Wow! What a week, what a week, what a week! Kind of overwhelming to do a trip like that in just 7 days but it was good fun. Thanks to this board I found accommodation for 40 Euros a night at Ferdinando De Medici II (through venere.com)a new one star about two blocks from the duomo. It was formerly a 12th century palace. My room was quiet, clean, safe and with a shower and a firm mattress.

I don't know what to tell you other than taking all my time in one place allowed me for some appreciation rather than splitting everything up. I was a bit disappointed with the food.

I suppose I am a bit spoiled in NYC. I found interesting dishes that were massacred with salt. I drank a liter of water with every meal and then wine of course. I think my problem was that I only ate at moderate to inexpensive Osterias and Trattorias. I also focused on regional dishes and I guess I am clearly a fusion/neuvo cuisine chick. I would sit down to a $35-$40 dollar dinner (that ain't saying much with where the dollar is against the Euro) and think "THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ROYS" (downtown NYC/Hawaii). I did get some great surprises like pizza with truffles at a little stand in San Giminano, fresh baked Budino e riso at a corner bar in Santa Croce. Of course there was the daily gellato and the C-H-E-A-P decafinato cappuccino!!! I think I drank three of those in row one morning. Just went wrong usually at dinnertime. And it was usually an expensive mistake on my budget. One night I ordered a secundo of thinly sliced beef in balsamic vinegar. They brought me minute steaks in vinegar & that was $12,not even all of my meal. This restaurant was highly recommended by a couple from Philadelphia I met. The starter was a barely and squid salad that had a great beginning when you sifted through the salt. Just did not understand that. I did meet a chef from San Francisco who told me that salt was a bit part of Italian cooking. He sad that he was sent by his restaurant to learn more about the cuisine, they worked to replicate dishes without all of the salt. I was just surprised at the salt if I have not been clear .

What will stay with me about this trip is the absolute beauty of the art in Florence. In my head, the ceilings in all of the churches, the courtyard at the Bargello, the piazza near the uffizi will all remain in my memory. Walking down a street and hitting up against a building with ancient designs on it but no national landmark plack. Just so incredible. Will definitely make a trip back and soon enough so that I won't forget my way around. Just need that old dollar to take an upward hike!! I missed not bringing back some leather. I did that just two years ago.

no welcome backs?

Welcome back, Sarah! I think it's great that you spent a week in one place. You get so much more of the feeling of the place than if you stayed only a couple of nights.

Welcome back. Do you mean you had just seven days to plan the trip or that you spent seven days there? If the former, that sounds really appealing, just going on the spur of the moment. Glad you had a good time either way.

Thanks for the acknowledgment guys. Yeah it was a great trip, like a dream. I went on the spur of the moment just from Wednesday to Wednesday. A great distraction from job hunting. Only thing is now I am looking at more destinations. Too much of a tease to connect in Paris.

Hi Sarah,

Welcome back!! I love the Bargello courtyard too. I agree about all those beautiful reliefs set on the buildings. It's such a delight to walk the streets and see all these beautiful things. Glad you had a great time despite the salty food.

Welcome home! Its my dream to go "spur of the moment"! someday...
Did you do this solo?

Yes Suzie story of me life so far!!! I went alone. So safe in Italy though. People really make you feel welcome and at home. I don't know if it was the fact that so many things like buses are done on the honor system or that living in NYC is such an opposite extreeme. But you do get a sense that Italy is so much more safer. I tried not to get too comfortable with this but it was a struggle. I do think that lullying yourself into a false sense of security is when you get your bag lifted, pockets picked, yahda, yahda, yahda, but it is hard not to feel safe here.

sarah...next time you go...ask ira....he knows his food...

What do you mean you didn't bring back any leather? Are you daft? I would have been inviting sailors up to my room to scrape some cash together for a pair of Ferragamo shoes. Please tell me you at least bought a bottle of lavanda shampoo from Farmacia Santa Maria Novella. Miss Thing, we need to have a long hard talk if you didn't. Blimey.

I had a quickie with Florence which resulted in a love child.

wemr nuk nuk nuk . Wondering I know my food also. I was a chef for a couple of years. I also read 2 books before I left on where to eat in the area. I met people that enjoyed the food I just questioned their judgement. A number of dishes started off soundly but then they were just butchered with salt. Why blend together other spices if you are going to overwhelm them all with a huge amount of salt?

Thingorjus you have to be British! I was over there on the dollar dalink so shoes were about the same price as they are here and frequently more. Not a great fan of Ferrigamo but believe me I could not stop checking in windows for a resonable price on others. I think I wasted a good bit of time doing that until I faced the reality. I was able to buy a lot a couple of years ago. I just need to wait for that $ to gain some strength. Probably have to wait for Bushy boy to get out of office. This gave me something to pray for in those churches . Heck I have been praying for this since he got into office.

I know I complained about the food but you don't understand for years I have been complaining about there never being any serious Italian restaurants in NYC, only variations. I think it was the region and the type of cuisine I focused on. I know if I wondered into hire end restaurants I would have been satisfied. Just did not think I needed to do that in Tuscanny. Next time I will visith the Beccofinos and others.

Sarah--I read somewhere (I think in Fred Plotkin's book "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler," fantastic book) that a long time ago in Florence salt was hard to come by so it was seen as a sign of wealth to serve it in the food.

Hi Sarah,

Welcome back.

I too found that some places oversalted the food. Next time in Florence try IL Ritrovo and Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco for moderate prices and Cantinetta Antinori for a high-end dinner.

Sarah, besides fighting off the salt shakers, what did you actually do and see in Florence? It was hard to tell how long you were there from your write up. Did you take any daytrips?

Jocelyn that is so interesting, makes total sense.

Degas "Wow! What a week, what a week, what a week! Kind of overwhelming to do a trip like that in just 7 days". I don't know some might see that I was there for a week . In Florence I went to Santa Croce cathedral, Duomo, Bargello, Uffizzi, Mercatile Centrale, The old Pharmacy at Santa Novella Maria area. I walked all around the ponte vecchio and across the brige into the San Spirito area. The art/history will of course stand out as the moving part of my experience. Think I will go back now that I am familar with the area.

I did day trips to Siena and San Giminano. I have been to Siena and loved it all over again. I wish I had spent a few days here. Too many important art sights to make a day trip. San Giminano was too commercialized for my taste, too many souvenier vendors. It kind of reminded me of the colonial villages we have here on the east coast. Although I could see making this a stop off point if you were cruising your car through tuscanny. I just don't think it was worth while for the short time I had available to me.A big focuse of this trip though was food Degas. That is why you heard me lamenting so.

Ira I got to the old market towards the end of the day. I only saw Parmesan Reggiano for 1875 per kilo. So I bagged that idea. I did bring home saffron, truffle oils, truffle pasta and truffle risotto, chesnut flower!, wild grown oregano (customs approved) made my entire suitcase smell like oregano, vanilla bean, some other mixed spices.

Sarah, for what its worth, I didn't exactly do back flips over the food in Florence on our last trip.

I'm no great expert or former cook like you, but the food seemed unremarkable and too expensive. And it was odd that we often enjoyed the cheaper places better than the higher priced ones. I'll duck now for all the in-coming barbs and arrows.

Maybe it was bad luck, since we have had much better food experiences in Rome and Venice.

Sarah, with the exception of a delicious dinner at Cibreo in Florence, most of my memorable meals in Italy have been in smaller towns, and often in relatively "undiscovered" restaurants -- Orvieto, Bagnoreggio, Radda-in-Chianti, Montecchiello.

Degas, I totally agree with you! My most memorable meals in Italy have been in the diner-style restaurants and pizzerias, off the beaten path. Do-it-yourself picnics, too! It's kinda neat to see what the upscale restaurants are like, but the simple, fresh food that the locals eat every day really resonates with me. I'm planning a trip in April and what I'm looking forward to most is the fresh vegetables and unbelievable cheese! You just can't get that stuff here in the states.

What kind of Cheese Jocelyn? Do you remember any of the names?