I Promise There is More to Florence than Churches...but we do really do love them

I know it seems like we go to a lot of churches but let's face it, this is Italy so there are a lot of churches especially in the birthplace of the Renaissance.  Florence had a very large artist population and aristocrats (particularly the Medici family) and the government were supporters of the arts and churches were a good place to showcase them...though Michelangelo's "David" used to sit in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.  We do visit museums and galleries but we are more of the look at the highlights and move on versus spending hours upon hours reading everything in them.  As proof, here are a few pics of our visit to the Uffizi but with the exception of two Botticellis, I did not get a lot photos of many specific pieces of artwork.

As we were heading to the Uffizi, we passed Palazzo Vecchio where we saw how the construction team has to get supplies into the very old building with basically non-existent freight elevators.

While most of the churches in Florence are Roman Catholic, there are a few other denominations.  Saints Simon and Jude is part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. 

Italy has made many great contributions to the world, but perhaps the best has to be the affogato!  If you like gelato and espresso, then this is definitely the treat for you!  Vivoli Gelateria is one of the best places to enjoy this delicious combination of hot and cold.  When we first went by, it was on a weekend and the place was slammed so we just had some gelato and sat on a bench across from the shop so I would suggest avoiding Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.  We returned on a Friday around 11:00AM and were able to have a seat inside (very small -- maybe 6 tables) and enjoy the affogato.  

Church of San Fillippo Neri

My birthday celebration continued past my actual birthday (as it should) and we had dinner the night after at Trattoria Zà Zà around the corner from our place. A popular dish in Tuscany is anything with chingale (wild boar).  I have had it in the past and while it is tasty, I do suggest eating in small doses as it is a bit gamey for American tummies.  We shared a pasta course with a chingale ragu so LuLu could try it.  For our main course, we shared a steak with arugula (aka rocket) and parmesan and  chicken Florentine fried chicken  (translation...chicken tenders).  A side of truffle fries was a must as it is the house specialty.  We ended up bringing half of each home as it was so much and we wanted to save room for the flourless chocolate cake with mascarpone cream.

A little history and trivia...back in the medieval times, Florence and Pisa were a little at odds.  Pisa controlled the salt sold to Florence and decided to increase the tax for Florentines.  Salt was one of the most important ingredients in bread and bread was the primary food of the day.  The Florentines said they would rather not put salt in their bread than to pay the higher taxes and thus the famous no-salt bread of Florence was born.  In keeping with tradition, the bread is still made without salt in Florence still today.  When we went to Roberto's for the wine tasting, Tommy told us the best way to eat the bread is to drizzle olive oil (but not a tear drop...a good dousing of oil) and sprinkle a little salt. 

We have been pretty lucky with the weather (as far as rain) during our time in Italy so it stands to reason we should have a little rain on our way to mass on Sunday but fortunately it cleared up by the time mass was over and we could explore more of Florence.

Santi Apostoli celebrates mass in English on Sundays at 10:15 and Fr. Kramer gives a good homily.  We talked with him after mass and learned he is from Canada but went seminary in Connecticut then moved to Rome for five years and and has been here in Florence for the last seven years.  The church was built a little over 1,000 years ago and in addition to some beautiful artwork also has a stone from Jesus' tomb (in the case under the crucifix in the photo below) .

Every bakery we pass has these giant meringues and we finally broke down and tried one after mass.  It was definitely full of sugar and gave us quite the boost. While in the bakery, they had these pretty wrapped treats so we picked up one.  Later at the apartment we discovered it was the Italian version of fruit cake...the weight should have given it away!  I am normally not a fan of fruit cake but this one was not terrible, however, I did leave it for LuLu.

While walking around we stumbled across an old fashioned photo booth...complete with black and white photos!  It took the first two photos before we realized LuLu was too close...definitely out of practice with photo booths!

A stroll across the Ponte Vecchio brings you to Oltrarno (other side of the Arno).  It is a little less hectic than the main part of Florence and has much narrower streets...and of course churches.

 

As we were entering Santa Felicita, there was a group of Girl Scouts selling cookies...but not the boxed ones like we have in the US.  All their cookies were homemade so of course we bought a bag and they were tasty!  Santa Felicita is a lovely church and of course we saw our old friend, St. Anthony!

Another beautiful church in Oltrarno is the Basilica of Santo Spirito (Holy Spirit) but unfortunately they do not allow photos.  One of the architects was Bruneschelli...yes the same one that designed the Duomo.  You can see the similarities in the dome of both churches.  Another one of the prized items in the church is Michelangelo's Crucifix.  It truly was a beautiful church with an impressive 38 side altars and I would definitely recommend a visit.

We have logged 92,387 steps since arriving in Florence and we are still smiling.  As long as there is gelato and espresso, we are good for another 92,387 steps!