Gardino di Boboli, The Night of the Two Raviolis, and a day in Ravenna

This week, I have tried to explore my neighborhood (Santo Spirito) a little bit to see what sorts of spots and places we have close by. I love the fact that our apartment is located a little further away from all the hustle and bustle of the center of the city across the river. Though we do get a fair amount of tourist traffic from the Ponte Vecchio, much of our area is residential and where real Italian people go to shop and buy food. But, with just a quick skip across the river, we can be right in the middle of all the action. It's perfect.

My first exploration of the Santo Spirito neighborhood was a trip to the Gardino di Boboli, a rustic and surprisingly hilly garden behind the Pitti Palace. With gorgeous views of the city, winding tree lined paths, a sporadic sprinkling of statues, and a beautiful fountain in the center of the gardens, the Gardino di Boboli is a great get-out-of-the-city-and-see-some-green getaway location. With the proper shoes (i.e. NOT t-strap sandals) and a picnic lunch or dinner in tow, I can see the Gardino di Boboli being one of my favorite neighborhood spots.

This picture was taken as I was trying to hide my huffing and puffing in front of all the very fit Italians after I climbed up the very large, very steep hill. It was worth the climb!

A view of one of the fountains in the gardens.

Pretty view of the surrounding Tuscan countryside from the upper part of the garden.

Ran into Mary Raine making beautiful sketches for her drawing class! Che bella!

On Thursday night, Gillis' last night in Florence before her departure to Aix, she returned from a tiring day of hiking through the Cinque Terre region of Italy. Having been told that she HAD to eat at a restaurant across the river called La Giostra, she called up to see if we had any interest in joining her for dinner. Unfortunately, I had already eaten--fresh spinach and ricotta ravioli and zucchini. Being the troopers that we are, Caroline and I decided that we would join her anyways and have a glass of wine while she ate. Upon our arrival at the lovely restaurant, we realized that it was a nicer place than we expected, and, well, when push came to shove, I decided that it was necessary that I order something. I ordered the pear ravioli- a dish from La Giostra that Annie had told me you HAD to order when you go there. I didn't want to miss out, of course, so I bucked up and ate the deeelicious, second plate of ravioli I had that night. It practically melted in my mouth, and the very delicate, light flavor of the pear added a little "je ne sais quoi."

Caroline ordered a plate of prosciutto and melon which ended up being a very large plate of prosciutto accompanied by, more or less, half a melon. After our complimentary flutes of prosecco and a glass or two of some vino rosso of the region, this tickled us, but we managed to finish the entire plate. We had the best time talking and laughing and ended up staying for nearly three hours! I am really taking to the European schedule of late, lengthy, and slow-paced dinners. It was a delightful evening that left me very satisfied (especially because I had eaten two dinners).

The next morning, we set off on a CET-sponsored day-trip to Ravenna, a small medieval town about 2.5 hours outside of Florence. The city is not tourism-driven as many parts of Italy are, so we enjoyed walking around in the quaint, un-crowded streets and ducking into churches that were covered with fantastic mosaics, many of which were largely comprised of real gold tiles. The colors, bright blues, greens, reds, and golds, were amazing. With each historic spot we entered, I was blown away by how beautiful the interiors were. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea, though my camera did not do anything justice:

After a full day of sight-seeing, Caroline and I watched part of Few Good Men and called it a night at around 10:30 in preparation for Saturday's festivities: a day hiking in Cinque Terre! (More to come later.)

Ciao for now,
Grace