After having endless pasta and pizza I finally sat down to a square meal with meat, potatoes and dessert, and it was the best meal in the nicest piazza yet.
Florence is so different from Rome, it seems more ordered, it’s flat for a start, the distances between things don’t seem so far, and the buildings and streets a lot tidier. Rome’s streets are covered in graffiti and the pavings are random and broken; in Florence it’s all a bit smarter.
Luca texted me to say I should go to his favourite restaurant south of the river; Trattoria Gustapanino in Piazza San Spirito, and linked me to the owner, Pasquale, who greeted me like an old friend, he remembered Luca because, apparently, ‘he came here many times. . . .’.
I was told to order off menu, the bistecca, it was probably the best steak I have ever enjoyed; large, super tender, rare and covered in a kind of creamy buttery, mustard, sauce with capers – served with patate (roast potatoes). An Apperol Spritz to start, the recommended Montepulciano and tiramisu to end – all in a big piazza with no cars or scooters, and none of those annoying street-vendors bothering you with their trinkets – and the place was packed.
I crossed the bridge at dust on my way back to the hotel and it’s impossible to not pause here and just soak up the light the openness and sheer beauty of this place. The busker was playing classical-style folk music on a classical guitar amplified with a piano backing tracks, just right, no Moondance, Brown Eyed Girl or Hallelujah, here.
This 3 star hotel has a charming open-air breakfast area and a free breakfast! Today is my only full day in Firenze so it’s going to be the Uffizi, and apparently I need to get a biglietti from the man square. No Lime scooters here, it’s bus or walking. Ciao.
