Of Food and Feet

There are so many noticeable things in this amazing city, but I feel the need to expound on two this evening, as I sit in our apartment with the kids, recovering from more food and alcohol.

Let me begin with food.  I was up pretty early, but the kids slept late (amateurs), and so we found ourselves heading out around 11 am and stopping at a caffeteria and pasticceria to grab a cappuccino and something for breakfast.  Ohhhhhh.  So, for a total of 10 euros for all 4 of us, we got three coffee drinks and four amazing pastries.  I chose a "torta della nonna," just because of the name, and ended up ecstatically enjoying a custard-filled delicacy with toasted almonds on top.  Even the cappuccino was gorgeous, with the foamy milk poured into an artful swirl of dairy goodness.  Full of Florentine morning happiness, we then set off to find the train station (which will be in tomorrow's activities), see the Duomo, and generally walk about.

As we walked, we all noticied that Italians just wear way nicer shoes than we do.  At one point, a bum passed us on the street (and yes, I mean it; he had long, unwashed hair, shuffled along, smelled awful)...and he had nicer shoes than we did!  I swear.  The women here don't wear high heels, mostly; they would really be impossible on these cobble streets.  But, their flats and sneakers are all fashionable and amazing and expensive-looking.  If I lived here, I would definitely need to buy some more shoes.  In fact, I may just have to snag a pair before I go home, just 'cause.  :-)  Kids?  Nicer shoes than us.  Babies?  Nicer shoes than us.  Horses?  Nicer shoes than us!!

We did see the Duomo today, and bought our museum passes for next week, and bought our train tickets to Pisa for tomorrow, and did a lot of walking and saw a lot of nice shoes.  We went into the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, and maybe it is the Catholic in me, but if churches in Roseville looked like that, I'd go to church a little more often.  Just standing inside that church made me feel, well, closer to God.  The fact that much of it was built in the 14th century is even more amazing. I lit a candle for my mom, which I do in the first church I go into in ANY foreign city.  

After church touring, we decided to walk back toward the apartment and get something to eat along he way.  We popped into a pizza place, which consisted mostly of focaccia sandwiches.  I had a frittata sandwich of eggs, onions, and spinach.  The focaccia was exactly as I remembered from my childhood: crunchy outside, oily inside, yummy all over.  Zeph had sopressata, which is like salami but with bigger chunks of fat in it (or, as Sara said, "I don't know what this is, but it's really fatty and completely wonderful!")  Alec had fontina and prosciutto speck (which is more like ham), and Sara had mortadella.  Each sandwich was only 2.50 euros - again, really affordable.  

The kids went to the grocery store to get some breakfast foods and staples, and then we sat at the apartment and made plans for tomorrow's trip and read and chatted.  Then, it was time for dinner!!  Egads, the food is ruling us!  We went to another local (less than a block away) place and had more great food, ending with two crepes (one orange and grandmarnier, the other nutella and banana) and we each got a shot of limoncello for free from the bartender.  We waddled home to recover and finish our plans for tomorrow, which include seeing the tiny town where my grandfather grew up.    

Quote of the trip so far was from Zeph (my adorable son-in-law, who keeps talking in an Italian accent that makes him sound like one of the Mario Brothers): "After a bottle of wine, everything here makes sense."  Well put, my son, well put.  Let's endeavor to make sure that every day here makes sense!!

Ciao, my friends...