Live Like a Local in Florence Apartment

My plan was to write this blog post about our recent high speed train trip to Venice but decided instead to write a bit about this city and our lodging. Our goal on this trip was to get back to Italy to explore the very walkable city of Florence, see all the tourist sites, museums, churches, etc., but to also just live our normal Virginia based life with the exception of some daily walks around town or along the Arno River.

 

Florence, Italy

We saw just a quick glimpse of this historic city last year while on our fast paced tour of 6-7 areas in the country with SmartTours. Of all the stops we made this was the one that we wanted to get back to and explore.

A little about the history. Florence, Italy has a rich history spanning nearly 3,000 years. It was founded as a Roman military colony in the 1st century BC and has been a republic, a seat of the duchy of Tuscany, and a capital of Italy. Throughout its history, Florence achieved preeminence in commerce, finance, learning, and the arts. It emerged as an independent city-state in 1425 and became a birthplace of the modern world.

Look up some of the movies and TV series about the Medici family. Very interesting as they were the extremely wealthy ruling family having made their fortune being the Vatican’s banker and many trade industries. They lived in Florence through many generations.

The population is over 300,000 for the greater area, but our wandering has only been in the historic city center. Not sure how many live here, but it is always a bit crowded in the popular areas, but nothing like it is in the summer tourist season. Being November now, we are about out of the major tourist time.

Apartment

It was some good fortune that Pat and I selected Florence to return to for our extended stay. Because as I stated above, we wanted to explore it more, but also because of its central Italy location and that it is a hub for the high-speed trains that connect the country so well.

And as it turned out, I have a good friend, Steve, who used to be a co-worker back before we both retired. Steve had purchased this two-bedroom apartment many years ago as a retirement travel destination. He offered to rent it out to family and friends back when I was working, seven years ago.

So, I contacted him to check if it could still be rented and available at our chosen time and it was! Then over a year ago we put all of this trip’s travel plans together with the month long stay here.

The apartment is in a great location. Far enough away (16-minute walk) from the city center, at the Piazza del Duomo, that it is away from the hustle and bustle. You can walk to anywhere in under 30 minutes. It is also in a quiet neighborhood and close to the train station (Santa Maria Novella SMN) at an eight-minute walk.

It has several local restaurants that we have become regulars within a 3-minute walk. As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are 2400 eating establishments within walking distance, so no problem to find something new. Some days we just take off walking in a direction without looking at google maps, make a few turns, find a quiet side street restaurant, do a quick check of the reviews, and then dive in. Most servers have some grasp on English as a common language for the French, German, Eastern Europe, you name it. It is like the tower of Babel.

We tend to buy groceries and supplies just like at home but carry the bags back to the apartment. Then eat at the apartment two meals a day, and then out once and sometimes twice a day. Everyday includes a stroll through town or along the Arno. Our Apple phone miles walked app is showing an average of 4.2 miles per day with a peak day at 7.1 miles.

One of my favorite restaurants, Trattoria Sabatino, was recommended by our landlord. It is across the river and about 25 minutes from here. The prices are very reasonable, and they have a wide variety. One of the big draws is that it is not a tourist place. A big spot for locals. Their menu is only in Italian, so we take a photo of it and use Google Translate. They seat you family style with others at your table. Today, our neighbors at the table spoke very little English but did convey that Florence has too much tourism driving up the housing prices. The locals have to move out to the surrounding areas. Sounds like many American tourist cities. So, me the visitor just replied that yes, I fully understand.

I looked it up when we got back home that tourism provides 11% of Italy’s GDP, behind agriculture, manufacturing, services, and trade. It is quite significant to the economy and provides many jobs, but certainly can be a headache to the locals.

Back to the Sabatino restaurant. I seem to be rambling today. The locals ordered each course, one at a time. The antipasti first, they ate it then ordered the pasta, it came then they ordered the second or main course. Obviously, in the US we ordered everything at first except for dessert. But in Italy, the meals are slow event and to savored for hours. It’s hard for us even being retired to slow down.

One other observation is not meant to be a negative, but is just the nature of a very old city and a different culture. All the buildings being very old are well, quite rustic. They are stone of some type and concrete. In the US, we would power wash or paint to make everything look clean and tidy. Here the buildings are all mostly gray and the busy sidewalks are never cleaned except for the occasional rainstorm. It has not rained for three walks, so the cigarette butts are accumulating as is the dirt and dust. Have I mentioned that 50% of the people on sidewalks are smoking. Not much stray trash though as trash pickup site are scattered throughout the city. It’s just being part of the old city.

Usually on our daily walks we will stop for some treat. Whether a gelato, coffee, or a glass of wine there are hundreds of sidewalk cafes to sit, and people watch to while away an hour. We do slow down once in a while, and it is nice. No hurry to catch up with the tour group. We are on our own time and enjoying every minute.

Wrap Up

We have not watched or read much about the US news except for a little election coverage. Instead, we have been reading several books, playing cards, watching our sermons on-line from Virginia and we are playing the occasional tourist to help the economy. Our stay here is winding down and as of today we have six days remaining before the next flight to Spain for the next leg of the adventure.

Thanks for following along and please leave a comment as we both love to hear what you are thinking. Take care and God Bless.