Italy: From Rome to Modern Republic

After spending two weeks in Rome, our week in the smaller, quieter Florence was a welcome change. The main attractions like the Duomo, the Palazzo Vecchio, and the river were all less than a twenty-minute walk from the hotel. Small shops and restaurants lined the narrow streets, and daily markets could be found near the city center, where most of the activity took place. However, Florence turned into quite a different city by night.

Around 1 am on a Wednesday night, we were wandering the streets in groups of four or five, hoping to find one of Florence’s famous secret bakeries. Personally, I hadn’t heard of these secret bakeries until we were in the city. These “bakeries” only operate late at night, starting around 1 or 2 am, baking the croissants, pastries, and other baked goods that will be sold in established bakeries much later that day. However, many of those delicious treats never make it to the bakeries. If approached, the bakery operators are more than happy to sell a couple individual pastries on the side. Since this practice is not exactly allowed, the secrecy is necessary. These baking operations usually take place in non-descript buildings at a variety of locations, which are supposed to be unknown. The idea is to simply wander the streets and hope you catch a whiff of the fresh pastries, which doesn’t exactly guarantee a successful late-night adventure. In order to avoid the disappointment of spending hours walking around the city with no baked goods to show for it, we decided to do some research beforehand.

We hit the streets with at least two street addresses that others had reported on the Internet to be locations of secret bakeries. The first address took us to a street only a few blocks down from the hotel. It was quiet and dark with no discernible aromas. The other address would take us to the other side of the city by the river, to a road that wasn’t on our map. We decided to go for it.

As we made our way through the city, it was nearly silent. The fairly busy streets were quiet, only an occasional speeding car passed by. The San Lorenzo area was deserted, the leather market packed up and the streets cleaned for some time. Even the piazza in front of the Duomo was empty, and we were able to actually see the cathedral and the baptistery without crowds of people blocking the view.

As we neared the area near the river, we began to grow a little skeptical. Considering the first location didn’t pan out, there weren’t high hopes this one would as well. Every now and then we’d stop and frantically sniff the air, thinking we caught the scent. Then we would get excited and pick up our pace, wondering if we were close or our imaginations were tricking our noses. After wandering around several smaller streets and walking in circles, we finally narrowed down the area where the Via Rivolta must be located. As we turned onto an especially hidden and small street, a wave of sweet bakery aroma overwhelmed us. We eagerly followed it, getting more excited with every step, the smell growing stronger with every turn. And then we saw it. A small building in the middle of an alley with lights on and muffled buzzing sounds. We found the door, which had signs saying “Closed” and asking us to remain quiet.

At first, we didn’t know what to do. Were we sure this was it, that people actually show up and ask for pastries all the time? We decided to knock and waited. Nothing happened. So we knocked again, louder this time. Eventually, a shadow approached the door from the other side, and it opened. A young man poked his head out and looked at us expectantly. We turned to each other, again unsure of how this transaction worked. By this time a couple other people had joined us at the door. They were obviously experienced, because they walked straight up and told him their order. So we followed suit and simply asked for four chocolate croissants. The young man nodded his head, disappeared for about 5 minutes, returned with two white paper bags, held out his hand, and quietly asked for four euro. We gave him the money, and he disappeared once again behind the frosted doors.

The croissants were well worth the hour of sleepless wandering. They were big, warm, and melt-in-your-mouth fresh. By the time we reached the hotel, our stomachs were warm and full, and we were too excited about actually finding a secret bakery to go to sleep right away. Our late-night Florence excursion had indeed been a success. We had indeed followed our noses to a sweet reward.

-Casey Lovegrove
Italy 2012

Hi all!  Here in Florence it’s been all about the Renaissance.  We have seen so much amazing art and architecture that amazes me every single day.  One night a few of us decided to part from the Renaissance theme of Florence and go see the opera Carmen by George Bizet.

For those of you who may not know, Carmen is a tragic love story set in Seville about a girl who is a gypsy. She and a soldier, Don José, fall in love, but their love is not acceptable because of the difference in status. Don José leaves his post to be with Carmen, but eventually Carmen becomes bored with him and tells him to go back to his mother. In the last scene, Carmen is with a new man, Escamillo, the bullfighter. When Don José sees this, he is so angry that he stabs and kills Carmen.

So after dinner one night Margaret, Catherine Anne, Heather, and I went across the Arno to a charming little church where the opera was being performed. I have seen Carmen in a large stage production, so I was surprised at the small size of the church and a little skeptical that this amazing opera could be performed in small space, but it was an absolutely incredible production. The actors had great voices and they were able to interact with the audience because of the small size, which made the experience very fun and special.

This opera was a great experience and all four of us are very happy we were able to see it!

– Hannah
Italy 2012

There are many wonderful things about Italy: the food, the art, the history, and the culture. I came to Italy to experience all these things. However, you cannot think about Italy without also thinking about the influential fashion houses that originated here. Versace, Missoni, Gucci, Pucci, Armani, Valentino, Fendi, Dolce & Gabana, Prada, Miu Miu, Salvatore Ferragamo. The list goes on and on.

When I came to Florence, my mission from the outset was to go to two fashion museums here: the new Gucci Museum and the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum. I luckily found a like-minded individual to share in my celebration of all things high fashion and culture, Margaret Rettinger. We then donned our newly purchased Zara dresses and leather jackets and set off to experience the finer side of Italian life.

Our first stop was the Gucci Museum. This museum opened its doors in September of 2011 and had three chic floors. The ground floor was the travel section of the collection. It had beautiful antique luggage pieces and even a Gucci Cadillac! The next level was evening wear, handbags, flora prints, contemporary art space, and jewelry. One of my favorite things on this level was the collection of evening gowns Hollywood starlets had worn that were on display. You can’t truly appreciate how intricately these couture dresses are made until you’re really close up. So much detail! The final level was sport, lifestyle, and logomania. We ended our tour of the Gucci Museum by having lunch at the café attached to the museum.

After our very deliciously chic lunch, we headed off for the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum. It was in the bottom of the HUGE Ferragamo store near the Ponte Vecchio. This museum was considerably smaller than Gucci’s but certainly not less fun. They had all these beautiful shoes on display that had been made for famous fashionistas through the ages like Carmen Miranda, Audrey Hepburn (a personal favorite), Judy Garland, Meryl Streep, and Lady Gaga. It was awesome seeing all the molds of their feet that had been made to perfectly fit the shoe. There were also quotes around the museum by Salvatore Ferragamo that were very entertaining. In one of them, he talks about how there are three kinds of women in the world. The first are the Cinderella’s and they wear shoes smaller than a 6. Venuses are women who wear a size 6 (that would be me!!). The final group of women are the Aristocrats who wear a size larger than 6. I thought that that quote was very entertaining and a solid description of the different types of women.

I know visiting fashion museums maybe isn’t the most academic pursuit but it provided a refreshing glimpse into the pop culture side of modern Italy. It was definitely one of my favorite things I’ve done so far on my own during this trip and it will be greatly cherished for years to come. To anyone travelling to Florence: visit the Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo museums!

– Catherine Anne Culbertson
Italy 2012