benci, 13
Many of the waiters at De’Benci kind of look like they just rolled out of a party … or bed … (ie cute but disheveled) (one had dreadlocks and I spent a significant part of the meal giving him a mental makeover, lol), but the service is relaxed and friendly and the food is totally fantastic. The tomato bruschetta cost eight euros, though. I remember this because I thought Lord, that is pricey for some diced tomato on a slice of bread (couldn’t quite shake the habit of applying the exchange rate and estimating how much things were costing in Australian dollars). Somehow, the price of tomato bruschetta became my Default Barometer for how expensive a restaurant was (three to five euros appeared to be the standard), but peculiarly (and thankfully) enough, De’Benci wasn’t otherwise overpriced. I had what was quite possibly the best pasta of my life – cherry tomatoes, basil, flaked parmesan … simple but So. Freakin’. Good! There are several super-trendy-looking bars in the vicinity but they were too super-trendy-looking for me so I gave them a miss. But if you are of the super-trendy variety of human you may wish to check them out.
Francescovini
www.francescovini.com
Borgo dei Greci, 7r – Piazza de’Peruzzi, 8r
Great octopus salad! Nice pasta. Nice pizza. Nice coffee. Nice service. This is really just a nice place to go for a good meal. I had both dinner and lunch there, and it was lovely both times.
Note di Vino
www.notedivino.it
Borgo dei Greci, 4/6r
Alright, I cannot personally vouch for this place because every time I went past it was completely full and I was too hungry to wait for a table, but as I gazed longingly at other people’s meals whilst contemplating level of hunger versus level of patience, I noted that the food looked so so good! So it may be somewhere that you would like to try.
Bar Vittoria
Via Proconsolo, 34/36
I have previously blogged about this place but just wanted to include it in this list for the sake of completeness!
Bar Gelateria Signoria
Via Vacchereccia, 10
Firstly, I have to say thank goodness for Google maps! This place (the Bar, not Google maps) is often my pit stop for lunch when I am in Florence but I have never been clever enough to take note of the name, I just remember where it is. So I used ever-trusty Google maps to check out the street view and find out the name. Ah, technology. Anyway. Loads of fresh panini and gelato as well as beer in the fridge, should you be so inclined. No seats or tables, though, so you’ll need to find somewhere else to sit. But don’t bother trying to sit under the loggia in Piazza della Signoria with your panini, for a man clad in a vest will yell at you before you’ve even had a chance to see the sign bearing a stylized representation of a burger with a bigass red cross through it. So I’ve, um, heard …
Migone Confetti
Via Calzaiuoli, 85r
An old-fashioned confectionery store … hooray, sugar! Oh incidentally, I can’t remember exactly where this was, but somewhere in Italy I was given coffee with sugar in packets branded “Daddy,” which totally cracked me up.
Mercato Centrale
Er, Mercato Centrale
Fabulous undercover market with all that your little foodie heart desires, including some things that it was probably better off not seeing (skinned animal’s heads, anyone?). But don’t let that put you off. Upstairs is full of fresh fruit!
Bar La Borsa
Via Por Santa Maria, 70
Peddles Giant Meringues and all sorts of other pastry delights, including totally delicious, custard-filled croissants covered in sparkly sugar that are seriously just … I am lost for words (for once!).
La Bottega del Gelato
Via Por Santa Maria, 33r
This place is actually very cool (no pun intended, what with the nature of its wares and all) and not your usual gelato store, for it sells gelato on sticks. Like paddle pops but SO much better! I had raspberry (lampone) on one occasion and then mint dipped in chocolate on another and they were seriously delicious. The service is friendly, too.
Corona’s Café
Corner Via del Corso and Via Calzaiuoli
Cute but slightly aloof waiters in waistcoats. Also employs female staff. This place is largely full of locals and serves gelato, coffee, panini and pastries. I had a very nice croissant with some kind of jam in it. I ate a lot of pastry in Italy. It got indescribably worse in Paris, for the pastries there were even better.
SLEEP*
* or at least try to
Whilst in Florence, I stayed at Canto de Nelli, which I previously wrote about here. It was a very lovely place in a great location and with excellent views, but you may want to seriously think about whether to stay here if you do not have the ability to sleep through oh, I don’t know, the Second Coming. Unfortunately, along with the great location came Great Noise and truly, I barely slept the entire time that I was there (which is probably why I had my meltdown). The San Lorenzo markets are quite literally right outside your window (though obviously at street level and not levitating), which is fine during the day (very atmospheric and interesting to watch from above and everything), but they start to set up at about 4.30am … and when the clean-up crews (including unbelievably noisy street sweepers) don’t finish until about 1.00am and people spend the balance of the time milling around in the empty square being Very Loud and Shouty, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of opportunity for slumber. The windows have two sets of shutters (inside and out) but are not double-glazed, so the noise is not reduced very much. This is a trite comment, I know, but during my stay I came a small way towards understanding why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture! On my second last night (make that morning), I found myself crying my eyes out at about 4.00am, lol, because I was so tired and I simply could not sleep. It’s a shame, because the place is lovely, but if you are a light sleeper and want to stay there, I highly recommend that you take earplugs of some description. Or valium. Or an anvil with which to knock yourself out, Wile E. Coyote-style.
SPEND
In this section, it will become painfully apparent that I quite like stationery.
Fabriano Boutique
www.fabrianoboutique.com
Via del Corso, 59r
This is a very, very awesome store full of things on which I could have spent my hard-earned cash. They describe themselves as a “luxury stationer’s” and they have simply beautiful diaries, journals, pens, pencils, wallets, bags, cards, albums … I can’t do them justice so perhaps it may be best to just check out their website!
Signum
www.signumfirenze.it
(various locations listed on website)
Lovely store that sells stationery, cards, prints, pens, pencils, postcards and other assorted stationery in the traditional Florentine style.
Johnson’s & Relatives
Via del Proconsolo, 26r
This very un-Italian-sounding store sells yet more stationery!
Cartoleria Ecologia
www.cartoleriaecologia.it
Via degli Ablizi, 60r
This was an interesting store. From memory I think it had toys or something in there as well, and I initially wasn’t going to go in because it looked like a kid’s store, but it also has cute and quirky journals, notepads and other stationery.
Carteria Tassotti
www.tassotti.it
Via dei Servi, 9/11r
Lots of Florentine-style stationery as well as assorted prints in various sizes … I bought many, many prints here as they were so reasonably priced, and figure I will just get matting made up for them and then stick them in Ikea frames ;)
Giulio Giannini e Figlio
www.giuliogiannini.it
Piazza de Pitti, 37r
Very stylish and gorgeous traditional stationery, including journals, diaries, prints, pencils, writing sets and wrapping paper. Kept inhaling sharply because I kept seeing things that I loved! Pretty expensive, although the quality is excellent, so you definitely get what you pay for.
Lo Spillo
Borgo San Jacopo, 72r
Hiroko Uzielli works from this tiny but lovely store making beautifully intricate (but reasonably-priced) jewellery. Hiroko is so friendly, and her signature style features freshwater pearls and semi-precious stones wrapped in wire to form unusual pieces that are so very pretty! I am totally in love with the earrings that I bought!
Pitti Vintage
www.pittivintage.com
Sdrucciolo de Pitti, 19r
Vintage shoes, clothing and handbags in the heart of Oltrarno.
Ortigia
www.ortigia.com
Borgo San Jacopo, 12r
Very sleek store selling bath and body products as well as room sprays and candles with super-enticing scents like Sicilian lime, orange blossom, geranium, neroli honey and pomegranate. Just be sure to perforate the seals properly (if you read my “lemon showers” post you will understand why I say this!).
WANDER & SEE
Oltrarno
I think that all of Florence is beautiful, but I very much love Oltrarno in particular. The area is full of artisans and it is great fun to wander through the streets and peek in through the open doors to their workshops and see them in action. A nice walk is to cross the Ponte Vecchio, which runs into Via de’Guicciardini, and then explore the streets off to the right (when your back is to the river).
Piazzale Michelangelo
Yet another obvious choice, but the panoramic view of Florence from the Piazzale really is gorgeous at any time of day or night, and is well worth the climb up the hill. It's probably not as taxing for people with a higher level of fitness than me (ie anything above zero), so don't let the hill thing put you off!
Campanile
You can climb to the top of both the Duomo and the Campanile, but the benefit of the latter is the lovely view of the cupola, which dominates Florence’s skyline and is pretty much synonymous with the city. The Campanile also has slightly fewer stairs (although beyond a certain point, what does it really matter, lol), a couple of levels on which you can take a breather whilst pretending to be “taking in the view,” and less visitors (from what I could tell, anyway).
