Easter in Florence
March 30, 2009
Lots of things to see, lots of things to visit. Easter is a very special day to spend in Florence!
The “scoppio del carro” in the Duomo sq. is a great event for all the florentines.
On Sunday april 12, wake up, take your cappuccino, and go to take your place in the square; the athosphere is exciting! After the mass in the cathedral, the “scoppio del carro” with its fireworks will light up this very special day.
Don’t miss it!
Shopping
March 29, 2009
Looking for clothes in Florence? I love Giorgia Atelier shop for its gracious hats, too (not only in winter!!), and the colored bags, silk scarfes…
Not too expensive, friendly service.
On your way to go to the San Lorenzo market and the Duomo sqare. Just a few steps from our B&B.
Giorgia Atelier
Via de’ Ginori, corner Via Guelfa
closed Mon. morning
Plum cake with pears
March 3, 2009
Plum Cake with pears and zabaglione sauce
Thanks to a good prize and good quality of pears I decided to do a Plum Cake with pears and zabaglione sauce, and then I offered to my guests. This is the recipe:
1kg of pears
320 gr of butter
220 gr flour
3 eggs
200 gr icing sugar
50 gr vanilla sugar
½ bag of baking powder
2 spoon of Pear Grappa (Simple grappa is fine)
50 gr honey (linden tree flowers better)
Skin the pears and cut in slides only one; the other pears are cut in a small pieces. Let sieve in a pan the cut pears for about 3 min then add honey for another 5-6 minutes and stir. After that, let them rest for a while and then put everything in a plate.
Take a bowl and whip up 250 gr of butter, the icing sugar and the vanilla one, then add the eggs. Add also little by little the flour and the baking powder and a pinch of salt. At the end add the little pieces of pears and the two spoon of grappa.
Butter the plum cake mould; add the dough and oven for 60 min at 180 degrees. After cooking it let it rest and cool down and then decorate with the rest of the pears slides.
For the zabaglione cream: whip up 5 eggs yolk with 100 gr of sugar until it is done. Add ½ dl of Marsala (wine dessert) and ½ dl of white wine or water. Cook for about 40 min until you have a soft cream. Once it is cold you can add also some white yogurt…
It was so good that my guests asked for another slice!
1 day itinerary in San Lorenzo
March 1, 2009
A one day itinerary discovering the treasures of Florence:undiscovered places, roads and path in the San Marco-San Lorenzo area.
The area of Mr My resort B&B offers incredible discovers.
Going out from the B&B with a few minutes’ walk you are in Via Cavour and you can already stop at Chiostro dello Scalzo (entrance free), frescoes by Andrea del Sarto with a technique called grisaille; from here, you can go to San Marco church, in San Marco square.
The church hosts also a convent which today is the San Marco museum with frescoes by Beato Angelico. Among his masterpieces: the Annunciation, the Tabernacolo and the Deposition.
Entering in the small Franciscan cellars frescoed as always by Beato Angelico is an experience!
This is one of the most moving place of Florence and you will be amazed in seen the mocked Christ, strangest more than a surrealist paint.
If you proceed in Via Cavour towards the Duomo you will meet Palazzo Medici Riccardi, a stone and massive palace where the Grand-dukes of Florence, the powerful Medici family, showed all their power. You can admire two things here: my favorite place is the garden of the palace full of lemon trees, but the masterpiece is the Chapel of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli.
Going out the palace you are very close to the San Lorenzo area and the famous open air market.
If you love churches you cannot miss the San Lorenzo Church full of 1500 artworks especially by an artist who I personally like, Rosso Fiorentino, but if you like shopping, the market is your place especially if you are looking for leather goods, Florentine art crafts and small souvenirs. Bargain, always!
Being in the San Lorenzo area you cannot miss a stop in the Central market which is open until 2pm. This is the market where Florentines go for shopping and where there are a lot of stands where you can do a gastronomic shopping: extra virgin olive oil, cheese, wine. If it is lunch time and you have the patience to wait, a stop is at Nerbone, the best panino in town filled with typical Tuscan delicatessen such as boiled lampredotto or pork with various sauces and vegetables.
After lunch you can go to see the Medici Chapels, just behind the San Lorenzo church open until 5pm. They are built by Michelangelo on the same structure of the Baptistery of Saint John (In front f the Duomo) and in particular the Chapel of the Princes it is believed that has the same design of the Saint Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
If you are tired you can walk up to Via Santa Reparata (where we live and where we have the other B&B, the Relais Grand Tour).
At the corner of Via XXVII Aprile there is another hidden jewel, the Cenacolo of Sant’Apollonia, entrance free and open until 1,30pm.
There is one the most beautiful Last Supper of the town, frescoed by Andrea del Castagno.
Then if you fancy a cappuccino, in front of the Cenacolo there is Caffé Nabucco, nice people, nice aperitifs in the evening and nice cappuccino. I go there every morning!
Your day is over so far and your private spa is waiting for you…