Florence: More than a sparkling jewel box of art
When I was 17, my mom Malu Veloso took me on my first trip to Europe. Stepping off the train on a day trip to Florence from Rome, we found ourselves without a plan to explore the city. Yet just walking from the train station led us to numerous treasures—lively piazzas; a magnificent, candy-colored cathedral; sparkling fountains; seemingly random statues and sculptures here and there. Florence is that small, and that steeped in the art of centuries.
Florence was a center for the Renaissance which flourished from as early as the late 13th to the first part of the 17th century, a response to the previous, darker Middle Ages. Key figures like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael were supported by many wealthy families such as the Medicis. The family of Cosimo de’ Medici, for example, owned the largest banking network in Europe and patronized artists, architects and writers.
As a result, Florence then and now is like a sparkling jewel box of art treasures. The gems of the Uffizi Gallery include Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and Caravaggio’s “Medusa.” The Academia’s many other jewels are overshadowed by Michelangelo’s “David.” The Pitti Palace houses, aside from Medici heirlooms, the magnificent Museum of Costume and Fashion. All this is just the tip of the iceberg. The museums contain so many paintings and sculptures that perhaps I should compare Florence more to a box of chocolate which, when consumed in excess, can lead to a surfeit of sweetness.
I recently returned to Florence, this time with my husband and kids. As with many family adventures, it was clear that not everyone’s interests were on the same page. It’s a good thing that Florence has much to offer apart from art—Tuscan cuisine, designer and vintage fashion, lovely gardens and fascinating walks. It worked out that while my daughters and I spent time going through the excellent vintage shops, the boys could go off sightseeing on their own.
We were unanimously wowed, though, by our incredibly beautiful apartment in an historical 13th century building. It was just a stone’s throw away from Ponte Vecchio, the bridge lined with jewelry shops. Located on the Via delle Terme and hosted by Shelby and Nicco on Airbnb, it had 15th century frescos, the family crest on one wall and its own private chapel adjacent to the master bedroom. To date, it’s the loveliest accommodation I have ever booked!
Shelby and Nicco were thoughtful enough to provide a list of dining recommendations. Following their suggestions, we had our first dinner at Cantina delle Terme where the lobster pasta had me picking at the crustacean’s soft shell with my hands. Tuscany is a region where game abounds so my kids enjoyed pasta with a sauce of wild boar (cinghale) which tasted like a gamier beef. The filetto di manzo (beef medallions) also made the carnivores very happy.
The next day, our morning was overwhelmed by the gems within the Uffizi Gallery. (Hint: Book the earliest ticket and head immediately to the second floor to see Botticelli’s “Venus” before the room gets packed). Afterwards, we headed to another recommendation for lunch—delicious porchetta paninis at Il Fratellini on the Via dei Cimatori. As with all good things in Italy, a queue will help you locate this glorious sandwich shop that has been around since 1875.
Fashion makes a good palette cleanser between so much Rafael, Michelangelo, Carvaggio et al so after lunch we walked straight to the nearby Gucci Garden, located at the Gucci Palazzo. It’s not a literal garden, more like a garden of earthly delights, and the ongoing exhibition of a hundred years of Gucci fashion delighted us to no end. The six rooms feature immersive displays of shoes, bags, scarves and dresses with a play of mirrors and videos. This entertaining marketing ploy encourages visitors to head straight for the shop on the ground floor with a collection unique to this particular location. (Hint: Be sure to be fashionably dressed as reviews report that they can turn away the sartorially challenged. This also happens in Rome’s famed night spots.)
But don’t think you need to empty the bank to own a Gucci, for close by are many very good vintage stores including Street Doing Vintage Couture on the Via dei Servi, behind the candy-colored Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The shop’s owner, Gianfranco Panerai, has in addition an archive of vintage clothes dating to the 1900s in the village of Prata for which you must book an appointment. The charming Gianfranco explained to me that the archives are visited by film directors, costume designers and the creative directors of luxury Italian brands for inspiration.
If, like me, you love well-made Italian fashion at affordable prices, head to the stalls in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce. This market is open daily from 10 in the morning to five in the afternoon. You can always tell Italian fashion by the fabric, fine workmanship and fit. There are likewise markets that focus on leather such as the one at Mercato Nuovo, which visitors frequent for the bronze statue of a wild boar. Rubbing its snout is supposed to ensure your future return to Florence, just like throwing coins into the Trevi fountain in Rome. (Hint: While at the Piazza di Santa Croce, look for the leather and jewelry shops J&S run respectively by a pair of Pinoy sisters for the past thirty years. Their stores are located on the left side of the piazza if you are facing the church and they give fellow Pinoys a generous discount.)
After scouring the markets, vintage and designer shops take a gelato break at Ara: e Sicilia on the Via degli Alfani which Gianfranco Panerai recommended. His favorite is the pistachio but we fell in love with the creamy, dreamy ricotta flavor. If you’re looking for an experience that’s neither art, fashion nor food, head to Cinema Teatro Odeon (Giunti Odeon) near the Piazza della Repubblica. This historic, hundred-year-old theater is today a bookstore slash free cinema slash café slash hangout for young people. My bunso Tatin commented that it was the first time she saw so many people her age on this trip! The queue for the balcony, where young people simply chill, snakes around the corner. (Hint: The limited English section has must reads such as Under A Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, which was turned into a movie and Il Dolce Far Niente or The Sweetness of Doing Nothing which explains the appealingly laidback Italian lifestyle.)
We fell in love with Eataly, that emporium of all good things to eat Italian, in New York and Dallas in the US. Its Florence outpost is next to Sephora and both are near the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. I had to have the Mediterranean salad made with the sweetest of salad greens from Planet Farms, which was featured on Stanley Tucci’s Tucci in Italy series. Eataly serves and sells only the best of Italian ingredients sourced from all over the country and is a good place to buy ingredients as well as pizzas sold in squares, some topped with an entire burrata!
The Pitti Palace, across the bridges to the south, houses not just the Medici collections but also a fashion and costume museum. And next to it is the welcomingly green Boboli Gardens, picturesque lawns and walkways dotted with fountains and statues. The current exhibit at the Museo della Moda e del Costume is entitled “Moda in Luce (Fashion in the Light) 1925–1955.” But the extensive costume collection dating back to the 18th century would inspire even the most jaded of fashionistas to soar, inspired, on new flights of fashion fantasy.
Apart from the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens, on this southern side of the bridges you will find Vivoli, the oldest and ranked number one gelataria in Florence, as well as Gelataria La Carraia, which is ranked second. This area is also where the locals live, dine and shop. It is lively and filled with vintage shops, art galleries and good trattorias. On Saturday mornings, the Piazza di Santo Spiritu hosts a produce and flea market where I bought fresh figs, plus a beautifully pleated pewter dress for all of two euros!
The real treasures of Florence are not the priceless art, fantastic fashion finds or the more varied cuisine of the Tuscan region with its game, seafood and fine produce. We found the people from the smaller city of Florence and its environs Sienna and San Gimignano warm, unhurried and helpful. This was true of our apartment hosts, vintage shopkeepers, servers of different nationalities, fellow tourists and even the security at luxury outposts. As in any other place on earth, the true gems one discovers on one’s travels will always be the people you meet.
