After all the crazy adventures in Greece, I decided to stay
in Florence this past weekend. The rest of April, I’ll be traveling every
weekend, so it was a much-needed break. My campus has weekly activities to keep
us active in Florence. I’ve already done a few, including the Gelato Making and
Pasta Making, which I’ve blogged about.
This past Saturday, I experienced A Day in the Life of a
Florentine. Two LdM staff members took us to a suburb of Florence for a very
informal tour of the neighborhood of Scandicci, where they both grew up. The
intent was to give us an idea of what a normal Saturday might consist of. It
was a beautiful day to explore, and we were able to see so much.
The morning started off with a tram ride out of the city
center. As we saw all the crowded city buildings disappear behind us, we drove
through parks, fields, and outlying shopping centers and suburbs. We arrived in
Scandicci after about 20 minutes and went straight to the market.
It was basically a giant outdoor flea market, with
everything a person could need, including rows and rows of clothes, a few odds
and ends, and plenty of delicious street food. While some were brave enough to
try the lampredotto, a
type of tripe popular in Tuscany, I found a stand that specialized in
deep-frying. Not the healthiest option, but it was pretty damn delicious! Anything
that could be fried was fried. They had fried potatoes, zucchini, corn, rice
(both sweet and savory), several varieties of doughnuts, and my favorite—fried
pizza dough!
Emma (our activities
director) was a great tour guide. She kept pointing out places and programs
that she was very proud about. It was really a great experience to see her
point of view. She even pointed out where her parents live, and where she lives
now! We saw a youth center, where teens and 20-somethings can come and have a
creative space to paint, write, practice with a band, or even host
competitions.
Next, we had a brief tour of
the local library. It had recently been converted from its former use as a
primary school established during the fascist period. The library was huge for
the small size of the town, and a very modern and comfortable place to study.
There was a volunteer center
where we learned that all non-emergency ambulances in Tuscany are operated fully
on a volunteer basis. It is a popular volunteer activity for people living in
the area of all ages, especially high school students.
Our last stop was seeing the
Scandicci Castle, now owned by the Scandicci community. It has been restored by
volunteers in the community, and sits in the center of a beautiful, expansive
park where we sat out and took in our surroundings in the sun, while enjoying a
few snacks we picked up from the market.
The entire community of
Scandicci was so different than Florence. It was much more laidback. There was
a very strong sense of community and the people really took pride in the
neighborhood. Although geographically close to the city center of Florence, it
felt worlds away.
Of course no tour in Italy is
complete without gelato, so before leaving, we had to stop at Gelatando for
Scandicci’s finest! In the summer, the line here gets so long they actually
have a ticket machine to distribute numbers. We were told that on a hot day,
the line can get to be well over 100 people long. I tried their signature
flavor, gelatando, a flavor similar to tiramisu—so good!
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