CombatCritic Q&A: Florence 1-Day Itinerary Feedback Please?

CombatCritic Q&A
One-Day Itinerary Feedback

Fairywren61 from Perth, Australia wrote:

Jul 18, 2015, 3:36 AM

We are staying in a villa between Florence and sienna and are travelling into Florence for the day. We want to enjoy the day and not be rushed, we enjoy walking and looking but also taking in some main areas. Here is my initial itinerary: 

San Lorenzo Market 

Piazza del Duomo (Climb to the top… possibly do the bell tower and baptistery 

Vivoli Gelato - Gelato 

Piazza Santa Croce – Eat Gelato here on stone benches, free entertainment and buskers 

Uffizi Gallery - undecided on this, not sure if we will be to rushed to really enjoy it 

Ponte Vecchio 

Any feed back would be appreciated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Fairywren, here are my two cents worth:

San Lorenzo Market 

- The actual Mercato di San Lorenzo (the building) has dozens of food stalls, butchers, and other vendors, so you should at least see it, but the main reason to go there is to buy food. The streets around the nearby Basilica di San Lorenzo are filled with outdoor stalls selling Chinese (leather goods, "Murano" glass, etc) knock-offs if that's what you are interested in. If you want to see a "real" market, I recommend Mercato San'Ambrogio east of the center and just northeast of Basilica di Santa Croce and its wonderful piazza which has now returned to its previous, uncluttered glory.

Piazza del Duomo (Climb to the top… possibly do the bell tower and baptistery 

- Climb away if your heart is up for it (463 steps to the top of the dome), but you will get better views from Piazzale Michelangelo, a short taxi or bus ride away ... AND IT'S FREE! Instead, I would recommend visiting the cathedral (Duomo) itself which is also free. The entrance is through the north door of the front of the massive building with the line hugging the north side. The painting of the Apostles by Giorgo Vasari (16th C) on the inside of the dome with their legs dangling over the sides is one of my favorite frescoes in the world. Tickets are only needed to see the tower, dome, and the excavations below the Duomo.

Vivoli Gelato - Gelato 

- If you like expensive gelato, by all means!

Piazza Santa Croce – Eat Gelato here on stone benches, free entertainment and buskers

- I would recommend getting a gelato at half the price of places like Vivoli at Gelateria Il Gallo Ghiottone after having a cheap lunch at nearby Mercato San'Ambrogio's small restaurant, then strolling to Santa Croce (5 minute walk). I'm not sure what entertainment or "buskers" you are referring to as I have spent a fair amount of time in Piazza Santa Croce and was never entertained other than by the droves of tourists. And there are a couple benches in the piazza, but good luck finding a seat. Sit on the steps of Santa Croce, taking-in the square and the tourists, but not during mid-day when the sun bakes the steps and anybody near them.

Uffizi Gallery - undecided on this, not sure if we will be to rushed to really enjoy it

- The Uffizi should not be missed if you are an art lover, particularly if you love Renaissance art, but you will need 2-3 hours at the very minimum.

Ponte Vecchio

- Don't miss it and snap a few photos, but if you are buying jewelry, be prepared to spend more than you need to.

Buon Viaggio!

CombatCritic



Title: CombatCritic Q&A: Florence 1-Day Itinerary Feedback Please?

Key Words: ComabtCritic, question and answer, question, answer, Florence, Firenze, itinerary, piazza, santa, croce, duomo, Michelangelo, piazzale, one, day, 1-day, ponte, vecchio, Uffizi, Accademia

DayTripQuip™: Ancient Arezzo ... An Antique Aficionado's Allure

DayTripQuip™: Take the train (Regionale Veloce: 1 hour 10 minutes - €8.10/person each way) from Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence. The train station is in the center of Arezzo and just three blocks from the historical center (centro storico), a Roman amphitheater, ancient churches with famous frescoes, a beautiful cathedral containing the mummy of a pope, and a fabulous piazza. Restaurants, antique stores, and shops abound, providing a quaint respite from the crowds of Florence for a few hours at least.

Piazza Grande

Roman Amphitheater

Chiesa San Francesco

Chiesa San Domenico 

Duomo San Donato

Pope Gregory X

Fresco of Maria Maddalena - Piero della Francesca
 

Piazza Grande - Benigni's "La Vita e Bella" Was Filmed Here

Title: DayTripQuip™: Ancient Arezzo ... An Antique Aficionado's Allure

Key Words: Arezzo, day, trip, quip, DayTripQuip, train, Benigni, La Vita e Bella, vita, bella, film, movie, duomo, cathedral, fresco, church, antique, antiques, travel, value, 

One Of The Best Restaurant Values In Florence ... Or Anywhere!

Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori

Via dei Magazzini, 3R

50122, Firenze (Florence, Italy)

Tel: 39.055.293.045

Prices:  € € € € € 

We, literally, stumbled upon Vini e Vecchi Sapori while heading for the Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, the busiest and most famous square in Florence. The streets in Florence are made of large stones, not so evenly laid and sometimes causing tourists to stumble. I had heard of this restaurant through word of mouth and reviews on Yelp, but was not sure where it was. We almost missed it if not for my clumsy feet, hurling me toward the menu outside the door.

The menu says, in English, “NO PIZZA NO STEAK  NO ICE” and consisted of five to seven each of the antipasti (appetizers), primi (first courses), and secondi (second courses) followed by a few contorni (side dishes) and dolce (desserts). The menu changes each day depending on what the chef feels like cooking and the fresh ingredients available. The choices on our first visit were enticing, so we asked if we could get a reservation that night…WRONG!

Tomaso, the 3o something owner and front man, is thin with Harry Potterish glasses and wavy brown hair. He was extremely nice as he explained that the restaurant was sold out for the next week, so we asked for the first available table, which was seven days away on the following Saturday at 9:00PM (fairly early by Italian standards). We snatched the reservation quicker than turtle tucks his head and waited, and waited, and waited…

When Saturday rolled around, we arrived at the appointed hour and Tomaso greeted me at the door … Signor Sorrentino, welcome! Impressed that he remembered my name after only one encounter, the festivities began. The restaurant is very small in a very old building with tall (18 foot) ceilings and tile floors. Beside the five or six tables, there is only a glass refrigerator case, like you would see in a deli, a small counter, and the door to the bathroom and to the kitchen (different doors). The walls are smothered, but tastefully so, with an eclectic variety of original art and prints, making the small room, I mean restaurant, warm and inviting.

pappardelle con ragu di anatra

The restaurant sits on a short, narrow, quiet street just north of the Piazza della Signoria and has five tables or so, holding about 20 people. It reminds me of my favorite Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, Palermo, run by my old friend Tony, an immigrant from Palermo, Sicily and a warm, wonderful person. When Palermo opened back in the late 1970’s, it was just as small and quaint. Now Palermo is huge and packed every night of the week, a few blocks west of its old location. I hope that the same does not happen to Vini e Vecchi Sapori for it will lose much of its charm.

paccheri con fiori di zucca e zafferano

Tomaso sat us, then sat with us to explain the night’s menu. My wife’s dear friend Maddalena was with us and we were celebrating her birthday. We had visited Pistoia and Lucca by train that day, and had eaten foccacia con mozzarrella, prosciutto cotto, e carciofi (thin, herb covered bread with mozzarella, cooked ham, and artichoke inside) in Lucca that was larger than expected, so we decided to skip the antipasti and save room for the wonderful selection of primi and secondi. We started with the pappardelle con ragu di anatra (pappardelle are very wide fettucini-type pasta and they were covered in a rich minced duck sauce - €9) and paccheri con fiori di zucca e zafferano (yellow zucchini flowers and saffron - €8). The papparedelle con ragu di anatra was out of this world, just enough to satiate the palate for the time being, but never to be forgotten.   The paccheri con fiori di zucca e zafferano was delightfully done in a rich, creamy sauce and the pasta was thick and al dente, just firm enough to hold all of the wonderful sauce. I had never had saffron, a spice used mostly in the Middle East, in an Italian pasta sauce before, but it was creamy and dreamy. I hinted to Tomaso about obtaining the recipe, but will wait until we establish ourselves as regulars to make such a proposition.

ossobuco con piselli

Having trouble deciding whether to have the scaloppine alla pizzaiola (similar to veal parmigiana, but much better - €14) or the ossobuco con piselli (veal shank - slow cooked with peas), Tomaso decided for me, it was the ossobuco (€14) and I was not disappointed! The veal shank was cooked to perfection, not huge by American standards, and falling off the bone with a hint of marsala wine sauce. It was delicious, the best ossobuco I have eaten and I have had a few. My wife had the torta ai carciofi (artichoke omelette - €8), but she wolfed it down while I was talking to the couple from Shang Hai at the table next to us, so I did not have the opportunity to get a taste.

 Friends from Shang Hai & Jordon...Tomaso (back)

Our meal was accompanied by a litre of sparkling water (€2) and a litre of Chianti wine (€14), which was dark, rich, and flavorful with hints of berry and chocolate. Being so small, you easily fall into conversation with the table next to you. The first diners were a couple from San Francisco, she a teacher on break, and very nice, he a silicon valley marketing executive, seemingly very impressed with himself and eager to end the conversation. The next couple was from Shang Hai and it turns out that his family was from Glendale, California where I spent much of my childhood and college years, moving to Hacienda Heights after his graduation, where I had spent all of my school years. What a small world! Emma is Chinese, a native of Shang Hai, and extremely engaging and sweet. The couple on their other side, I thought were from Holland by the accent, turned out to be from Jordon and were equally as warm and engaging. It was one of the most delightful dinners I have experienced in a long time.

Front Door & Tall Ceilings

Finally, the dessert was ordered, while I was talking to Emma about her soon to be baby (due on Christmas day), so I did not have a choice in the matter. We tasted the tiramisu (€5), which was light and refreshing and minus the coffee, which by this time in the evening would probably have kept us awake all night, and the meringato (“big meringue” with cream and chocolate - €5), which was good, but not outstanding.

The bill came to €86, but Tomaso rounded it off to €80 even, so we left a generous tip, which usually is not required in Italy. On the way out we met the chef, Thomaso’s mother, and congratulated her on her wonderful meal, telling “ritorniamo prossima Sabato” (“we will return next Saturday”) and the Saturday after that, and the one after that…

HOOAH...it's the "BOMB"!

CombatCritic Gives Vini e Vecchi Sapori 9 BOMBS OUT OF 10 (“bombs” are good)



Title: One Of The Best Restaurant Values In Florence ... Or Anywhere!

Key Words: Vini e Vecchi Sapori, vini, vecchi, sapori, restaurant, osteria, trattoria, dine, dining, quaint, pasta, food, menu, eat, lunch, dinner, Florence, Firenze, Italy, review, travel, value

Important Changes To Amici Degli Uffizi Membership (Effective June 15, 2015)

W

We were in Florence for a month in 2012 and purchased Amici Degli Uffizi memberships which included free entry to most of the major museums, including the Uffizi and Galleria dell'Accademia, the two "must see" museums in town, among many others. Membership was around €55 at the time and it was a great bargain. Not only did you have access to the best museums in Firenze, but you also skipped the long lines at the Uffizi without a reservation.

Unfortunately, the latest rumors are true and the Amici Degli Uffizi membership IS ONLY GOOD FOR ENTRANCE TO THE UFFIZI effective June 15, 2015. You can visit their website for more details:

http://www.amicidegliuffizi.it/diventa_socio.php?pg=8&ln=en

However, there is the FirenzeCard which gets you into the vast majority of museums (Uffizi, L'Accademia, Palazzo Vecchio, etc) as well as city public transportation (Ataf, Linea, and tram) and Firenze Free Wifi offered by the City of Florence. The card is valid for 72 hours from first use and costs €72. If you plan on visiting many of the participating museums and leaving the historical center by public transport, it could be worth the rather steep price. The Uffizi and L'Accademia are two of the more expensive museums, both charging €8 for a full-price ticket, so you might want to do some calculations to see if the ticket is a good fit for your budget before you buy. You should also know that the vast majority of Florence sightseeing can be done in the historical center and public transportation is not necessary for most people. I have spent quite a bit of time in Florence and have only taken public transportation once, a bus to and from Piazzale Michelangelo which sits atop a hill across the river from the center of town.

Many of the museums in Florence also offer free entry once each month. For example, L'Accademia (€8 at the box office; full price ticket online is €23) has "Sunday at the Museum" where you gain FREE entry to the museum on the first Sunday of each month. The Uffizi Gallery also offersfree entry on the first Sunday of every month as do several others. So if you happen to be in Florence on the first Sunday of the month, you are in luck ... Buon Viaggio!

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic On Yelp And TripAdvisor ... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Title: Important Changes To Amici Degli Uffizi Membership (Effective June 15, 2015)

Key Words: Amici Degli Uffizi, amici, degli, Uffizi, gallery, Uffizi Gallery, membership, member, free, entry, museum, Michelangelo, DaVinci, da, vinci, travel, value, CombatCritic,

Away From Tourists, Tuscan Charm Meets Fresh, Local Products In EastCentral Florence

Watch My Video About Mercato Sant'Ambrogio And Surrounds On My YouTube Channel ... CombatCritic's TravelValue TV

Mercato Sant'Ambrogio

Piazza Ghiberti, Florence.

E-mail:  mercato.ambrogio@virgilio.it

Web: mercatosantambrogio.it

Having spent several weeks in Florence over the years, I find myself returning over and over again to the wonderful Mercato Sant'Ambrogio. Situated just northeast of Santa Croce and around the corner from the Loggia del Pesce and numerous antique stores, this indoor and outdoor market sells everything from underwear, socks, shoes and clothing to salami, cheeses, bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables and wine.

Locals abound and few tourists venture this far east of centro storico (historical center) even though Mercato Sant'Ambrogio has been around since 1873. The covered stalls outside offer shade from the summer heat, housing the fruit and vegetable vendors as well as those selling clothing, shoes, household items, and more. 

Much smaller, intimate, and less touristy than the Mercato Centrale located on the northern periphery of the historical center, Sant'Ambrogio feels much more comfortable and authentic. You can even sit down at the small Trattoria da Rocco (Mangino Gianpaolo) for a very inexpensive lunch (open Mon-Sat from 7 AM - 2 PM) at one of the few small tables where you will likely be dining with neighborhood residents rather than droves of tourists.

Gelateria Gallo Ghiottone Offers Tasty, Inexpensive Gelato Just Around The Corner!

So if you are looking for an authentic experience, inexpensive clothing, and fresh, local products away from the relentless tourist traps of Florence, Mercato Sant'Ambrogio is the place for you ...

CombatCritic Gives Mercato Sant'Ambrogio 9 Out Of 10 Bombs

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic On Yelp And TripAdvisor ... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Title: Away From Tourists, Tuscan Charm Meets Fresh, Local Products In EastCentral Florence

Key Words: Mercato Sant'Ambrogio, mercato, sant'ambrogio, ambrogio, Santa Croce, santa, croce, Florence, Firenze, market, indoor, outdoor, fruit, vegetables, shopping, travel, value 

A Slightly Underwhelming, Inexpensive. Light Meal Option In Central Florence

Lo SchiacciaVino
Via Giuseppe Verdi 6R
50122 Florence, Italy
Santa Croce Area
Phone: +39 055 2260133
Prices: $$$$$

A moderately charming, clean option for an inexpensive sandwich and glass of wine, this small shop lies less than a block north of famous Piazza Santa Croce and its historic church which houses the remains of such famous Italians as Marconi, Galileo, Michelangelo and and many more.

Their sandwich, "schiaccia" in Florence, comes on fresh, toasted focaccia bread and your choice of several meats, cheeses and spreads, all for €4 each. I had the "Bomba", a mixture of ground sausage and soft cheese served warm and was not overly impressed. The cheese and ground sausage were mixed together then thinly slathered on the toasted focaccia. The taste was good, but the contents were overwhelmed by the bread and it was not very filling. My wife ordered the "Goloso" with local salami and a soft "squacquerone" cheese also served warm on toasted focaccia. It was better than my schiaccia, but lacking enough contents to make it worth the €4. A bit more salami and a little lettuce and tomato would have been welcome additions.

Goloso

They have some inexpensive wines, a vino rosso locale at €2 per glass that was not very good, so I ordered a Chianti for €3.50 that was much better. They have several options available escalating in price up to €8 per glass.

Bomba

They speak decent English and the service is friendly and fast. There are only two small tables outside on the sidewalk where you can sit comfortably, otherwise the bars with stools on opposite sides of the entryway are the only eat-in options and not very cozy. If you want a quick, decent, light meal and a glass of wine for less than €10, this is a good option, but there are better values in town for a quick, inexpensive meal.

CombatCritic Gives Lo SchiacciaVino A Solid 6 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

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English

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Title: A Slightly Underwhelming, Inexpensive. Light Meal Option In Central Florence

Key Words: Lo SchiacciaVino, schiacciavino, schiaccia, vino, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Florence, Firenze, Italy, Santa Croce, croce, sandwich, wine, travel, value, review, menu, CombatCritic

Free in Florence (Italy): Apriti Cinema International Film Festival - 29 June through 21 July 2015

Free entry to Apriti cinema, an international film festival from 29 June to 21 July 2015. Films start at 21:30 nightly and there are hamburgers (€5), french fries (€2.50), and artisan beers (€4) available for purchase.

Read More Reviews By CombatCritic On Yelp And TripAdvisor ... And Don't Forget To Subscribe To TravelValue TV on YouTube

Title:  Free in Florence (Italy): Apriti Cinema International Film Festival - 29 June through 21 July 2015

Key Words: Free, Florence, Italy, Apriti Cinema, International Film Festival, Apriti, cinema, international, film, festival, Firenze, movie, outdoor, food, beer, travel, value, CombatCritic