Florence (Firenze) has a small little airport with a friendly staff who we became familiar with because our bags didn’t make it from Paris. We ran into an American couple who could not get cash out of the ATM, so we offered them a ride in our cab to the hotel. The cab ride from the airport into the old city of Florence was a feast for the eyes.

We got to our hotel, the magnificent Palazzo Guadagni, in Piazza Santo Spirito where the Basilica of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito is located. The hotel was home to the Guadagni family for many years (it was built in the 1500s) and has now been restored to its former glory. It is an gorgeous little hotel, far from the madding crowd. Piazza Santo Spirito is on the left side of the River Arno that divides the city in half, and called the Oltrarno. The other side of the river is milling with tourists, but the Oltrarno is as quiet as can be, a perfect way to get to know the real Florence if you will.

The hotel is on the third floor of the Palazzo, and while we checked in we waited in the stunning loggia overlooking the piazza and all those terracotta rooftops and with amazing views of the Tuscan hills in the distance. This is where we would have our evening aperitif of Prosecco and a little snack.

Our hotel room (my cousin and I shared the room). It was like stepping into an old Indian home, so spacious and full of beautiful light.

After checking in, we finally got to meet the talented duo of Bianca Gignac of the Italian Fix and Leela Cyd. I felt so deeply grateful that they had picked me to go as the winner of this week in Florence. We also met the other lovely ladies in the group and made our introductions. After prosecco and chit-chatting, we followed our fearless leader Bianca and walked a couple of blocks away to a most fabulous dinner dinner at Osteria Del Cinghiale Bianco (White Boar). After dinner, we stopped at the bridge, Ponte Santa Trinita, to get a view of the twinkling lights of Florence and the bridges over the Arno. including the Ponte Vecchio. We had just had some delicious panna cotta with wild berries, but surely there was room for some gelato and espresso? Si? Si. Grazie mille. So we walked another couple of blocks and had coffee and gelato at Caffe degli Artigiani located in a small little piazza. Bianca took us another couple of blocks and right there in front of us was the Palazzo Pitti (the Pitti Palace) which has the famous Boboli Gardens behind it. Side note : If you want a great summer book read, you must get Inferno by Dan Brown. I read it after returning from Florence and it was just so cool to read about all the places we had been to!

Here is a map of our walking trip on the arrival evening : MAP

Here are some cell phone photos. I often made a conscious decision to not lug my camera around. I find that it takes away from the experience when you always see life through the lens.

The next morning, we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant (pics of that later) and went down to the Piazza to check out the market. Every morning, stalls would be set up for flowers, fruits and vegetables, bread and cheese, beer and wine, clothes and shoes, purses. Pretty much your daily essentials. If you never left the piazza in your entire life, you would be fine. I love that so much. All the locals seemed to know each other and old ladies were examining the produce and (i guess) deciding what to make for lunch or dinner that day. I love that local and organic are not just buzz words, they are a way of life in most parts of the world. People are so proud of the produce and wine and cheese from their area, a very sustainable approach to good food.

More cell phone photos:

After the trip to the market, it was time to start our photography workshop. Day 1 was FOOD. Leela had set up an amazing tableau of local food on a table in the loggia and taught us some techniques for great food photography. I absolutely loved watching her in action. She is such an excellent and patient teacher.

All of us were having so much fun that the three hours flew by and it was time for lunch. We went across the Piazza to Osteria Santo Spirito for another magnificent meal. By now we had all learned it was best to leave it up to Bianca. She speaks fluent italian and knew what to order and made us try things we might not have otherwise. Thanks Bianca. Italian food has such simple ingredients but somehow the taste cannot be replicated here (i tried). The ingredients, the produce are just not the same. Plus it makes a big difference when you are actually eating in a restaurant, in a piazza, in Florence. Location baby.

There would be no siesta after this glorious lunch. Bianca said we were all going to stay up, no resting on the first day so we could all reset our body clocks for the rest of the week. She was so right! So after lunch, we met the dynamic Freya Middleton of Freya’s Florence.  DYNAMIC. She made us care about the window and arches and buildings and history and architecture. Now I am normally the kind of person who tunes out when presented with a lot of information. But not with Freya. She kept us interested every step of the way as she showed us around the sites of Florence. A fantastic art installation called Di fragilità e potenza (On Fragility and Power) by Italian artist Federico Gori that we chanced upon in CCC Strozzina while we were taking a shortcut to somewhere else. There is so much to do and see in Firenze, it is impossible to see it all in a week, a month or even a year.

We made our way to Orsanmichele . The third floor is open only on Mondays and we got a great view of the city from there.. not to mention seeing the statues of the 14 merchant guilds in the arches around the church, two of which were made by Donatello. Fascinating history and kind of mind blowing that all this was happening in the 1300s.

A stop at  Caffe Giacosa (aka Cavalli Cafe.. yes, Roberto Cavalli) for a pick me up.

We ended our tour at the amazing Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella .

After the tour, we headed to our last stop of the day, a fabulous three course dinner with wine tasting at Ristorante Accademia.

Ciao!
Rashmi