The {SECRET} Secret Bakeries of Florence

If you've spent any length of time in Florence you've probably heard the whisperings about the secret bakeries. A few are not so secret but still remain out of the tourist's eye so the hunt for them late into the night is a popular excursion for students and Italians alike. These industrial bakeries turn up the oven in the middle of the night to cook the pastries for the next day that fill the shelves of the city's cafes. Some will let a hot, fresh pastry or two slide off the bakery sheet if in return you allow them to slide a euro into their apron. It may be illegal but the police like their bombolone here too so they may be standing in line with you too...

Finding Firenze

"That’s a part that I didn’t quite expect before I came here— the presence of ordinary in an extraordinary place."
-Claire Shalinsky, Claire Across the Pond

The more I deepen my ties here, the more I realize just what living abroad means. I'll never be a Florentine & I'm still in a state of enchantment as I see the Duomo on my walk to school, but I can see the difference between me & the dazed tourists as I walk down the street. I no longer hold a map and I turn corners without thinking twice. Yet, there is still a whole side of Florence I do not know and will only meet with time.

Gusta Gnocchi

The more I settle, the more I want to explore! Unfortunately it was a bit rainy this weekend which forced me to learn to do laundry {they do things a little different in Italy} & fight with my gas stove top that wouldn't light. I wasn't able to figure out the stove and my clothes ended up soaking wet, even after I had watched two YouTube videos & used Google translate to translate all the knob.

Let down by my American ways, I left the apartment {after it stopped raining} and ventured across the Arno for the promise of good pizza {thanks Allyson for the tip!}. It was a beautiful night and had cooled down to the high 70's. Walking from the city center where I live to the bridges that cross the Arno is quite the shift. On the other side of the Arno things are a bit more peaceful and trees fill the hillsides. I {LOVE} being in the center of the city and having everything at my fingertips {including listening to the bells of Santa Croce ring as I type} but sometimes escaping across the water is a nice change.