Viva Italia - Day 5 (Travel to Florence)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17TH

After Brandon's late night excursion, I think 7:45am came rather quickly for him. We rose, got packed up, and headed to Rome's Termini train station to hop the line to Florence. The train ride was only about 90 minutes, which flew by as we both tried to squeeze in some shut eye. Trains are probably my favorite form of transportation, especially in Europe. It's just so easy, mindless really, and quite frankly pretty relaxing.

Pulling into Florence, you got a sense that it was very different than Rome. A city vibe, but somehow less chaotic. Almost like NY vs. Chicago in a way - you love to be in NY, but living in Chicago is the only option, for me, between the two. Rome is more of the bustling metropolis, whereas Florence is on a smaller scale. Less intimidating, easily walkable, and there were blue, sunny skies upon arrival. A very welcomed welcome!

We were happy to learn that we were able to check-in to the hotel right when we arrived. Only downside, Brandon had booked a single room. As in - twin bed. Doh! It was no issue, since we are not traveling during peak season, and they got us set up in a room for two instead.  Compared to our Rome hotel, which was boutique in nature, but very modern, this had more of a rustic feel. The only negative was that to walk to our room (which is tucked away a bit), there is a long hallway that reeks of sewage. Luckily our room has no such stench... 

We unpacked, changed, and decided too much time had passed since the Nutella croissant was consumed in the train station. Without a real plan, we just figured we would walk around a bit until we stumbled upon a local delicacy. On a back street, we were presented with two restaurants side by side. Both menus looked good, both had customers inside. We chose the one on the left. Our rationale? They had more people inside than the one on the right. Best. Decision. Of. Entire. Trip. 

Tratorria Nella. A family run operation where wine is ordered by the liter and the pasta is so clearly homemade. We never learned their names, but the father, mother and sons were all present. There was not a lick of English being spoken by any of the customers, we were the only tourists. This is what we had been longing for - a true, authentic style meal that the locals partake in themselves.

We ordered a liter of the house red, which came in a wonderful ceramic jug. Our only mistake was the pate toast. Apparently Italians do not mess around with their pate. Oh no...they lather that shit on in dollops and serve it piping hot. Even Brandon was grossed out! I was so taken with the environment that I didn't want to offend the owners. I proceeded to choke down as much as I could without gagging, chasing it with big gulps of red wine. Seemed like the best option!

But the main course..... May prove to be the best pasta dish of the entire trip. Brandon went off menu and ordered a pappardelle special, inclusive of truffles, and I ordered the tagliatelle in a braised beef ragu. Both were DIVINE as individual dishes, but when you combine that truffle sauce with the beef ragu?! HOLY GRAIL OF PASTA DISHES. Seriously, this dish will haunt my Italian dreams until the end of time. 

We devoured the entrees, and one would assume we would forego dessert after carb loading, but then that person wouldn't know me very well then, would they?! One of the very first things I noticed about this heaven on earth was that every single person was ordering a giant plate of pasta, and every single person was also ordering tiramisu for dessert. My ultimate favorite dessert ever. Finally - a traditional tiramisu in Italy! None of this bullshit "reconstructed" tiramisu in gelatin form like at Antica Pesa, a real espresso/mascarpone treat. It was the perfect end to the best overall meal we have had thus far. Bene!

As has become the Italian theme, we walked around for the rest of the afternoon, finding our bearings in Firenze. Because we had ended up having a feast for lunch so late in the day, we decided to cancel our dinner reservation at 7pm. We were slated to have another top tier meal at Alle Murate, but we decided our bellies, and wallets, had been ruined by the authenticity we had experienced earlier in the day. So instead, we waited until about 8:30pm and then tried our luck at stumbling into greatness once again.

Ristorante Toto definitely did not disappoint. We saw another table with bruschetta and decided we needed to have that in our lives. We started there, and then went our separate ways for the main course. The restaurant is known for their wood fire cooking, so Brandon went with a pizza - mushroom and sausage again - and I couldn't resist the homemade lasagna, slow cooked in the wood fire oven. Both were very good, but I think I edged out Brandon ever so slightly. To top off an already great food day, the tiramisu was on point. Better than earlier, which was a really tough act to follow! 

It was getting late by time we wrapped up dinner, and we were in a food coma anyway, so we headed back to the hotel to call it a night. Tomorrow we are planning to hit up all of the city's main attractions and have a lot of ground to cover. We need all the rest we can get!