Nessun Dorma

My hotel room has been somewhat of a haven from the chaos that is Florence, quiet, sunny and immaculately maintained - housekeeping may have a spy camera to know every time I leave the room. All this came to an end Thursday afternoon when a family with four children (or perhaps ten) arrived next door. I have never experienced anything like the constant chaos- they shrieked, they moved furniture, they slammed doors. At 7pm I’d had enough, and  called down to reception to ask whether I could move rooms if my neighbours were staying for more than one night. Reception offered me a bottle of wine, perhaps as some sort of sleep aid? My noisemakers were staying one night only so I stuck it out but the zoo continued till at least 10pm , resurfacing later in the night briefly and returning to full strength at 6am. I ate a hurried breakfast to avoid seeing them storm the buffet and headed out to Pitti Palace. As well as the access to the building and the art gallery, there was a clothing exhibition on, covering the early 1800’s to current day. The dresses were magnificent, often complete with shoes and hats, and the information cards were great- the kind you actually want to read. 

The building itself was stunning and I spent most of my morning there, returning to the hotel via a wandering path through the maze of streets. Here’s the bathroom built specially for Napoleon.

 I had lunch and a drink at the hotel across the road, where we had stayed in July. I enjoyed reminiscing about that trip over lunch, giggling a bit to see the lounges where my mother found the concierge team sleeping one morning. After lunch my St Regis hotel team were quick to let me know that my neighbours had eventually checked out (unsurprisingly they had just sent a car back to pick up a bag they left behind) and I had a dozy afternoon before free drinks at the bar (gift from the hotel to apologise). It’s become quite cold and on the walk to dinner I enjoyed looking at the beautifull Italian coats and scarves of the locals. There was a long line at the pork takeaway, where they carve slices of a whole pig, a bit like a horizontal kebab - here’s the one in waiting. 

Dinner was at a lovely trattoria near Santa Croche - family owned since 1872. Highly recommend their signature dish, Pici Casa Toscana - hand rolled pasta with rocket pesto and Tuscan sausage. My evening event was an opera showcase in a beautiful old church which was originally a Templar hospital in the 1300’s. Dimly lit , wonderful acoustics and beautiful music, my front row seat made this a magical experience. The concert was arias by three tenors, accompanied by a piano, a mandolin and a double bass, as well as a couple of ballet dancers.  A wonderful finale to my Florence experience. The late finish was challenging after my disrupted prior night and I took a taxi back to my hotel for a much needed sleep.