San Miniato White Truffle Festival
On the way from Florence to Pisa you pass a small town called San Miniato which happens to supply 25% of Italy's white truffle production. The San Miniato truffle is the same truffle as the one grown in Alba, also known as Tuber Magnatum Pico.
The town also happens to hold a White Truffle Festival on the last three weekends in November. So guess where we stopped after we left Florence on our way to the airport in Pisa?
Central Market & Nerbone's
Central Market in San Lorenzo is one of those places that no tourist should miss. Just as important as visiting the Uffizi or seeing the David when visiting Florence.
Prada Outlet and The Mall
There is a sort of fashion mecca 45 minutes outside of Florence. It's called Space in Montevarchi, better known as the Prada Outlet. There are numerous sets of directions on the web, none of which are quite adequate. Prada is in a grey warehouse with no sign to indicate that you've arrived at the right place. Instead, if you see any cars in Montevarchi filled with Japanese women, it'd be a good bet to follow them. Failing that, stop at a gas station or ask a local, they are quite used to being asked.
Do not waste your time with any other gelato in Florence. This is the one you'll want. The thought and care taken to make this gelato comes through in the product. If you click on the link above you'll be taken to Grom's philosophy page on their website. Think about that, an ice cream with a philosophy. Isn't that exciting?
Their flavors are seasonal and oh the granny smith and williams pear were both lovely but the creamier flavors were actually impossible to stop eating. We tried the gianduja, pistachio, and the hazlenut and all three were incredible.
Go, then go again, and again. At least once a day for every day you are in Florence. If not twice.
via del Campanile
angolo via delle Oche
50012 Florence - Italy
Tel. 055.216158
If you should find yourself dragging your heels as you approach Ponte Vecchio (because you've followed my advice and wandered all the streets of central Florence by foot) then you must pop into the Hotel Lungarno Continentale for a drink. In fact, even if you are pretty spritely, you'll still want to stop by. It's directly across from the famous bridge and manages to be seriously cool and an oasis of calm (its part of the Ferragamo group).
What could this be a picture of?
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Trattoria 4 Leoni
The restaurant came highly recommended to me and while their pastas were good, the meat dishes were really nothing special. Still, you could do much worse than to have a meal here and to be fair, we only went once and we didn't have the steak florentina that they are known for.
If I went back, I'd order antipasti and stick to the pasta dishes -
Nothing not to like about a simple dish of tagliatelle and white truffles, the aroma of which were so overpowering that I kept getting the sensation that I had white truffles in the other pasta dish too.
Fiochetti or purse pasta stuffed with pear and taleggio in an asparagus cream sauce.
Yes, I could definitely eat those two dishes again.
Fifty minutes drive south of Florence is a village nestled in the Chianti hills called Panzano. Panzano happens to be the home of legendary butcher Dario Cecchini.
