Under the Tuscan Sun | Florence

View of Florence from Piazza del Michelanglo

Finally we reached Florence. The place which I've always wanted to go to in Italy. The birth of the Renaissance era started right here. The richness of the art collection here is awe-inspiring and my aim was to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus painting in the Uffizi amongst others. Uffizi is probably the second must-go museum for me after Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Like many European cities, Florence is divided by a river running thru the centre, and the main attractions, ie the heart of Florence is north of the river.

The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery

As mentioned, I did quite a bit of research via my intern coz she is half Italian and Florence is her absolute favourite Italian city so I managed to get lots of tips from her, including where to eat. In fact, I was armed with a list of recommended restaurants. It was a good trip, full of good food (traditional florentine steak- yums).

Bistecca Fiorentina- a classic super thick, juicy T-bone steak, best cut from the famous snowy white Chiana cattle, simply brushed with olive oil and cracked pepper and grilled medium rare over a wood fire. This was a 1.2kg chunk of meat shared between 3 of us. (Neo chose to have rabbit meat instead. Rabbit!!)

Central Florence is very small, all within walking distance but so rich in Renaissance culture that we couldn't take it all in. I guess I have to go back again. We barely went to half of the places on the list from my intern. Now let the pictures roll :)

The Duomo Group in Florence, very impressive. I think I stood there looking up going "wooow"; a talented street artist

Another talented artist; amazing isn't it?

Santa Maria Cathedral, part of the Duomo group; Piazza del Repubblica where we had brunch at Cafe Gilli, the oldest cafe in Florence (since 1733!)
Check out their website http://www.gilli.it/

Cafe Caronas, one of the best geleterias;
On the right is this bronze statue of a hog (Il Porcellino). It's said that if you rub its nose you will return to Florence again and so everyone was crowding round this statue which most likely explains why the nose is so bright and shiny.

Outside the Uffizi Gallery, a replica of statue of David by Michelangelo

Venetian masks at the market
Horse carriage outside the cathedral
The famous Ponte Vecchio bridge. It's interesting because shops line this bridge which is rather different from the normal bridges.

The Arno River

We climbed up many steps to Piazza del Michelangelo for a stunning view of Florence. It was well worth the climb.

The hoodies haha

With Cyn

I have to make a special mention here. My intern told me I HAVE to go to Il Latini for dinner. Might be a bit pricey but it's all worth it. And then I saw that it is the #2 restaurant in my Florence Top 10 book. So all 4 of us were convinced to give it a try. After walking thru the winding small roads, we thought we were lost before I spotted this crowd of people, almost like a queue in a small back lane. I pointed out to them saying "surely this can't be it..." And so it was. Unbelievable.

There was such a long queue outside the restaurant. I thought only Singaporeans would do something like that haha.. so oh well, we persevered and waited in line for almost 45 minutes. The wait was not too bad actually. The waiters served everyone a small glass of free white wine to apologise. When we were brought into the restaurant, it was massive. We ordered the same starters which every table ordered. Parma ham with melon and this barley cum cucumber salad thingy which tasted really good, all to share. For mains, I ordered their grilled steak which the waiter claimed to be small. Gosh, look at the picture.

In what way is it small? haha Naturally I couldn't finish it. I tried my best and stuffed half into my stomach. They served us a small glass of amaretto and almond biscotti after our meal and told us people were still waiting outside, so we got the hint. But as a thank you gesture, they actually gave us a bottle of red wine. Impressed. 2 thumbs up- for their excellent food and service. And we love the fact that it's a very "local restaurant", frequented by mostly locals; meaning food must be good. And it was. burp.
Il Latini
http://www.illatini.com/?lang=en