Florence Trip: Day Three

Written by Laura. First -- if you dare -- read about days one and two.

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"So what are you hoping to get out of this trip?"

The question broadsided me as I was sitting in the Rome airport, luxuriating in clean clothes. I stammered for quite awhile and didn't give a good answer.  The implications were obvious, "why even go to Europe, if you are going to bring along a toddler?" What's the point when you won't be able to devote your time and attention to walking tours, visiting art galleries and museums, and doing what you want. Everybody knows that having a toddler along means dealing with strollers, diapers, snacks, naps, and early bedtimes.

My heart sank, why had I come? For Matt and I, there were only two choices, either Samuel and I stayed home or Samuel and I went to Florence. Given those two choices it seemed clear that I would get to experience a lot more of Italy by going rather than staying home.

What do any of us expect when we travel somewhere? I usually go with a plan of seeing and doing new things, things I could only experience in the place I'm visiting. In that light, our trip to Florence was a success. Sure it would have been easier to stroll through the Uffizi unencumbered by a small person who didn't even look at the artwork and seemed intent on screaming when other people did. And I probably could have shopped and toured a lot more if I wasn't confined to the hotel room several hours a day with a napping child. But all in all, I'm very satisfied with the trip we had.

Monday morning set the pattern for the rest of the week. We got up, ate a lovely breakfast in the dining room of the hotel and then headed out for a walk before Matt had to leave for his meetings.

A few blocks from our hotel was the Mercato Centrale, a giant indoor food market with permanent stalls. The top floor is devoted to fresh produce but the bottom floor is a fun mixture of a meat market, a fish market, a deli and a dry goods store. You can buy all the fixings for making a superb Italian meal all in one place. Pasta, prosciutto, dried mushrooms, olives, cheese, fresh bread. You can also find lots of options for creating your own picnic lunch. For Monday's lunch we selected some crusty rolls, freshly sliced prosciutto, and some pears.

Matt headed off to his meeting and I headed back to the hotel. I probably would have done more walking than I did (Samuel tolerates the stroller very well still) but many of the days it was bitterly cold and going back to the hotel provided a chance to thaw out.

When we got to our room, the maid had just started to clean it. I collected Samuel's books and we headed out to the lobby to read. Samuel is in a "book phase", I think his vision of the perfect day is me sitting next to him reading whatever book he hands me. With this in mind we packed about 10 board books (most of which I can now recite by heart).

Our hotel was a gem. Good location, extremely friendly and helpful staff who spoke English, reasonably priced, clean and nice with a terrrific breakfast to boot. If you ever stay in Florence, you might need to stay at the Hotel Casci.

After Samuel's nap, we headed out for a walk and found the closest grassy square where he could play if he was inclined. The wind was so cold, though, that he wouldn't get out of the stroller. We just walked around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel to wait for Matt.

Matt arrived a little early and announced we were all invited to a reception in the Palazzo Vecchio. The Palazzo has some amazing artwork including a statue by Michelangelo which we got to see for free since we were with the Cassini reception. Sadly, the "reception" (a type of event that Samuel could have handled) was actually a series of talks, including some remarks by the mayor of Florence. We didn't get to see the mayor since we lasted approximately 2 minutes after they asked everyone to take their seats.

Skipping out on the reception, we decided to go to dinner instead. Matt headed for an area where he had seen some promising restaurants. It was cold, very very cold. We were all bundled up but by the time we got to the area we were all miserable from the cold and Samuel was demanding to be carried. We tried to stop in one restaurant but they didn't open for another hour (it was after 6pm at this point). Grrr! Late european dinners.

We stumbled into the next restaurant with little hope but found that it was open. Once seated, however, our waitress didn't appear for more than 20 minutes. This was incompatible with our usual "eating with Samuel at restaurants" style which demands speed. Seeing that we were desperate, the hostess appeared with some bread which pacified Samuel. Finally the waitress came and we ordered just first courses. Matt picked some fettucini with truffle sauce and I selected a traditional Tuscan bean and barley soup. Both were delicious and well received by Samuel. Samuel pronounced the soup to be stew and then began to loudly call for "stu! stu!"

Our waitress seemed like she was having a bad night but all the other waitresses were very friendly, many of them patting Samuel on the head, pinching him on the cheek, or proclaiming him "bello" every time they walked by. Samuel adored the attention. I had read that the Italians were friendly to children and that night was my first taste of it.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that the restaurant had a high chair. In my pre-trip internet reading, I had found dire warnings from American parents that Italy had no high chairs at all. Toting along a booster seat (the recommendation of all the people giving the no high chair warnings) just didn't seem to make sense to me. I figured that the Italians must take children out to eat and must manage somehow. I was prepared to eat with Samuel on my lap (not the most manageable of options but doable). The reality of the Italian high chair situation was somewhat better than my reading had led me to believe. High chairs were not ubiquitous as they are in American restaurants but in sit down restaurants we were offered one almost every time. Granted these high chairs would probably not have passed muster with the average American parent. They were literally "high chairs", wooden with a woven rush seat and a small rail across the front. They were not something you could strap your child into and walk away. There were no straps, and very vigorous rocking might have tipped one over. But keeping your child within arm's reach (and reminding him occasionally that he needed to stay sitting) the high chairs worked quite well. It reminded me of a simpler time in American history, a time when we had fewer lawyers.

The truffle sauce on Matt's pasta was so good, I'm wishing I could have it again for dinner tonight. In reality, my main goal in visiting Italy was to eat lots of good food.

And that is something I am proud to say I accomplished.

Continue on to day four. 

Posted by Matt on 3/09/2005 02:03:00 PM