(Day 14 -17 Adriatic Sea Expedition, Florence) 12 May 2015
Florence was a mixed bag of extremes for Vân & I. There was some foreshadowing before we even got into town. On a crowded train a guy was not happy that we were standing so close to his girlfriend and gave us some attitude. Then Vân got in a scuffle with an elderly American on our way to the hotel. The sidewalks are nearly nonexistent and the traffic is complete anarchy. We were sweaty, frustrated and exhausted by the time we found our accommodation.
But then we met our good friend, Emmy Award winning super artist Andy Ristaino and all was good. A few Aperol Spritz’ near the city’s impressive Duomo and all were happy…
Well, mostly happy. My thumb started to swell two days earlier in Venice. My usual reaction to this type of medical condition is to ignore the pain in hopes that it will go away. The swelling got worse and by the time we meet Andy I could no longer bend my thumb or even lift light objects. I could not open twist-off bottle caps. Drinking my Spritz was difficult. Time to go to the hospital. We made tentative dinner plans with Señor Ristaino but warned him our hospital trip could take hours.
Over seven hours later, around 1:30am, Vân shook me awake in the hospital’s waiting room. A doctor was finally ready to see me. We witnessed some interesting events on a Friday night in the emergency room of Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova. Drunks who had crashed their scooters, drug addicts who have overdosed, foreigners who were drunk and sprained their ankles, a man who looked well over 100 years old and couldn’t breath. We overheard one American on his cell phone telling a colleague, “She was very drunk then passed out. We couldn’t wake her. What are we going to tell the company? Yes, she is breathing.” After some very broken English and a whole lot of single finger typing, the doctor gave me three prescriptions and had my finger wrapped in gauze with antibiotic cream. Sorry we missed you for dinner Andy.
Next plan was to meet Andy for lunch the next day. After a few WhatsApp communications, Vân and I were on our way to a restaurant recommended in one of The New York Times excellent 36 Hours series, Osteria Belle Donne. Fail #2. Apparently Tom Hanks, Ron Howard and Felicity Jones were filming the third part of The Da Vinci Code right outside the popular eating establishment. Vân and I were turned away from many alleyways leading to the restaurant until we found Andy sitting on some church steps having had the same experience. Damn you Tom Hanks!
Meal attempt #3 was Trattoria Toscana Gozzi Sergio, known to locals as Da Sergio. The New York Times said the indigenous inhabitants scowl at foreigners trying to eat at this simple, “locals only” restaurant. We got a great meal of very traditional food sans scowls.
Next was a random walk over the river and through the woods to find the highest point above the city. Beautiful neighborhoods, super cool street art, massive allergy attacks, a church with many graves.
Back down the hill to find an aperitivo (Italian happy hour) place which we never found. A few beers at an Irish bar called the Friends Pub before heading over to our best dinner of our trip so far: three pizzas, take away, from Gusta Pizza, two 1-liter beers and a bottle of chilled white wine all consumed on the steps of Basilica di Santo Spirito while listening to live music with a healthy crowd of locals. Perfection. Thanks for the pizza recommendation Christine Ristaino!
p.s. Dear Florence, you have a serious Selfie Stick problem. There is help. For the sake of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, please seek it out. As for your problem with loud, drunk, obnoxious college-aged Americans massively infecting your city, there is no known cure, sorry.
No comments:
Post a Comment