Italy - Florence

Great town. Lots and lots of tourists, but you really feel like you are in such an old and special place. A place that used to be really important. I love their winding roads and cobblestones. I love that squares seem to be everywhere. Crossing the river can be daunting because one side is much less touristy, and so it can be intimidating…but true gems can be found. We ate at the White Boar in this area and had just a fantastic time (granted we were with true Italians at the time). Either way, you are going to cross the Ponte Vecchio (possibly the most famous small bridge in the world) that connects the two main areas. This bridge is fun with vendors and performers and views…but it’s also kind of a let down. The really cool idea/part/thing about the bridge is the view you get from the side. Like the bridge was built out of Italian cottages. It’s very hard to tell that you are on anything so amazing while walking across it.

Didn’t go to the Duomo this time, as I had been there before (beautiful at night though). Same story for the Uffizi museum (the fake david in the square is plenty enough for me).

Florence is great. Hotel made it better. Hanging with Tuscans made it over the top.

A little update from July 2024:

Schiacciata (focaccia in Tuscany) was my only food goal this time.
Laura says a little crunchier on the outside versus the softer focaccia.
You get it with the Stracchino soft cheese. It’s perfect and soft and spreadable.
All’ Antico Vinaio- Bread was very crunchy. Got the summer and the #4 veggie.
Summer was a weak caprese with unripe tomatoes and too hard mozz.
Fratellini - Strangely better. Crunchier but definitely lighter. Perfect sandwich.
I got the number 1 with cream cheese. Which isn’t real cream cheese. It was great.
Had la stracchinella from schiacciateria - You get 2 halves for 6.50. No joke. Humongous. Bread was less crispy though so I consider it the worst of the 3.

Florence never really changes. We came back to show it to some who’d never been.
Dinner with D and L the first night was perfect. Florentine steak (bistecca) every time. Close to raw. Olive oil. Peppercorns. Sliced and melt in your mouth.

Food Tour September 2024:

Hotel Grand Cavour Florence
Classic bullshit grand hotel. I got the Fresca suite which is like the biggest box a person could stay in, like what a versaille room would be like, but not a palace.
No view. No Ac that works a damn. Crappy WiFi. Weak bathroom. All for 500 bucks a night. Whew.
Great location though, and cute rooftop bar.

Antica Porchetteria Granieire 1916 - very good but they push having more things on the sandwich which felt a little like catering to the tourists. Their best was the classic with meat and bread…and great bread.

All’antico Vinaio - we were underwhelmed. The selections are fantastic, and the presentation is top notch, but what should have been a crunchy shell was soggy and boring. This was at the very end of the night so maybe that had something to do with it. Their system is top notch though…

Frattelini - Our favorite by far. Perfect. Crunchy and oily and salty bread.

Ino - They use ciabatta here so not exactly what we were looking for but it was fantastic (not much oil which was interesting). Talked to the owner and he is opening in LA!

Procacci was fancy as shit so we did not bother.

Da Michelle - We ate here just so the guys could taste it but it’s a franchise. They had things on the menu that the Napoli OG spot would never have on it.

Schiaccia Passera - pretty dang good but Laura was quick to point out that ownership and operators were far from Italian. It was a bit New Yorky.

Don’t forget…

Pecorino toscano is the key, 0 to 6 months
Barretta prosciutto is what we should buy
Tagliata steak (Tuscan steak). Not Florentine steak you dope.

Notes to self:

-Watching world cup soccer with true Italians can be a fascinating experience in closed mindedness
-The Savoy was on the Piazza Repubblica which I felt was very central and a great people watching square.
-Restaurants surrounding the major landmarks are cool for one thing, people watching and relaxing. Other than that, I think they even share all the same menus.
-I would say the train station is ever so slightly too far of a walk from any of the below hotels …though we won that battle.

-First time I went was 2001 but I can’t remember where we stayed…a hostel-ish place most likely.

Westin Excelsior - Aug 2021

Yes of course it’s grand, very very grand, and we don’t do grand do we. BUT, and this is a big but, sometimes it just isn’t avoidable. At least there were no butlers! And there was a rad and modern restaurant and bar sitch on the rooftop. Opulence is what they’re going for otherwise. Chandeliers and marble and red carpet and more and more and more of all that. Even Renaissance paintings in the hallways.
But the location is fantastic. The service is fantastic. And it suited our needs at the time perfectly.
AND! We got upgraded from our super cool room, to the holy shit room. The balcony was bigger than the room, and the room was big, and it had a large hot tub smack in the middle of the observation deck, which is how one would best describe this balcony. The bedroom was separated but the glass in the doors didn’t make it as private a separation as I would have wanted. The bathroom was gigantic with a separate super large shower.

We had a super nice lunch in the rooftop restaurant.

Hotel savoy - Jun 2014

Well, you pay for what you get, and this shit ain’t cheap. What a great hotel. A perfect Italian experience. It sits right on one of the main squares (Piazza Repubblica) right in the center of town. The lobby feels like an open air commercial for Italy or something. They have a bar area that opens right up to the street with a great patio. The rooms are spacious and the beds are great, and I love hard wood floors in hotel bedrooms. Bathroom worked well and we had a window that opened up right onto the square (no real balcony but the doors were huge). Amazing service and location and style. Employees were the best you are going to get (we had to wait to check in since there was a line and they sat us in a beautiful waiting area, bought us a drink, and checked on us many times). The amenities here are a little lacking for a modern style lover, but that’s not what they are going for. The bathroom is opulent…thus for me it was a little like stepping into hell, but I’m glad I did it.

Notes

-Would definitely stay here again…

Sina Villa Medici Florence - Jul 2019, Aug 2021 (see above)

Ok let me tell you something. Sometimes a place can do the eact right thing at the exact right time and make you never, ever, forget them.

We couldn’t sleep the first night. Like we arrived in the late morning, had some lunch, stayed up as long as we could, and yup, woke up at midnight local. We immediately knew we were in trouble. We went down to the front desk and asked what was open, and no kidding, he said McDonald’s. He noted my voiceless, breathless, depressed non response. He said wait a second let me see. He made a call and then told us to have a seat on the patio. The weather was perfect as he walked out and he said the chef was still cleaning up, but he would put some things together for us. He asked if we’d like some wine and I think I started crying. He brought a beautiful Montepulciano and 2 glasses. Then he brought a full platter of fresh mozzarellas, breads, dips, veggies, just what the doctor ordered.

This man saved us, in every way we needed to be saved (titanic anyone?). Out on the grounds, middle of the night, perfect weather, loved ones, great food, great wine. It’s what dreams are made of. Marino, it’s ride or die together from now on brother. We slept soundly after a couple hours and were right as rain. Thank you so much sir. Grazie!

Look it’s nice and all, but I kind of thought it would be far better. The pictures and description make it seem far better. Honestly I have come to expect a lot from the autograph collection and this was not it.
Here’s what it is, a classic European grand hotel. Red carpet. Chandeliers. Bar service by all men all in black and white suits. Stuffy in the worst way.
Now the pool area is strangely the opposite. While small it’s a bit of a south beach Miami esque oasis. The helper gets you decked out with chairs and the food and drink service is pretty quick and always seemed present.
The rooms were deluxes with balconies. Our other party got the balcony overlooking the pool (thanks wifey), while we got a balcony overlooking a stupid nonsensical courtyard with a very lonely fountain. I suppose our room was slightly bigger though.
The room amenities are fine. No TV movies but it was a smart tv. Good mini bar action and they do have 24 room service.
The bathroom was silly as the shower was super small and super slippery and the glass divider was hardly big enough to keep water off the floor…

After all the above, the kicker is…it ain’t near shit. They say it’s close to stuff but it is decidedly not. You walk all the way down the river to get to fun Florence, and you pass the Westin and the St. Regis on the way (both Marriott so I considered them but they didn’t have pools…ugh).

Croce De Malta - July 2024

Croce de Malta hotel has a lovely rooftop bar area that has great views. The pool area and lobby area are meh. The rooms are a double dose of meh. Location is great but not worth the low quality.
They said our room 215 was the best room they had. It was a pretty basic connected 2 rooms with no door separating them. Like a giant dorm room.