Fammi una domanda November 2024

A new mini-guide to Florence + A super relaxing way to spend 2 hours in Rome

I have been spending a lot of time on trains recently. I took a quick trip to Florence last month. Because I don’t spend much time there, I tend to do the same few favorite things. This time I made my focus to see and do completely new to me things.

Gillian Knows Best Mini Guide to Florence

The newly remodeled Giunti Odeon is just great. Downstairs is a good bookstore and upstairs are lots of yellow velvet seats facing a large movie screen. During the day you can stop in and watch a few minutes or an entire film playing in the backround. There are a few spots with tables where I saw people working. I watched a good part of The French Dispatch. In the evening the space turn into a proper, quite luxe, movie theater. There is also a cafe.

Most people go to the Basilica Santa Maria del Carmine to see the Brancacci chapel filled with Lippi frescoes. I stood at the doorway trying to decide if that was what I wanted to do when a sign for a charity market caught my eye. Thinking that maybe there would be a pretty light fixture of roll of fabric or a groovy plate in there I turned my back on the famous frescos, took a quick spin through the church and headed to the shop. The charity market happened to be inside the Capella Sant’Agnese, painted in 1208, that is rarely open. The man running the shop was so kind and so proud of the extraordinary frescoes I forgot to look for something to buy. I was glad to have followed my own advice and go through any open door.

Usually when I am in Florence my breakfast is a lampredotto sandwich with extra chili. This trip I decided to try some of the newer bakeries that I see on Instagram. I love cinnamon rolls so as soon as I arrived I crossed the Arno and headed to Wild Buns. The pastries here are Scandinavian and there is a tiny room in the back where you can sit down with your coffee. Melaleuca Florence is a bright cheery Australian/American cafe bistro along the Arno. The line was long for Sunday brunch (which looked delicious) but I got two enormous soft and gooey American style cinnamon rolls that I managed to get home to Venice!

I had dinner with friends and their neighborhood trattoria, La Cucina del Ghianda. It is everything you want a neighborhood spot to be, friendly and full, and well priced.

I love the Mercato Centrale in Rome. There are all kinds of cuisines (dumplings, trappizzino, vegetables, kombucha, burgers) and you can eat well at a strange time of day if you need to. The original one is in Florence. I did a few laps trying to figure out what I was in the mood for when I landed on a peposa (a peppery beef stew) panino and a single slice of crostino with a swipe of fegato di pollo (chicken liver pate) From Il Bollito e lo Stracotto. There is staff that comes to your table and takes your drink order.

Giacosa 1815 This fancy shiny bar was often my last stop before I got on the train back to Rome. It moved across the street and there isn’t a Cavalli leopard spot to been seen but it’s still shiny and fancy and still the perfect stop on your way to the train station. The cocktail bar looked fab.

There were two different craft markets happening while I was there. A ceramics one in Santa Croce (put this in your calendar for next year) and a smaller one that was mostly jewelry but I stopped at Veronica Balzani’s stand and after having a long chat finally chose one of her tiny gilded paintings of Dante’s Beatrice. I am still thinking about her painting of single roses that are a detail from Botticelli’s Venus. She also offers painting workshops in her studio.

I was invited to stay in one of two Windows on Florence apartments. They are simple but comfortable and in a great location, close to the Duomo, but also close to Sant’Ambrogio and my favorite breakfast pastries at Cibrèo Caffè.

I have added these addresses into my Gillian Knows Best Florence Google maps list guide which is available to paid subscribers.

I also had a couple of trips to Rome. (I do live in Venice, but I can still take you on a walk or meet for coffee in Rome.) In between picking up lampshades and eating plates of amatriciana, I spent a morning in Vatican City at Savelli Arte e Tradizione with an incredible mosaic artist, Maria Teresa, learning how to make my own mosaic. It was one of the most relaxing things I have done in a long time. Seems impossible, right? Relaxing? at the Vatican? You can do it too. I can not recommend doing this activity enough. Because you are working with your hands, you can’t look at your phone. You are sitting down. You are completely focused on one single activity. The best part is at the end you have a beautiful object to take home and you are ready to dive back into the Roman chaos.

Have questions about Rome right now? Venice at Christmas? How delicious are the cinnamon rolls? Ask me in the comments.