Florence is a place which to the unknown beholder is extravagantly ore inspiring, it's architecture is second to none and while the atmosphere can give you and incredible body charging buzz, it can also be slightly over- whelming. The heart saddening thing is that although Florence is full of amazingly built buildings which have to be seen to be believed, it is also there purely to cater for the thousands of international visitors it sees each day. This leads to over hiked prices of average - tasting food and drink which is dreadfully disappointing giving your breath taking surroundings. Previous visits to extravagant cities has taught me that the more picturesque your surroundings whether sitting in a grand piazza san marco in venice or edging on the Avenue Champs- Élysées in Paris the more expensive, ordinary and run of the mill your food becomes ( I apolgise now to the handful of upmarket eateries in such places that deserve the right to charge more for their beautifully handcrafted plates of delicious - ness ). So even after pacing which I believed to be florence more than twice over ( just in different directions) i was sticking to my guns and not letting myself fall into the clutches of the bewildering , hypnotising piazzas ( squares in which are surrounding the best looking buildings - it was is they knew all those hundreds of years ago how to best trap the most naive of tourist) even if it was 30 degrees and my feet were beginning to show through the soles of my sandals. R was being incredibly patient, he too was quietly suffering,more so in the way of a lack of a ice cold alcoholic beverage and given half a chance would of stopped at the savoy, but trying again so desperately not to look like a tourist I was unrequited in the fact that I was going to find a place in which the florentine locals used.
A couple of side streets later we stumbled on a quiet cafe/ restaurant which sold it's own hand made chocolates and biscotti which had a few tables carefully placed outside , on approach the air was filled with the romantic sound of the Italian language - surely we had found the right spot.
As the heat was so intense we didn't have a particular appetite so we both chose to have a caprese salad (tomato and mozzarella). As the salad was so graciously plonked down in front of me I released a hugh sigh of disappointment- On my plate were three slices of tired looking tomatoes and the same amount of rubbery dry mozzarella, this with one ( very small) glass of prosecco and one beer came to the grand total of 35 euros - maybe it was my less than impressive try at ordering in Italian or that we were carrying a camera and a map, what ever it was they still liked to bill us with a hefty service charge, one im sure the locals do not pay.
Feeling utterly disgruntled about our pathetic excuse for a meal, we left florence city feeling cheated and without the same passion installed in us when we first arrived.
Fortunately for us we are staying in a very small quiet town just ten minutes away from Florence which has in a twenty minute circumference a varied choice of amazing restaurants/ trattorias and osterias which had been recommended to us by the gracious owner of our villa.
After building up an enormous appetite whilst walking past every eatery in Florence claiming that they made the best Bistecca alla fiorentina in the area, we knew we had to pick a restaurant local to us that could deliver this promise. Our hostess told of one just a short journey away that could live up to it's reputation as having the best steak as her and her family and friends regularly use it as their favourite place to eat this much revered dish.
Putting all our trust into some one we'd only met for ten minutes we made our way to our destination stomachs starting to ache with hunger after the measley portion we we earlier served. Feeling nervous on arrival that we were again about to be ripped off R and I tried once more to act confidently and prove that we could gel with the rest of the tuscan community. The restaurant it's self is owned by a fabulous farther and son duo, the son taking orders and creating the marvels the food while the farther entertains the guests with his magical Italian tales. A humble looking restaurant with the Walls covered in local memorabilia and giant stuffed wild boars heads ( a local meat ) we were shown to our table which over looked the jaw dropping scenery of the Tuscan hills. Unfortunately our quest to look normal sitting in between the large italian family's was destroyed at the first hurdle - the menu was in Italian with no english translation. This is an embarrassment on our part, how dare we come to someones country, eat out in their hometown restaurants and be able to understand only a small amount of their language, sheepishly we asked our host if he could translate, lucky for us ( but even more embarrassingly) he could speak up to five different languages and was more than happy to recite the whole of the menu to us incompetent beings.
His English being slightly broken he did his best but for some words the translation was unknown but one dish we knew for sure was the Bistecca alla fiorentina . Upon ordering our host gave R this look that any language barrier could translate, it was one of those looks that said ' are you sure? ' feeling unnerved R just nodded his head and gave a positive smile although we were both wondering what the problem could be, within seconds he returned with what can only be described as half a cow ( seriously ) on a plate, not one to back down from a challenge and not wanting to look like an English fool around our neighbouring Italians R again just nodded his head and flashed his recognisable positive smile which only I knew hid a slight panic at what he da just ordered.
Once we were settled and had finished discussing wether the table we were seated at could hold such a giant cut of meat I casually looked around and noticed it wad not just R that was brave enough to tackle this monster, men, women, children and even grandmothers were all tucking into the giant slab of beef not even quibbling over the size.
Wheeled to us on a tray ( the waitresses must of suffered strains from carrying it in the past ), the meat was handed over to R as if he was being given some sort of right of passage, intent on not letting the owners down R began carving away trying not to look as though he did not know where to begin. Not being a full time meat eater myself I could not stop myself from becoming transfixed upon the glistening ruby redness of the meat , as though I was being charmed towards it I beckoned R into giving me a taste. I cannot believe that anyone would want to eat a steak any mire cooked than this was, the rareness of the meat dissolved once in my mouth and eluded taste buds which have not been awoken for a very long time. Unknowingly I think I may of eaten half the master piece( which is lightly grilled with fresh rosemary and olive oil ) which instead of angering R only pleased him 1- because I seemed to be getting some sense of normality back with my diet and 2 - secretly I was helping him finish off a steak which may of been the first to defeat him .
Pics will follow it's just that it was that big I'm seriously doubting wether my e - mail would be able to fit it in!
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