Tuesday, Dec 3, Mercato at Parco delle Cascine

At 9 this morning after a breakfast of yogurt and taralli that Marta sent with me, I met Elisa for un giro, a walk through the morning mercato. It takes place here near the Arno River at the Parco delle Cascine every Tuesday. Unless it's raining. 

Elisa told me she could tell I had been speaking English recently. She was right! When Italian friends spend time with me, I always ask them if they want to practice their English. I understand very well this longing. I spoke English with pleasure, for four hours yesterday. I love Sara. 

Elisa said my comprehension is good. Just skip the words you don't know. Comprehension is the goal. 

She talked about the importance of the musicality of each language. This is the key to speaking a new language. Italian is flat and when I speak with the cadence or musicality of American English, I don't speak Italian well. I asked for suggestions to speak better. Watching films with Italian subtitles, as I do then pausing and repeating phrases. Also nonsense drills like Peter piper. Italian has  the same. Parrots speak perfectly she told me. They imitate the sounds they hear. 

So I set out to listen more closely and repeat phrases I heard this morning. 

I had been to this Mercato one time about 4 years ago to find sandals when I had blistered feet, from wearing new shoes too many hours. 

We strolled and looked. Elisa knew quite a few vendors. She knows who sells good quality Italian products. 

First stop was shoes. The lady greeted her and without trying on, Elisa asked for a size 40 pair of boots. They are exactly what she is wearing. They are so comfortable she wants to make sure she has this second pair. Cost:  an unbelievable 7€. They are fantastic boots!  

I tried on another style. I asked where a chair was. Elisa replied, 'this is the Mercato Francesca! Just stand on the paper in front of the mirror.'  Easier said than done! She gave me her arm for support. 

She suggested always get the larger size large if you're in between sizes, as I am. 38 or 39. If the shoes are too small she said, you will suffer all day. This is so true, especially here, where one walks all day long. 

I bought several items for Christmas presents. Things that were in my list. Good quality and made in Italy. One item for me is an oval shaped small mesh strainer. I've been looking for this for years. I also found a tostapane, which toasts bread on the stovetop. 

I found a replacement bell for my brother's male lead sheep. (The one I had bought him from Sardegna several years ago, recently fell off somewhere in the fields.) The proprietor of the stand let me test to find one with the best sound. Cost 7 €. 

Elisa surprised me with a piece of warm fried polenta. It was the perfect morning snack. 

I thanked her for the wonderful three hour opportunity she had given me. It was a different experience attending with an Italian. She told me she has offered this walk through the Mercato to some of her tour participants.  Often they pass on the opportunity, waiting here in the park instead.  They have no clue what they've missed. 

Elisa dropped me back at the hotel, although I offered to walk. She said I had too many bags. Italians are so practical. 

3.20

I don't need more chocolate because I just had the best lunch and dessert with a dear friend. 

What I learned at lunch:

1. Pasta with squash, can made with any creamy cheese or use gorgonzola. 

2. Eat the chocolate millefoglie in hand not using a fork as I did. I often have trouble eating in front of another person. It's always been this way. I felt better using a fork. 

3. Keep in touch with dear friends. This is the true treasure in life.

But as I passed by Vestri Ciccolateria it was impossible to not stop in. First, to buy a little something for someone who adores this shop and second to sit here on the sidewalk and contemplate this afternoon with a 1€ cup of hot chocolate. This is the real thing. Hot liquid chocolate. This is my cappuccino stop for the afternoon. 

I walked all afternoon taking pictures and enjoying just being here. I am enchanted by life in Firenze. 

For the first time I really looked inside COIN. I always thought it was a low end department store, but I was mistaken. They carry both French and Italian clothes. I wanted to compare prices for jackets. I bought one this morning at the Mercato for an amazing 15€. It's nylon and fiber filled and made in Italy. I've worn it all day and I've been warm outside in the air and comfortable unzipped inside. I'm very very happy with my new jacket. It is called a 'Piumino' which means it's feather filled or filled with a substitute. This Piumino will be too warm to wear in California. I will store it in my luggage for next fall's trip here. 

I'm looking for a gift for my mother. The tourist items don't seem right. Evviva! I found top quality socks for her in COIN. One pair is French and the other Italian. Cost: 13€ each ! If one wants Italian quality, be prepared to pay the price. 

I stopped in at a bakery Alessandro once took me to. As as child, he would come here to this exact shop, for fresh hot Bomboloni. Along the ceiling still, there is a small enclosed conveyor belt which would deliver hot donuts from some upstairs preparation room, to this bowl of sugar. 

I asked the much older man behind the counter if the mechanism still worked. Yes it does, daily! 

I told him my late friend Alessandro had come here as a child. The counterman understood me! As I left, he put his hand over his heart and told me he was sorry for my loss. Such a touching gesture. 

For my breakfast tomorrow, I purchased one Pane del Pescatore. (Fisherman's bread)

I spent some time at the Vodafone store  on Via Martinelli. I am hoping my cellular number can still be recovered. It will be another overnight wait to know. 

At 6.30 I headed toward Piazza Santa Croce, taking pictures along the way.  I am trying to capture my feelings. I have such a longing to remain here. The street Christmas lights are turned on and workmen are busy putting up a Christmas tree and building a manger.

I love the Mercato di Natale. I visit this mercato every November. There is a wide selection of European food and products. 

Adorable! I see my favorite street band has a new member. One can see the facial resemblance to his proud father. 

This year I decided on a Greek dinner.

A good choice! It was fabulous. This is the first time I've eaten authentic pita bread from Greece. I took my plate into a little tent where tables are setup, protected from the cold breeze. Twice, gypsies came in shaking their cups of coins. 

I had a pleasant walk back to Hotel Cestelli on Borgo Santi Apostoli, 25. It was only 8.30, but the night was dark. My thoughts always turn to the people who walked these streets during medieval times. 

~~.~~

From Wiki

Parco delle Cascine

The building of the Park began in 1563, under the rule of Cosimo I de' Medici, as a farming and hunting estate of the Medici family, ruling the city of Florence since 1434. The very name of the Park derives from the ancient Italian word "cascio", meaning bovine livestock, mainly intended for the production of butter and cheese.^[1]

Since the beginnings of its building, the maintenance of the park was particularly well cared by the Medicis. Rare and exotic plants were chosen for the park, also for scientific reasons.

With the end of rule of the Medici in favour of the Habsburg-Lorraines, the park acquired a recreative function in the urban system, conserved until the present days. However, until the beginning of the 19th century, the park remained usually closed to the public, with the exception of some particular recurrence.

At the end of the 18th century the park was enriched with buildings by the architectGiuseppe Manetti, such as the Palazzina Reale (nowadays location of the Agronomy faculty of the University of Florence), theAbbeveratoio del Quercione fountain, the pyramid-shaped ice house, the amphitheatre and the nautical plant of the Pavoniere. The two neoclassical Pavoniere were originally built as ornamental peacock cages. A number of fountains were built at the time, perhaps the most famous is the Narcisus Fountain, from which the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley draw inspiration writing the Ode to the West Wind, in 1820.^[2]

Giuseppe Manetti was also responsible for organising celebrations and receptions in the park, such as the celebration for the assignment of Ferdinand III of Tuscany, in July 1791.

The Grand Duchy Pietro Leopoldo ordered the construction of a model farming estate, around the Palazzina Reale building.

The park became public at the beginning of the 19th century with Elisa Baciocchi, which fostered a number of preservative interventions. The park was acquired by the Municipality of Florence in 1869, which committed the renovation of the park to the architect Felice Francolini.

Sport clubs which regularly competed in theQuercione meadow were: Florence Football Club, Itala Foot Ball Club, Juventus Foot-Ball Club, Firenze FBC, Club Sportivo Firenze and PGF Libertas. However, in 1917 the

Pavoniera, formerly a peacock cage.

municipality decided to forbid to any sport club to play football in the park.

The last relevant monument built in the Cascine Park was the Indiano monument, realised by the English sculptor Fuller in honour of the young Indian prince Rajaram Chuttraputti, who suddenly died while visiting Florence in 1865.

~~.~~

Borgo Santi Apostoli è un'antica strada diFirenze che prende il nome dalla chiesa di Santi Apostoli.

La via si trovava fuori dalle mura di epoca romana, ma vi venne inclusa in epoca carolingia. Il lato nord della strada presenta ancora uno stile compatto, tipico di edifici un tempo addossati a un'unica cortina muraria.

La via è ricca di architetture storiche, in gran parti risalenti al Trecento, come i numerosi palagi, che in quell'epoca sostituirono le case torri per le ricche famiglie dei mercanti fiorentini.

La parte più vicina a via Por Santa Maria ha risentito delle mine dell'agosto del 1944 che distrussero gran parte della zona, per questo vi si trovano edifici moderni. Fu una superstite quasi "miracolata" la Torre dei Baldovinetti, che per la sua posizione arretrata e la compattezza della muratura con strettissime finestre subì danni ma non crollò. Il vicino Palagio Buondelmonti invece dovette essere in gran parte ricostruito. Proprio ai Buondelmonti alludeva Dante Alighieriquando citò il "Borgo" fiorentino, nel canto dedicato alle famiglie antiche di Firenze inParadiso con il trisavolo Cacciaguida(Paradiso, XVI, 134-135).

Il palazzo medievale più importante della strada si trova al numero 8 ed è il Palazzo Acciaiuoli, che ingloba anche l'antica Torre dei Buondelmonti, appartenuto a Niccolò Acciaiuoli ed in seguito da lui assegnato ai monaci della Certosa di Firenze, da lui fondata, i quali apposero il loro stemma sulla facciata, ancora presente, con la croce del Calvario tra due leoni rampanti e la scritta Certosa. Anche al numero 10 si trova unacasa Acciaiuoli, mentre al 14 si incontra il primo dei palazzi di una famiglia molto presente su questa strada, gli Altoviti.

Il Palazzo Borgherini-Rosselli del Turco è invece un importante palazzo dell'inizio del Cinquecento, costruito quasi certamente da Baccio d'Agnolo. Davanti al palazzo si trova l'accesso al piccolo giardino del palazzo, costruito esternamente poiché non vi era spazio sufficiente per ricavarlo accorpato al palazzo.

Il palazzo Borgherini si appoggia infatti sul retro sulla chiesa di Santi Apostoli, al punto da avere una grata che collega la cappella privata nel palazzo con la navata della chiesa. Poco più avanti si apre la piazza del Limbo, dove la chiesa ha la facciata, e dove si trova sul lato di Borgo Santi Apostoli l'edificio delle vecchie treme pubbliche, costruite nel 1826, come testimonia un'iscrizione scolpita.

Il principale Palazzo degli Altoviti si trova al numero 18, ed appartenne alla stessa famiglia la casa al 25, che ha un busto di Cosimo II de' Medici sulla facciata e risale quindi al periodo dopo la riappacificazione tra le due famiglie.

Al 22 si trova il Palazzetto Buontalenti, al 27 la Casa delle Monache di Santa Maria della Disciplina ed al 29, infine il Palazzo Salutati.

Sent from my iPhone