Fiesole

Panorama of Florence from Fiesole

Pleuve, my three roommates, and I took a quick day-trip to Fiesole, a small town 20-minutes away from Florence and known for its stunning hilltop views. I took my trusty Rick Steves Best of Italy 2008 guide along (it proved useful for history, information, and restaurant recommendations) and was pleased to find it most helpful once again. Mainly for the restaurant he recommended near Piazza Mino, the town square where our bus dropped us off. At first I didn't see the restaurant since it had FIESOLE above its door instead of Ristorante Perseus--in fact, I was so hell-bent on finding this place that I asked two different locals and left my travelmates as I walked around the block--only to find that the only restaurant that was open and that we would settle with ended up being Perseus all along.

And boy did it not disappoint! I asked the waiter which pasta he recommended and I got the spaghetti al pomodoro e bottarga (fish roe). It was very delicious despite the fishy taste and was one of the standout pasta dishes of my stay here in Italy so far.

After lunch we walked around town, found that the tourist information centre only opened until 1:00pm on weekdays (!), and hike up to see the view from near the church of San Francesco. Even though it wasn't a sunny day, I enjoyed getting a bird's eye view of Florence and the Tuscan hills. I also love the terracotta colour scheme that is so characteristic of Tuscany.

We took the bus back to Florence and then went to Grom for gelato near the Duomo. I ordered (and loved) their pistachio and crema di Grom (with cookies!), and, Pleuvy and I being the foodies that we are, we decided to share a chocolate frappé right after we finished our gelati. This is something I would only do under her influence. Like the first time I bought designer jeans. But that's another story.

Later that night, Pleuve and I went to Trattoria Cibréo for dinner, a restaurant on Pleuve and my aunt's list. The menu is different every night and the waiter took his time in explaining each dish, even to native Italian speakers. We ended up discovering that our waiter spoke Italian, French, English, Spanish, a bit of Portuguese, and Japanese -- most of these being self-taught! One of the funny moments of the night was when he was describing cappone (castrated rooster). When I didn't hear what he said he explained "a rooster without balls". Muahahaha. Needless to say, I did not order the cappone but instead had a yummy minestrone al pane -- a thick vegetable and bread soup that you eat with a fork!

Today's word of the day is cannuccia, meaning "straw"and pronounced "ca-NOO-cha". I had to ask the guy working at Grom for another straw for our frappé, so I made sure to ask what the word was in Italian. The plural would be cannucce. I don't know where the "i" went either, but I'm sure it has something to do with soft vs. hard c and vowels.