Florence, Food

But enough about art, you really just want to know about the food.  Well, actually, it's not that easy to eat really well in Florence, because of the high percentage of foreigners.   Example:  I saw a sign outside a restaurant:  "Slow Food - Hamburgers - Cheeseburgers - Hot Dogs".  Talk about covering all your bases.   But still, it is the beginning of mushroom season in Florence, and I had the most delicious grilled Porcini mushrooms I have ever had.  And lots of Chianti.   When I was younger, Italian wine was Chianti, and it came in those straw wrapped bottles, which you turned into candle holders, and the wax would drip down on them.   It was the height of an imagined "Greenwich Village" (or hippie?) type of coolness.  Since that period, I have assiduously avoided any wine that came in straw bottles, and Chianti has suffered the consequences.   Except now, in Florence, I have discovered I really like it.

I also had a delicious salad with thinly slice raw artichokes, parmesan cheese, and a bit of summer truffles...