As the weather turns cooler, visitor numbers are smaller and one can really feel the true vibe of Florentine life, without the distraction of navigating lines of tourists. One of my very favorite things to do here is to go with the flow. On the weekends, city traffic is less and strolling in town is a pleasure.
Saturday traditionally is a shopping day and going to the outdoor food markets visiting the fruit & vegetable and meat stands, shoulder to shoulder with the locals, is a rite of passage. Sant’ Ambrogio market is the heart of our neighborhood and our Saturday ritual is doing our shopping there, stopping for a mid morning cappuccino, picking up flowers and the Saturday newspaper. On this particular Saturday we arrived at the grand opening of the relocated flea market, Mercato delle Pulci, right across the road from the market. Plenty of pomp and circumstance including the Florentine city ceremonial band in medieval costumes as well as the mayor and lots of journalists. A beautiful new location for antiques and bric-a-brac.
Sunday or “festa” as it is referred to in Italy to differentiate from the work day or “giorno feriale” is indeed a day to change your pace. The wonderful bells announcing Mass throughout the morning and in the early evening will remind you to do just that – slow down. Florentines often go to museums before or after 1:00 pm lunch which is the one day a week that the country is in agreement with having a big meal at that hour as it has been done for centuries. (In the last few decades, the main daily meal has been moved to the evening as students as well as working parents are not coming home for lunch).
This Sunday, Palazzo Antinori’s special exhibit “La Firenze di Giovanni e Telemaco Signorini” ended. The lines for its seven week run were impressive. My husband and I were happy to wait in line for an hour in the courtyard of this amazing building chatting with the locals about Antinori wine as well as the art we were about to view. The paintings of life in Florence showed just how much the city has not changed over the centuries. Beautiful and a tribute to this city!
Ponte alla Carraia Via Della Condotta
Don’t despair if you missed this exhibit, as the The Gallery of Modern Art at the Pitti Palace contains many works of the Macchiaioli, a form of Italian Impressionism in the second half of the 19th century, that were represented at the Palazzo Antinori exhibit.
For those travelers that are planning a trip here soon, take advantage of visiting the Palazzo Strozzi to see the exhibit of the Russian artist Natalia Goncharova. As always the Strozzi exhibits are not to be missed. The exhibit is scheduled to close on Jan, 12, 2020. Here are a few images form this show.
The best way to end a Sunday morning museum visit is having the Sunday meal at one of the best restaurants in this city…Il Latini, and it never disappoints.
Word of advise to visitors, after a few days of the mandatory sight seeing, save some time to be a local. Follow their lead and savor their routines and customs to really understand the lifestyle of the Florentines.
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