Firenze

Sarah Winman writes so beautifully about Florence, specifically the neigbourhood called Oltrano, on the far side of the River Arno, that she sends me searching for words to describe the city and Winman’s book, Still Life.

After trawling the thesaurus I settle on two: enchanting and lucent.

To enchant, or to be enchanted, is to put or be put under a spell. Which Sarah Winman and Florence do very well. That first view of the Duomo, for example, never fails to make the heart sing. In Latin, in cantare.

And despite grey skies during our visit, there’s a translucence you’d rightly expect from the centre of the Italian Renaissance. This quality illuminates the city’s art and architecture, its food and wine, and its stream of visitors as insistent as the Arno.

We made the mistake of not booking things ahead of time. The Uffizi was sold out. So too was the Accademia, home to Michelangelo’s David. And getting an inside view of Filippo Brunelleschi’s marvelous dome for the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore required patience unavailable this time around.

Nevertheless…

I loved every minute of this visit as much as I loved Sarah Winman’s Still Life.

We walked along the Arno, and sat for a while on the Ponte Santa Trìnita, destroyed by floods in 1252 and 1333, and again in 1557, a bridge rebuilt each time, and once more in 1944 after the Germans destroyed it on their retreat.

We walked up the hill to Piazalle Michelangelo, then a little higher, to the Basilica di San Miniato, considered one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany. You see Florence in its entirety from here.

We wandered back to the city via Gardino delle Rose, and had lunch at a trattoria we’d been to about 10 years ago, Le Antiche Carozze; in English, the ancient carriers.

Tonight, our last in Florence, is set aside for Piazza Santo Spirito. An aperitivo on the loggia at Palazzo Guadagni; followed by a slice of wood-fired pizza from GustaPizza, enjoyed on the steps of another Brunelleschi masterpiece, the Basilica di Santo Spirito, listening to the sound of people talking and laughing, eating and drinking, playing music, falling in and out of love. And church bells. Always church bells.

Much of Still Life revolves around Piazza Santo Spirito, as does the life of the Oltrano and much else, I suspect.

Yet it would be an oversight of considerable magnitude if the Piazza della Signoria failed to score a mention and/or another visit before this night is over.

Outside Palazzo Vecchio, overlooking Piazza della Signoria, stands a copy of Michelangelo’s David. Equally compelling are the up-sized sculptures of Hercules and Neptune, and Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the head of Medusa.

I walk through this Piazza as often as possible. I take multiple photos, none of which capture the sensuality of these statues, of the citizens that wander in and out of frame, of the city itself, which was founded by Etruscans centuries before Julius Caesar was a boy.

Enchanting and lucent are still good descriptors for Florence but to get the full picture, we should add one more word to the list.

Sensual would round things out nicely.

Where to stay

I like Oltrano a lot. The neighbourhood offers a choice of apartments and hotels, including Palazzo Guagdani, where Sarah Winman stayed while she wrote some of This Life.

Where to eat

Cibreo Trattoria in Santa Croce for a bit of finesse without too much expense.

Le Antiche Carozze, pictured above, is off via Tournabuoni, down near the Arno. We enjoyed antipasti of anchovies and burrata, tagliatelle with leek and porcini mushroom, baked sea bass, chicken parmigiana, and a bottle of very nice house white for 13 euro a pop.

The central market, Mercato Centrale, is well recommended. We didn’t get there this time around but we did on a previous visit. Ever since, I’ve been cooking a version of the broccoli and anchovy pasta I had for lunch that day.

What to do

Book well ahead for the Uffizi and the Accademia, and a tour of the Duomo.

The one thing I did book beforehand was an evening food tour of Oltrano with a company called Devour. We met with a small group of fellow travellers in Piazza Santo Spirito and walked to a few local bars and restaurants for what used to be called a progressive dinner. Our guide was light on info about the food and wine we shared, but It was a hell of a lot of fun.

Credits: thank you Meredith H for giving us This Life to read. Thank you DLR for sending us to Basilica di San Miniato.