Mercato Centrale and Palazzo Vecchio

We had a great night's sleep in our new pad. After having breakfast, we ventured out to Mercato Centrale which is a huge indoor market. We toured the food stalls and checked out all the organ meats (tripe, tails, hearts, brains, livers) which is when Evan told us he was considering becoming a vegetarian! I don't think that'll last long. Anyway, we bought a few items including: pork sausage, pecorino romano that was sealed with hay (a traditional method), two types of bread, and even a craft beer. Evan bought a piece of traditional Tuscan cake that is similar to fruit cake but much softer.

We hauled our funds back home so we could have some of them for lunch. The cheese wrapped in hay was excellent!

After cleaning up, we set off for the Palazzo Vecchio. This is the secondary tallest structure in the Florentine skyline. It was previously a town hall, then the Medici family took it over and made it into a residence, then it was a town hall again, and now a museum.

On our way there, we got to walk down a main square which was lined with gold (maybe "gold" too) jewelry shops. There are also a ton of that broke the "good gelato" rules that we learned in Rome (piled too high, brightly coloured).

The museum itself was very interesting. The first room you enter is a room full of frescoes by Vasari that detail Florentine war victories. You then move into the Medici rooms that were made especially for certain members of the family. The rooms were wry ornate and I loved the huge windows, which would have provided quite the view! We also saw the room with a huge globe and a variety of maps from the Medici. We didn't go up into the bell tower because you had to wait an hour in line and we are going to the top of the Duomo on Tuesday anyway.Read more