Delicious Tuscany!
You are looking at the best Pasta Carbonara I have ever consumed. In Tuscany it is ALL ABOUT THE FOOD AND WINE!
One night on a whim we ate at Carrozze, which translates to Carriages. Interesting. Carrozze is in the heart of Florence, Italy. Lovely rustic Italian atmosphere and delicious food. Carbonara is very hard to get right...it is such a delicate mix of egg, cheese and pasta water to make the sauce just the right texture and flavor. Nowhere else in Italy did the Carbonara taste so wonderful.
This was what my husband ordered......fish with potatos, tomatos, and fresh olives....oh and obviously with it's own head. My husband grew up in the country and he likes to fish, so that did not bother him at all....however it did bother me. My husband is NOT a picky eater. He could easily travel the world with Andrew Zimmern (the strange food guy on the travel channel) and be perfectly content with all sorts of heads and intestines and brains and yick yick yick. I am not down with fish heads. 
We shared a bottle of Castello Nipozzano Chianti with our meal that night. The Castello Nipozzano winery is located in Chianti in the Sieve Valley which is at the Northern Portal of the most famous wine region in the world. If I recall, the Nippozano was good, but not one of our favorites that we drank while in Tuscany. Sorry for the glare in the pic. I can get a little flash-happy.
This is just a typical touristy outdoor cafe. These are casual and friendly and they are EVERYWHERE.
This is another outdoor eatery that was more of a hidden gem. It was not in a tourist area. Sometimes the non touristy spots are well worth seeking out. The place usually has more of a "family feel" and most of the time the food is beyond compare.
This is Harry's Bar in Florence right by the Arno River. Harry's Bar became famous in Venice in the 60's I believe. Since then there are other Harry's Bars in Italy. The ones I know of are in Venice of course in the Piazza San Marco, in Florence along the Arno and in Rome on the Via Venetto. I had the BEST macaroni and cheese and the best salad at Harry's while in Florence. The salad had a wonderful creamy dressing and I wish I would have tried harder to figure out what the dressing was made of. It was seriously delicious.
The 2 photos above are typical eateries all over Tuscany.
Last but not least is the uber famous Vivoli Gelato. Every guidebook lists it as the BEST in Florence. I will say this--it is good. Very good....BUT......
the walk to get there is grueling and it is a little hard to find. Honestly, there are gelato stands ALL OVER FLORENCE and believe me, we tried a lot of them, and I have to say that the other places are almost just as good, and less expensive and much easier to find. This was my husband's gelato from Vivoli--strawberry and dark chocolate. As I said, it is good, but I am not sure if it is the best....and be prepared to pay and walk. Have a delicious day!
(All photos from MonkeyPosh LLC)
posted by Parisjasmal at 5:36 AM
6 Comments:
Your pictures are making me yearn for Florence. It was our favorite place we visited in Italy. We only had 3 days there but it was long enough for me to know that I want to retire there. Incredible!
I wish I had known you were going, I would have recommended this amazing day trip we took. We went into the mountains to the Chianti Rufina area to taste wine, view the olive groves and make pasta in a 1,000 year old home. If you go back, you must check it out. Accidental Tourist
Yummy! All of those food photos look good to me, babe! And, I would have no problem tasting gelato from all of the gelato stands in Florence!
Cincy's Accidental Tourist tip sounds great, too.
Hugs!
Your pictures are making me miss Italy terribly! I was there in 2005 for three weeks for my doctoral studies and have never been so happy anyplace! They say if you rub the boar's nose in Florence it guarantees a return visit...I rubbed it so hard its little snout shined! How is it that italian women can still look so lovely/chic after riding a vespa in a helmut in the July heat??
We had trouble finding Vivoli's too! In fact, we were completely lost, when suddenly there it was. My husband still says that we went through a wormhole portal or something because we did not think we were anywhere close to it when we found it. The kiwi gelato there brings tears to my eyes!
I love that you took pictures of the food. We took tons of pictures of the food and wine because we loved it so much, so I'm glad we're not the only ones!
*Hi Cincyfan--
Thanks for stopping by. I agree, Florence is lovely and charming.
Thank you for the Accidental Tourist link. What an awesome trip you took--that would have been so much fun. We took a couple of day trips, but we did nothing like that.
Where else in Italy did you go?
Have a great day!
*Hi R-
How are you sweets? I hope you and the fam are doing great. Yes, I never met a gelat stand that I did not like. Italy is bad on the waistline!
Much love to you!
Hi Anon-
Hello and thanks for visiting. HA about the boar's nose. When we went to the boar it was VERY crowded so I did not rub it, but we got photos of him.
I agree with you about the women... SO CHIC! Yes even in the heat in a helmet! I also want to know how they stay so lithe with all that FOOD!!??
How Fab for you to be there 3 weeks for your doctoral studies. Where in Italy did you love the most?
Have a great day!
*Hi Carolyn-
How are you? We felt we were lost too when trying to find Vivoli--then voila there it was. I wish I would have tried the Kiwi...that sounds delish!
I felt nerdy taking some of the photos and some places "strictly prohibit the taking of photographs"
but their food is worthy of photos.
YUM!!!!
Have a great day!!
what am i doing reading this on an empty stomach?!
great pics!
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