Firenze, Italy 6
Day 6 was out last day in Florence and the last chance to get treats. After breakfast at B&B, we went to the first store for shopping. On the way we stopped by at Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano, or Church of Saints Michele and Gaetano. We passed by in front of the 16th church at least three times but hadn't seen inside.
The Baroque interior was bold and somewhat dark. We found the perfect light beam above the main alter.
We found another church on our way and stepped inside. The church of Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the oldest in Florence and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was documented from 931 but could have been there earlier.
The stone wall exterior was renovated in the 13th century in Gothic style. The interior was restored in the 17th century. I didn't realize how quiet the church was until we stepped out to the street, which was pretty busy with morning commuters.
Finally we arrived at our first shopping stop - Il Cantuccio di San Lorenzo, an artisan pastry shop specialized in Cantucci. Cantucci are basically biscotti. Biscotti, almond-flavored, double baked cookies were born during the Roman Empire to sustain the Roman army during long marches into battle and then disappeared when the Roman Empire fell. During the Renaissance, a baker in Prato, a city in Tuscany recreated the ancient cookies, which became a Tuscan staple under the new name 'Cantucci.'
The store makes several flavors of Cantucci. Traditional almond, fig & walnut, orange & chocolate, chocolate & hazelnut, etc... We asked a big mix bag of all flavors. Why not?
Our second stop was Vestri. It's a chocolatier, based in Arezzo, a city in eastern Tuscany. The company started as a small family confectionery workshop in 1960s. Today they manages a cocoa plantation in the Dominican Republic and crafts artisan chocolate with natural, selected and top quality ingredients.
We had a tin box filled with various praline we chose. Done!
Next we came back to Biscottificio Antonio Mattei. We bought three kinds of Biscotti and a bag of brioche toasts... I don't know why but they called their cookies Biscotti, not Cantucci.
The upstairs of the shop was a small museum that introduced us the company's history and the product development. We quickly checked it out.
Then we walked to the other side of the river Arno. Next top was S.forno. It was a charming bakery that J found. Not only fresh baked goods, there were dried and jar goods and more. The pastries in the showcase looked very nice. However it wasn't a wise idea to travel with fragile cakes and we knew we have already bought tons of cookies. We just got a hearty loaf.
The Uffizi Gallery was over there. It looked very crowded as always.
We were heading to a cheese store. It was another gorgeous day!
At Formaggioteca Terroir, J chose two kinds of regional hard cheese: Cacio Ubriaco and Cacio al Vinsanto. Both were wine-washed pecorino. The former was immersed in Sangiovese di Montalcino, and the latter in Vin Santo. Both were produced by the Caseificio dei Barbi, the oldest cheese production business still existing in Montalcino, a small hilltop town in Tuscany. The Caseificio dei Barbi is located inside of the large winery of the Fattoria dei Barbi, one of the most historic wine producers in Italy.
J also had a bottle of red wine from Montalcino picked. Done!
Bye-bye to the other side of the river! Next stop was the food court in the Mercato Centrale for lunch.
Hello again, the Basilica of San Lorenzo!
The Mercato Centrale's food court was so busy but we managed to find a table. While I stayed at the table to keep it, J ran to get food for us.
J came back with steamy pork 'ravioli' dumplings. Juicy and tasty!
J made the second run and came back with Truffle Carbonara and fresh orange juice. Delish! I feel we had something with truffle almost every day in Florence. I was happily trapped in the unique aroma.
We stepped down to the ground floor to find a fresh pasta vendor. There was one, of course. We bought Ravioli with spinach and Fagottini with meat. Well done!
Our flight was in the early evening. We had a plenty time to pack all treats somewhere in our luggage. We had a pleasant time in Florence. The birthplace of the Renaissance totally attracted us with stunning masterpieces of art and architecture as well as fantastic cuisine.
