Martha had done a lot of planning for this trip, and we were
often asked by our travel companions how she had arranged it all when they
found out we were extending our visit in Italy.
She had not only found a way to link two tours together with a stay in Florence between them, but she also found two flexible
passes – the Uffizi, Pitti Palace, and Boboli pass and the Brunelleschi pass –
which were good for several days and allowed entry into all of the sights we
wanted to see on our own schedule.
I had contracted a cold a few days ago and was still recovering,
so we decided to put off more ambitious distances for now, although it became
apparent that, as we had been told, you can literally walk everywhere in
Florence on very safe streets. We had found that, only a week after our earlier visit to the city, crowds had
already begun to diminish by this time in November. We had both read about a huge indoor market
called the Mercato Centrale, located only a few blocks away in a beautiful
building from the late 19th century, and that is where we made our
way this morning, stopping along the way to admire little piazzas, statues, and
architecture along the way.
The Mercato Centrale had everything a person looking for food might want: fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meat, salami and cheese of every imaginable variety, and many little cafés tucked between the aisles. We had a very inexpensive and delicious lunch at one of these places, prosciutto and salami paninis with red wine. But walking around afterward, we saw that the market had far more exotic fare, such tongue and "fourth stomach of the cow paninis." I sent a picture to our daughter and she asked, “Are the first, second, and third stomachs considered better or worse, I wonder?” I did not have an answer for her.
Called lampredotto paninis, they are a classic Florentine sandwich, derived from the Italian word for lamprey eels, lampreda, as the tripe resembles a lamprey in shape and color. We also saw a lot of unusual seafood on display, such as octopus that looked entirely unlike the calamari we have had in restaurants.
The best thing about the market was a huge espresso/cappuccino bar on the second floor, where a talented barista produced some brews that were works of art.
Meanwhile, we are seeing Facebook posts about the election. And trying not to think about it all for just a little while.
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