Oak Street Ranch

The End of the (Florence) Road

Day Seven – Florence:
Post-script from dinner- We went to Buca Lapi. Recommended by Eddie, as well as the hotel here. Short walk over there. Going in, down the stairs (its basically in the basement), you enter a whole new world. Its similar to…well, a cross between the Palm, and Hugo’s Cellar. Warmly received, we were seated near a large group out for a serious evening (starting with proseca, antipasti, red wine, primi, secondi, etc etc etc). We started with a tomato soup for Jen and a Tuscan Bread Soup with Vegetables for me. Both were really well done. We also had a GREAT bottle of Chianti Classico. Very tasty. Dinner – crispy, fried artichokes. Really very very good. Then… Bisteca Florentino.

Ok – Fred Flintstone called and wants his ribs back. No, seriously, this was so scary, that the people next to us stopped and looked. I was very sad about the brontosaurus that had to give its life so we could have this. Sea salt, pepper and oil. Really impressive and tasty (and enough for 4 people). BUT, by failing to finish, we left room for dessert. A nice panna cotta, and then… a chantilly cream cake that…well, that Jen exclaimed was the best dessert she had ever eaten. If you ever found yourself in Florence, you should definitely go to this place.

Breakfast at the hotel – the usual. Nothing to write home about, except it is really good, and included in the fees, so well worth hitting, for both reasons.

Ok – our next stop – VERY exiting: wash-n-go. Yep – coin op laundry. In an effort to keep down the amount of clothes we brought, we decided to take advantage of washing this was. Very efficient, and easy to use (sitting around waiting for your clothes to dry is pretty universal). Met some nice folks while waiting.

From there – Shopping. On the advice of Paolo, our driver, we went to this leather school (no, not that kind). Its in the workshops of the Church of Santa Croce. Everything made by hand. Really impressive. Our visit there took us through their workshops, and of course, ends in their store. Good stuff – I just got something plain – a nice wallet and a cigar holder (did I mention there’s no embargo here?!?!). Jen saw some nice things, but nothing that brought the credit card out).

We were going to walk out the regular exit, when we discovered a doorway into the church – Thinking it was a faster way to exit, we received quite a surprise – Not only was this an EXCEPTIONAL church, it had some interesting memorial naves. Apparently buried within the walls and flooring of this church: Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo as well as the monument to Dante! To think we were just going to walk out the other door!
From there, we walked around the square. Did a bit more shopping (Jen found a few things), and back to the hotel for a short break.
Break time over – another walk – First, some lunch. Pizza and a small café next to our destination - this time to the Accademia Gallery. Its most famous resident – David. It’s a really really big statue. But I have to say, very impressive sculpture. They have audio tours and descriptions to tell you about it – but you walk in, look down the hallway and its under a large skylight, highlighting its grandeur. They have a bunch of other religious art, which is impressive (and courtesy of our guide at the Uffizi, we understood more of it) but wow – clearly, this is the house of David.

Tonight – dinner at the Lounge – the restaurant here at JK Place.
They bring out a starter of peccorino with honey. We're seeing a lot of that here. Its pretty tasty if you haven't tried it.
Jen had a pasta starter - with butter and sage. I had a salmon appetizer. Both were tasty and elegantly presented. A couple of cocktails to go along with them. Dinner was veal with grilled artichokes for Jen. Seared beef filet with Cabernet reductions and mashed potato with olive oil.
Desert was similarly elegant - a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream, and an apple tart with a lime sherbert. Both were delicious.

A short walk around town to take in the sights, last minute. Then, back to the hotel to pack - We have an early day! Train to Venice!

More to come!

posted by Mitch @ 2:24 PM