Out and about on a warm and sunny Saturday, we head back to the Flea Market to visit the food stalls in the industrial building. When I walked in, it reminded me very much of a marketplace I went to in Paris, with the olive oil vendors and cheese mongers. It was definitely a foodie haven. I roamed the aisles which were full of families shopping, this being a Saturday. 
Wherever you looked, your eyes feasted on mounds of fresh verdura (vegetables), hanging formaggio (cheese) and salsiccia (sausage). 
I pointed out a few Italian specialties that I knew Peter would never eat nor understand why anyone else would eat them; 
Whole rabbits were for sale, lots and lots of tripe (stomach intestine), the latter which I can hardly believe I ate for dinner many a night with my father. Now the thought of….let’s not go there.
The cooking school was on the second floor which was also one huge food court. 
People everywhere eating plates of pasta and platters of mortadella, prosciutto, cheeses and olives. AND coffee or rather espresso-Italians love their tiny cups (like a shot) of espresso a few times a day. There’s no sitting down to linger over a cup of coffee and have the waitress refill your cup. Nope, it’s a stand, sip, swig and go, for them. Practically everyplace in Italy has a bar or is a bar and is not to be confused with an American bar although they often have wine, beer and some liquors too.
But today is a shopping day, I can feel it in my bones. Late yesterday as we cruised through the marketplace I spied a particular style handbag 👜 and was hoping to buy one today if I could decide on the right color, decisions, decisions! So out we go into the crowd of shoppers and after much haggling with one dealer we purchase a very nice belt for Peter and with more negotiating for that special price for you lady, I bought a lovely pale pink handbag that will never fit in my suitcase going home and and impractical to carry on the plane because it doesn’t close up tightly enough. Then again not sure practicality plays a big role in impulse shopping.
Enough of this stuff, where’s the antique flea market? We don’t know who to ask, so we start walking down some other streets in our neighborhood when we come across – you won’t believe it! – A head shop. It was like a candy store literally, colorful and happy. We’re on vacation so what the hey?! I pick out 5 lollipops 🍭 and some stuff that looks like brown rock candy. I think I asked the woman at the counter about the flavor of one of the lollies and that’s when she casually mentioned that there was no CBD in them. “OH?” MMMmmmm. That’s when she said that marijuana was illegal in Italy!! A store in Florence full of paraphernalia, pipes, hookahs, edibles, papers and more but NOT really selling marijuana. I put the lollipops back. She did add that those amber colored candies had a trace of the oil of CBD, “for relaxation “, she said. Tucked those little sweeties in my handbag and before we left we tried to find out if they knew where there might be an antique flea market? It was suggested we head to St. Ambroseus Square, and once again we asked kind strangers to call a taxi for us.
Upon arriving at said square all we found was a couple of racks of used clothing 👎. We walked around and saw a sign in the distance, stopped at at restaurant to ask what it was and joy of joys, the answer was “oh some antiquities”. I told you, we have a magnetic attraction to such places. We split up, each going our own way, it was a two aisle flea market and I found two booksellers with 💯 ‘s of books and neither had what I was searching for – Alice nel paease delle Meraviglie while Peter was probably drawn to the vintage clothing stalls. We met in the middle, well that’s not quite true I found him trying to decide between a vintage linen sports jacket and a really smart looking striped jacket. I left him betwixt and between, he would have to decide. I meandered into a lovely booth run by an English lady who had emigrated to Italy and was now a citizen. We talked about socialized medicine; The topic came up when she saw my boot and cane. She had some interesting English flatware with white Bakelite handles. I thought one knife and one fork would make a nice addition to my Bakelite flatware at home.
And now we had one more stop to make, I’ve been waiting for two days….The Ponte Vecchio, famous for being the only bridge on the Arno not bombed during the war. “We must go there Peter”. Lol lol lol. Happy Birthday to me – I bought a thin, white gold filigree band, a definite Florentine design, to wear with my wedding band. Quite the dicothomy there – we bought our wedding bands at a street fair in New York for $10 each because we were looking for an art deco design and we immediately loved them. Don’t put it in the box, I’ll just wear it😍.
P.S. Peter got both the jackets, fair is fair after all.
To be continued…
Yes, he is magnificent! The sculpting is amazing and from a single block of marble!
To say that the room was small would be an understatement, to say that the neighborhood was replete with tourist hotels and every day, all day and night people pulling suitcases walked the streets. It was an amazing sight. We did notice that an unusually large number of the tourists were Asian and we found a few Chinese restaurants, even one with an Italian name and a Chinese name. Our host Alessandro was quite a combination of a scholar and perhaps a not terribly conscientious businessman. He spoke 5 languages and was quite engaging. He was considerate and solicitous of our wants albeit he didn’t always follow through. Pros: convenient location to train station (although by taxi you would never know it), many little cafes and restaurants that cater to tourists (read eggs and toast and American coffee), A/C , TV. Cons: tiny shower, tiny bottle of soap/shampoo combo, no shelf in bathroom or toilet roll holder or mirror. No hooks or closet in room. Mosquitoes 😧. However it may sound, this is how it went down… Peter wanted to look around the neighborhood and I wanted to put my foot up on the bed with that blasted boot off. I started to work on my iPad doing an Italian lesson and after 3 mistakes in a row, I closed it, put my head down and fell asleep. Peter came back and tried to talk to me, I just waved him away. Eventually up and refreshed we headed out to the famous (by word of mouth) Trattoria Sostanza. My friend, Bobbie Gitter encouraged me to go to Florence and to definitely eat at this restaurant. Famous for its Bistecca Florentine and Pollo di burro, I swear every single person in the restaurant was eating the same thing! Platter after platter came out of the kitchen with everyone ordering the Tortino Carciofi as an appetizer followed by the steak and chicken. 
I see all but the tote which of course has my phone, my iPad, and my euros. I’m really panicking and if you can imagine what a whirling dervish with a limp would look like like -that’s me as I scan my entire perimeter looking for that bag and Peter joins in looking for his passport. Kindly man shows up with chair and wonders what the problem is? Where is my bag? Apparently it is under further examination….
I wish I could remember kindly man’s name but I can’t, says Dunkin Donuts and that sounds good to me. Wait a minute, didn’t I envision a month of frutta, formaggio, Parma e caffe per colazione every morning for a month?? Oh well still in USA. I drew the line at the coffee though insisting we go to Starbucks after we got the donuts. Look how quickly one can become a diva sitting on a throne! LOL.
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
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