Family and Friends in Florence...

Worth seeing and paying extra to skip the queue (extra cost is a donation to art restoration)

Florence in the early morning

view from a nearby hill

Ponte vecchio

street art

old and new friends

Florence is my youngest sister’s favourite city.

She lived there once and I think she’d like to again. I have been there twice, briefly just on day trips, and I’m ashamed to say that other than a fabulous leather market, Ponte Vecchio and THAT statue of David, I don’t remember much about those previous trips.

My dearest Swedish friend Helena has never been there and when we try to pick a place in Italy that we can meet for a long overdue catch-up, Florence somehow goes to the top of the list.

Unbeknown to me, my brother and his long term partner have flown to Italy and have colluded with Helena to surprise me there.

Surprise visits have been a kind of family tradition, as I and all my siblings have lived away from “home” (Australia) at various times. We have restricted this practice amongst ourselves now as poor Dad (86) gets anxious when we turn up unannounced as he hasn’t got anything ready for us to eat!!! Dad’s cooking is that perfect blend of art, fresh produce and passion and I simply have not met a better intuitive cook.  

The “surprise” becomes a saga, as technically I surprise my brother turning up unannounced in Mum’s mountain town again a few days earlier and then he surprises me (a whole lot of people were roped into this exercise) and then we two surprise Helena, who doesn’t know the surprisors have been sprung!    

Our weekend in Florence could not have been more special. Well maybe, it could have, especially if the hot chocolate I ordered had turned out as promised, the thick, pudding-like, delicious dark kind that I dosed on daily in Sicily and was seriously missing, but otherwise it was really a weekend to remember. 

The hotel Helena and I stayed in was fabulously Florentine in flavour. The bedroom was enormous and, with sky high ceilings adorned in frescoes, as was the breakfast room ceiling, with its huge windows. Rich red drapes and luxurious furnishings and fittings contributed to an elegant and classy atmosphere.

The customer service was unbelievably good, with the staff’s can-do attitude and extra attention contributing to the positive experience. It was in a perfect location, a 5 minute walk from the train station and walking distance to all the attractions including the Duomo, Uffizi museum and Ponte Vecchio.

The weather though cold, was sunny, the food (most often recommended by a local) was sensational and the time there was relaxing and enjoyable. We walked along the Arno and to a look-out with a view of the city, we wandered the cobblestone streets and soaked in the city through all of our senses, we window shopped, sat in century old cafes having cappuccinos and saw the sun rise over the rooftops. We spent a few slow hours searching the Uffizi for just one painting with a smiling woman or one sculpture where men’s genitals were not shrivelled up.

Seriously, we decided that everyone should visit the Uffizi to improve their self esteem. Most men could probably compare quite favourably and feel good about themselves, and most women would feel less worried about their fleshy bits!

Somehow everything flowed and there were a series of happy coincidences and experiences.

One lovely coincidence was meeting Anna again. She is a young Kiwi who calls Melbourne home and is travelling around the world for 6 months documenting her tapping experience. www.tappingaroundtheworld.com

Anna has left a good job and comfortable life to make this “tapping thing” accessible to young people. I helped her get on a train to Bologna from Venice not expecting to see her again. A week later, she just happens to be standing in the queue in front of us at the Uffizi in Florence, and she joined us later for a great night of Aperol spritzers and dinner at La Rotonda.

By far the best moment for me (apart from some private moments of reflection and sharing) was when I found Suliman, the brother of Manal, the young Jordanian woman I met in Petra.

This incident touched me, a bit like an earlier trip to Morocco where Dave and I had met a family living in a cave in the Atlas mountains who welcomed us and shared the little that they had with us.

When we returned to Hong Kong we made up a parcel which included some binoculars for the old gentle man who had so warmly welcomed us into his cave and we sent it to the family care of our Berber guide.

It was nearly a year later when I saw an email in my inbox that caught my attention from Morocco. I almost deleted it as I did not know the sender (an America) but something about its title intrigued me and when I opened it I saw a photo of the old man, in his cave with the open parcel and his new binoculars in hand!

A kind American tourist had passed on a photo to show me the parcel had reached its destination, and in that kind gesture had reconnected me to that wonderful experience again.

With this end in mind, I set off with Helena in Florence determined to find this person to deliver the photos I had taken of his family as I had promised.

The only information I had, apart from the photos, was that he had a souvenir shop in the “main street of Florence”, that he had married an Italian woman and that he was Jordanian.  

I took a guess that his shop would be a stall in one of the tourist markets but I did not know which one. The first few people I asked did not know of any Jordanian stall owners and just shook their heads, but as I kept showing the photo to shop owners I was referred from person to person, the kind people from Bangladesh, India and Africa looking into the faces of the smiling family and clearly wanting to help. Eventually, someone suggested a man called Mustafa who it was said knew everyone and a lovely young man accompanied us to another small market and to Mustafa. A few hurried sentences were exchanged between the men and then Mustafa nodded and said yes he could help, if the man was a short Bedouin man who had married an Italian woman, he had a stall just around the corner.

I was so excited when the same young man agreed to take us directly to Suliman, who looked at the photos in my hand and shyly said “That is my family”. In that moment, I felt really good.

There are many, many moments that I will remember that I enjoyed in Florence, and best of all I leave this beautiful city with just the glimpse of an idea about what I will do next year when I get back. It’s just a possibility, but it’s a start.

Out and about in Florence

Have dinner at La Rotunda http://www.larotondacecconi.it/ which serves delicious food and enjoy an aperitif in the funky bar around the corner that is part of the same round building.

Other options for authentic inexpensive meals are

Trattoria Za Za in Piazza del mercato centrale  26r www.trattoriazaza.it

or Rosso pomodoro in the same piazza.

I would highly recommend the Paris Hotel www.parishotel.it

The frescoes in the breakfast room, elegant staircases, enormous rooms, ventral position and capable and helpful staff helped make our stay memorable.   

A good place for lunch nearby with the locals is Rosso Giglio  www.ristorantegigliorosso.com

If you want to people watch over a coffee or aperitif then the best place is Gilli café in piazza della republica and for an indoor alternative try  Rivoire Pasticceria in Piazza della signoria.

Although we didn’t get a chance to try it Restaurante Aviazione in Viale Malta 4 in the Campo di Marte area a little bit out of the centre was highly recommended by a local.

Buon appetito! and arrivederci

Mon x