Today I took advantage of warm weather and my roommate Amber and I explored the Boboli Gardens, behind the Pitti Palace here in Florence. A local has told us that the palace was bought by Eleonora di Toledo, the Duchess of Florence for her and her husband to live happily ever after in. Its in a prime location, just on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio and it is just massive! Unfortunately we had a busy day planned and didn't get to go inside today, but with our museum passes we can go back whenever for free. I could have spent all day at the gardens, and intend to go back sometime this week. There was a lot that we didn't get to see because its so big. I kept looking around at the palace and the gardens and thinking, this was seriously someone's house! How amazing that would have been.
Pitti Palace
Giardino di Boboli
The views were so amazing!
After the gardens, Amber and I rushed to the Piazza Santa Maria Novella for a "flash mob" designed to bring awareness to hunger in Florence. Oxfam organized the event and FUA notified us of the opportunity. Here's a video of what happened! It as pretty cool to be a part of this, even if it was on a small scale. Look for me in the green shirt, there's a few seconds you can spot me.
In the beginning he is talking about Oxfam's mission. From their site: Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organizations networked together in more than 90 countries, as part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from the injustice of poverty.We work directly with communities and we seek to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.
Once we dispersed from the mob, we started making our way to the Expo Rurale Toscana. The event featured vendors of locally grown and DOCG and IGP certified products. This means that the goods have to meet certain qualifications, similar to our organic certifications. Many vendors were making sandwiches with fresh bread and different meat and cheeses. There was also honey, artichoke and truffle bread spread, jams, yogurt, milk, wine and more. I found a Chianti I liked and couldn't go home without a bottle and a wedge of pecorino cheese.
Vendor selling sandwiches
Someone else's plate of goodies
Exhibit featuring local products
Tuscan honey
Not sure what this is...
Cured meats
Formaggio
Honey comb!
Some massive bulls
The expo was in a park about 45 minutes walk from my house, and overall I was gone from my house for 6 hours today walking around. It was very nice to see some green again in the garden and on my walk outside of the city but I am so tired! There will be many more pictures on facebook also. Ciao!
One love,
VA
