By Peggy Karas

As we were planning our recent trip to Florence Italy, my husband and I recalled the many wonderful things which had entranced us on our  previous visits. The usual tourist sites: The Duomo, the Uffizzi Gallery, the wonderful old buildings, the food and we were  looking forward to re-visiting them all. What we did not expect was a parade re-creating life in Florence at the turn of the last century, a religious procession and a night of celebration where the citizens thronged the streets to enjoy music, drinking and entertainment throughout the night.  It wasn’t until we  found ourselves  thrust into the middle of the celebration that we realized  our visit  happened to coincide with the “St. John’s Day Festival” and  “White Night” and we experienced far more than we had anticipated.

The next day we felt we should devote to the traditional tourist sites.  Wisely we had been told that to avoid the long lines at the Uffizi it is a good idea to go in early in the day and purchase tickets for a set time later in the day or to pre-purchase by phone. Thus, when your time arrives you simply walk in, ahead of all the other people waiting in line.  We did this and used our waiting time to visit the Palazzo Vecchio (now Florence’s city hall), but once a palace of the Medici family. My favourite of all the rooms was the map room, containing examples of maps dating from Medieval  and Ptolemaic times and including early maps of North America. Needless to say the Uffizi is amazing and overwhelming.  It is impossible to even begin to see and appreciate it in a short visit, but the audio guide or The Official Guide Book (both available after you pass the security check and before you enter the gallery) will help.

The line ups for the Duomo were very long and since it was a very hot day we decided to bypass waiting in the hot sun and chose instead to walk through the old part of Florence to the English Cemetery which  was originally outside the wall of the City. The cemetery is the burial place of Elizabeth Barrett Browning,  Walter Savage Landor, Fanny Trollope and many other non-Catholic residents of the city who could not be buried in the Catholic cemeteries.  It is a pleasant oval oasis of greenery  in the middle of two busy streets.

In the evening we decided to go back to the Piazza Santo Spirito to visit a restaurant which we could not try because of the crowds the night before.  The Caffé Ricchi (Piazza Santo Spirito, 9r, Florence, 055-215-864) is located on the square and is mainly frequented by locals—the menu is entirely in Italian. Unable to decide what to order I took the  waiter’s advice and ordered Prosciutto e Crostini as an appetizer and pasta as a main course.  The prosciutto dish consists of lovely ham with deep fried bread shaped like potato nuggets (really delicious) with a  creamy cheese. My husband ordered grilled octopus with a salad which was also excellent and we washed it all down with a bottle of the local red wine. For dessert (again on the waiter’s recommendation) I tried a local specialty—Torte Di Mele e Pinoli  which turned out to be a yummy apple and pine nut cake. While the food was wonderful, the highlight again was an unexpected surprise.

The Piazza is centered around  the Church of Santo Spirito designed by Brunelleschi in the 15th century. As we were enjoying our meal, the doors of the church opened and a large candle lit altar piece was brought out into the square. From behind us came the sounds of hymns and suddenly there was a procession of nuns and priests carrying candles followed by churchgoers also with candles slowly marching through the square to the Church.  It was a magical moment, apparently in celebration of the patron saint of Florence.

If you do go to Florence, definitely make time to visit the tried and true spectacular tourist sites, but take time out of your schedule to visit the area of the  Oltrarno and other sights off the beaten path like the English Cemetery where the unexpected may turn out to be the highlight of your visit.

IF YOU GO:  

Uffizi- www.polomusealefirenze.it/uffizi, open Tues–Sun, 8:15–6:50,  pre-book by phone 055-294883 and pay when you pick up your ticket

Palazzo Vecchio- open Mon-Wed. & Fri–Sun. 9–7, Thurs 9–2

The English Cemetery – Piazzale Donatello

Church of Santo Spirito open Mon–Sat. 8:30–12 & 3:45–6, Sun & hols. 8:30–12, 3:45–5

Written by :

Peggy Karas