Speaker 1: Florence is one of the most visited cities in Italy,
Speaker 1: but most people see about one square kilometer of it. Today,
Speaker 1: Francesca of Florentine Guide takes us across the river, into
Speaker 1: the Aison workshops and up to the hill where the
Speaker 1: city's Iris Garden opens for just a few weeks a year.
Speaker 1: This is what a real day in Florence, one of
Speaker 1: the world's most beautiful cities, looks like.
Speaker 2: Tawatuti and Benvenuti Tuan told Italy. The travel podcast to
Speaker 2: where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes,
Speaker 2: hills and coastlines of Bela, Italia. Each week, your host
Speaker 2: Katie Clark takes you on a journey in a search
Speaker 2: of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato, and of course
Speaker 2: a whole lot of pasta. If you're dreaming of Italy
Speaker 2: and planning future adventures there, you've come to the right place.
Speaker 1: Jao Dudi and Ben Venuti, Welcome to episode three hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty six of the Untold Italy podcast. I'm Katie,
Speaker 1: your host and founder of Untold Italy. Now I know
Speaker 1: what you might be thinking. Oh Florence, She's surely she's
Speaker 1: covered Florence before, and yes, of course I have many times.
Speaker 1: But today we're doing something a little bit different because
Speaker 1: as part of our Perfect Day series, where I ask
Speaker 1: people who actually live in these cities to map out
Speaker 1: how they would spend a glorious day in their city
Speaker 1: as a visitor. It's not a press trip, it's not
Speaker 1: a standard tour. It's a real day, the way someone
Speaker 1: who knows a city deeply and who loves it would
Speaker 1: actually approach it if they were to show a friend
Speaker 1: around and give them the very best of their city.
Speaker 1: And today's gest is Francesca Emini, a licensed Florentine guide who,
Speaker 1: despite traveling the world and visiting many places, has an
Speaker 1: unshakable love for her city. Francesca studying foreign language literature
Speaker 1: and cultural anthropology right in the heart of Florence when
Speaker 1: she was growing up, and she's worked on cruise ships
Speaker 1: with NGOs across the world, but in the end, she
Speaker 1: kept coming back to her own city, because that is
Speaker 1: what Florence does to people. If you know, you know
Speaker 1: Franjessica has that beautiful, lyrical Italian way of describing her city,
Speaker 1: and this conversation made me just want to get on
Speaker 1: a plane straight away. A quick note before we start.
Speaker 1: As we curate our episodes here on Untold Italy, I'm
Speaker 1: always thinking about how we can help you enjoy your
Speaker 1: trips to Italy, whether you're traveling independently or on a tour.
Speaker 1: It may be practical information or something esoteric and beautiful
Speaker 1: like our episode today. The best way I know how
Speaker 1: to help you enjoy Italy is to introduce you to locals,
Speaker 1: the real people, tour guides, artisans, hotel owners, the Untold
Speaker 1: Italy team and fellow travelers. We do not keep our knowledge.
Speaker 1: We like to share it far and wide, So if
Speaker 1: you were pre ciate that approach, it would be wonderful
Speaker 1: if you could leave us a lovely review. We so
Speaker 1: appreciate it and read every single one. So now it
Speaker 1: is time to meet Francesca and take you on a
Speaker 1: journey to one of the world's most beautiful cities and
Speaker 1: one that keeps drawing travelers back again and again. Ben Venuto, Francesca,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Untolevidshlee podcast.
Speaker 3: Very very happy to be here with you.
Speaker 1: Yes, and Francesca is joining us from beautiful Frenze or
Speaker 1: Florence And how is everything in Florence today, this beautiful
Speaker 1: spring day.
Speaker 4: Well, to be honest to these are a little bit
Speaker 4: cloudy days, but it's springtime, so everything is now very colorful,
Speaker 4: so all of us are happy and waiting for the
Speaker 4: very sunny days. But it's spring time, so we are happy.
Speaker 3: Now. The hills are very beautiful. It's the right moment.
Speaker 4: For that, so sometimes we need them, I love, but
Speaker 4: that's part of the game. It's the best moment of
Speaker 4: the year probably to be to be influenced in Italy
Speaker 4: in general, but influence in particularly.
Speaker 3: For me at least.
Speaker 1: It's very interesting, actually because a lot of visitors like
Speaker 1: to come now in autumn or fall, don't they. But
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I think spring is really the
Speaker 1: best time because everyone's really fresh and ready to go
Speaker 1: for the new season, and everything looks absolutely beautiful with
Speaker 1: all the flowers and everything. Yeah, I really love spring. Actually.
Speaker 4: Yeah, then depends a little bit the popose of your
Speaker 4: traveling as well, because it's true every season of the year,
Speaker 4: to be honest, is as his magic, but now it's
Speaker 4: probably the very It's not considered that my town's name
Speaker 4: it's Florence.
Speaker 3: I mean that comes from Flora.
Speaker 4: I mean this town was dedicated in nothing less than
Speaker 4: to the goddess of nature and wishing to us success
Speaker 4: and beauty blooming in an eternal spring time.
Speaker 3: So that's what we really in this moment we can experience.
Speaker 1: Oh cheta, of course, Flora Florence. I learned something new
Speaker 1: every day. Thank you for Jessica. And it's such a
Speaker 1: beautiful time because it's the time of the lilies, isn't it.
Speaker 1: And that's a very special time in Florence.
Speaker 4: It tastes now, that's really the very special time. There's
Speaker 4: a garden dedicated to Irish, which is the very first
Speaker 4: original symbol of my town, this.
Speaker 3: Beautiful purple color flower.
Speaker 4: So now we have iris, but not only that, we
Speaker 4: have hysteria. We have all these nice purple colors all
Speaker 4: over and the Irish can be admired in a very
Speaker 4: special garden, the Irish Garden, and it's.
Speaker 3: Open only in this specific period of.
Speaker 4: The year, so from the twentieth fifth of April to
Speaker 4: need of me, because that's the real peak of the
Speaker 4: season for this for this flower here, and you find
Speaker 4: them not only in beautiful specific gardens people, I mean,
Speaker 4: we have competitions for making the most beautiful ones. I
Speaker 4: mean Ebrodus making all these special things. But you find
Speaker 4: along the toll roads anywhere. So it's so beautiful now
Speaker 4: and so earl again to nice flower.
Speaker 1: But gorgeous, aren't they? I think it's very special. We
Speaker 1: run some tours in Tuscany in the countryside and people
Speaker 1: go to a beautiful iris farm where you can just
Speaker 1: see the whole hills.
Speaker 4: Blame of the Yeah, sure, it's amazing, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: Well, we're going to talk a little bit more about
Speaker 1: more detail about beautiful feelings for today's episode. But before
Speaker 1: we do that, Francesca, please introduce yourself to our listeners
Speaker 1: and tell them about your story, how you came to
Speaker 1: be a tour guide and your passion and for your city.
Speaker 4: I've been always working in the tourism since I was
Speaker 4: very young.
Speaker 3: I love a lot of traveling.
Speaker 4: One of my very first stors was working on a sheep.
Speaker 4: I work as a volunteer for no governmental organizations on
Speaker 4: children's projects abroad. I work a lot in different cities
Speaker 4: in the world, but at the very end, I was
Speaker 4: always back home, so where I study and I completed
Speaker 4: my studies. That's another privilege of my town. You can
Speaker 4: really whatever you decide to study. We have all the
Speaker 4: universities here, so and I graduated here in Foreign Languages
Speaker 4: and Literature and cultural anthropology. My thesis was already on
Speaker 4: my passion oriented on the ground tour in Toscany during
Speaker 4: the Lorentz dynasty age, and then I had the opportunity
Speaker 4: to become a licensed specialized guide. At the beginning, I
Speaker 4: thought it was going to be a little bit boring
Speaker 4: for me, very adventurous or used to.
Speaker 3: Always to be on the move and everything.
Speaker 4: And then I discovered that was really something so incredible.
Speaker 3: So now for me it's really my passion.
Speaker 4: Of course, because I love art and history, but it's
Speaker 4: not only that. My city has really saw a lot
Speaker 4: to offer and to add the possibility to share all
Speaker 4: that beauty every day with different people, and it's just
Speaker 4: for me, it's the best things I could have happened
Speaker 4: in my life.
Speaker 3: So I'm really very happy of that.
Speaker 1: I know, sometimes in this job you think, oh, does
Speaker 1: someone pay me to do this? It's amazing, isn't it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it's true, it's true.
Speaker 4: Sometimes I really did know and be little bit because
Speaker 4: as I like to say, with the guides, we suffer
Speaker 4: with you or we enjoy with you and because to
Speaker 4: be it's always such an incredible experience. So when I
Speaker 4: finish and I have to say goodbye, sometimes it's very sad.
Speaker 4: So it's really it's something beautiful.
Speaker 1: It is such an incredible city. Is there something about
Speaker 1: Florence that it's just apart from the fact that it's
Speaker 1: your home? But what is it about the city that
Speaker 1: you love so much? It really has everything, and I
Speaker 1: can rattle off a lot of things, but it's really
Speaker 1: lovely to hear from a local of what you feel
Speaker 1: about your own city.
Speaker 4: Well, let's say that sometimes we make fun with my
Speaker 4: friends in Rome or Milan. You know, these big towns
Speaker 4: they look at us a little bit like up down,
Speaker 4: a little bit like the provincial. Our town is not
Speaker 4: that big, but we don't complete about it. I mean
Speaker 4: we the local people, I mean almost all of us,
Speaker 4: the people of Florence, me in particularly. Well they really
Speaker 4: love is that the town is not really that big,
Speaker 4: because if you want the very all the town, it's small,
Speaker 4: walk everywhere.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's not that odd.
Speaker 4: And doesn't matter way you leave if you have a scooter, motorbike,
Speaker 4: as most of us, in ten minutes or.
Speaker 3: By bicycle twenty let's say, but where do you leave?
Speaker 4: You are intel in one of the most beautiful cities
Speaker 4: in the world, with the eyes, concentration of works of art,
Speaker 4: persparameter in the work, full of history, music, theater, cultural events,
Speaker 4: traditional interventional doesn't matter everything.
Speaker 3: And at the same time, if you had the.
Speaker 4: Same ten minutes in the opposite direction, you find yourself
Speaker 4: on these wonderful hills. So I mean, we are surrounded
Speaker 4: by this magic and you can just easy see it
Speaker 4: under an olive tree, read a book in peace in
Speaker 4: this little corner of paradise in the country side of Tuscany.
Speaker 4: So there's nothing for me more beautiful than this to
Speaker 4: be in town, but to have always inside this gorgeous,
Speaker 4: beautiful vision, which is more or less what you can
Speaker 4: still say in the works of what do you see?
Speaker 4: The museum is amazing, That's what I like the most.
Speaker 3: It is.
Speaker 1: And you were saying to me the other day that
Speaker 1: and I didn't notice that the whole area of Florence
Speaker 1: outside and the hills are part of the UNESCO World
Speaker 1: Heritage Area, which is very special.
Speaker 3: That was a very great idea.
Speaker 4: I mean, what happens because most of the times are
Speaker 4: the art of towns to be protect but here the
Speaker 4: countryside and the way the area was created with these
Speaker 4: beautiful gardens and cultivations, it's any major of what is
Speaker 4: a little paradise actually, So it was work to be
Speaker 4: protected as a une veritage site. And we're very happy
Speaker 4: because we can see walk in these places. I say
Speaker 4: we can because most of the people they think towns
Speaker 4: they are nice for visitors, they are made for visitors,
Speaker 4: and honestly, I'm very happy that people they can share
Speaker 4: the beauty of this place.
Speaker 3: But also for us the local people.
Speaker 4: Now is the time because the good weather, they nice
Speaker 4: springtime temperatures.
Speaker 3: We like to hide up on the.
Speaker 4: Hills because it's a mix of these incredible beautiful nature.
Speaker 3: And on the way you find.
Speaker 4: The Galileo Galileil, or you find a place where Tchaikowski
Speaker 4: used to live, or the place or where you can
Speaker 4: talk to the children, the place where Leonardo da Vinci
Speaker 4: try to fly, and all these kinds of things. So
Speaker 4: it's always to be in a sort of dream sometimes
Speaker 4: and that's something that we love too.
Speaker 3: That's a very special things. Yeah, we're very happy that
Speaker 3: all that.
Speaker 4: It's a real treasure, not only the city, it's the
Speaker 4: whole place and these ballet is really magic.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, it's It's quite unique actually, because even in Italy,
Speaker 1: where you do have so many beautiful cities, even the
Speaker 1: outskirts can be quite industrial. But yes, as Francisca says,
Speaker 1: in Florence, you can easily just have that experience where
Speaker 1: you're up in the hills and Francisco. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you've watched this movie, but it's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: It's a room with a view. Do you know this one?
Speaker 4: Yes, sometimes we explore as well the CD and the
Speaker 4: suburbs of my town or Toscany, just following spatial tread
Speaker 4: the one of movies because toscan influence. They are really
Speaker 4: the set of men movies. And this one, it's fairly special.
Speaker 4: I like always to suggest moving during my tours because
Speaker 4: there are many giving yous a glance of things quite special.
Speaker 3: Yes, this is very nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very nice. One with Helena bottom Cart she's
Speaker 1: movie now right, but she's just her transformation. Let's take
Speaker 1: a quick break, bold, brief and back before you know it.
Speaker 1: For on the go, curated travel tips, restaurant recommendations and
Speaker 1: fun things to do in classic and hidden spots across Italy.
Speaker 1: Download the Untold Italy app link in the show notes.
Speaker 1: But I think it really demonstrates nicely how you can
Speaker 1: go into the countryside and then go down into Florence
Speaker 1: and you see down into Florence. If you haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: I do talk about this a lot, but I just
Speaker 1: love that movie because it just captures the essence of
Speaker 1: Tuscany and Florence so well. Oh wow, yes, I can't
Speaker 1: remember the last time I was there, but I just
Speaker 1: every time I talk about Florence, I think, oh, I've
Speaker 1: got to go back soon.
Speaker 3: We'll do that.
Speaker 1: But today we're going to do something a little special.
Speaker 1: Now we know we can't see everything in Florence. We
Speaker 1: can't even screw watch the surface, we can't even go
Speaker 1: close to it in one day. But I'm doing a
Speaker 1: bit of a series where I ask locals how they
Speaker 1: would spend the perfect day as a tourist in their
Speaker 1: own cities. So it's kind of to give people the
Speaker 1: idea of what are some of the more local things
Speaker 1: that you could do or something different to experience than
Speaker 1: maybe say in Florence. We know the Academia, the David Statue,
Speaker 1: the Fitzi Gallery, the Dwarm and you have to see those.
Speaker 1: Of course they're popular for a very good reason. But
Speaker 1: fanchess girl, if you were to take us on a
Speaker 1: day around Florence, how would you do that?
Speaker 4: Well, let's say there are many perfect these you can
Speaker 4: have influence. I mean, I know that the Sea of Florence,
Speaker 4: you can really experience that in one day, just to
Speaker 4: pick and have a sense of its beauty and maybe
Speaker 4: thought you're seeing on something of particularly interest, or you
Speaker 4: can see it week and you can see every day
Speaker 4: means something extraordinary, something worthy of a front page or
Speaker 4: any guide book to another city in the world. And
Speaker 4: I'm not exaggerating. It's really like that.
Speaker 3: I can prove it to you.
Speaker 4: But let's say that when you really have one day,
Speaker 4: a real full day at your disposal, and not only
Speaker 4: I mean for first times, but not only it's always
Speaker 4: nice to maybe to see a few of the very
Speaker 4: well known Eyeli It's maybe, but there are so many,
Speaker 4: as you would say, hidden priceless gems that I think
Speaker 4: that that's what I usually I like to say, maybe.
Speaker 3: If it's always.
Speaker 4: Easier to meet people in a place that there is
Speaker 4: central and it's honestly very beautiful to start. I like
Speaker 4: to start talking about my town from the main religious area,
Speaker 4: which means the Duomo, the cathedral. And if you start early,
Speaker 4: that's another secret. But let's say if you start eight
Speaker 4: thirty nine maximum, you will find the city is still
Speaker 4: health and sleep. So it's nice because you can really
Speaker 4: start understanding what was fluence when everything starts changing, and
Speaker 4: maybe having a nice coffee in one of these historic places,
Speaker 4: or then we can wait to the next stop, which
Speaker 4: for me to suba would be one of the places
Speaker 4: I like always to see.
Speaker 3: It's the area of Santa Maria Novella.
Speaker 4: Maybe fine, there is very small little family round bar
Speaker 4: where you can taste the coffee, I mean serve with
Speaker 4: a smile, because we say it's not a good coffee
Speaker 4: if it's not served with a good smile. And together
Speaker 4: with the boudino Theresa, maybe one of our special nice
Speaker 4: alternatives to the cross in the morning. We like a
Speaker 4: lot of these kinds of things that could be a
Speaker 4: nice way to start. And the area on the area
Speaker 4: of the Santa Maria novela, it's not only the gorgeous church.
Speaker 4: We can talk about all the greatest artists and architects.
Speaker 4: But there's a pharmacy, which is another fablous things where
Speaker 4: it's really worth a thing to have a look and
Speaker 4: maybe buy something, because this is a very special place
Speaker 4: where they are still producing according to the ancient tradition,
Speaker 4: recipes of the Dominican friers, madicines and beauty products and
Speaker 4: all these kinds of things, and the atmosphere of the
Speaker 4: place when I entered there, I always think about this
Speaker 4: place where it used to be the show Colatery of
Speaker 4: Florence in seventeen hundred during the Grand Tour.
Speaker 3: It was, you know, the meeting place of all different
Speaker 3: for the near.
Speaker 4: Communities, having their drinking their chocolate because at the time
Speaker 4: the bars that didn't exist not yet, so it's really amazing.
Speaker 3: And then from the this is only on the way
Speaker 3: to my favorite place.
Speaker 4: What I would like all the ways to suggest people
Speaker 4: to do is to legally the Bason tracts and find
Speaker 4: areas such as on Niasanti. There's a very beautiful church
Speaker 4: called the Old Saints on Ni Santi church. People they
Speaker 4: go there in order to visit the the Spucci family.
Speaker 3: Chapels, talking about historical facts.
Speaker 4: Of course, American Spucci or to see the tombs of
Speaker 4: the famous art is the painter. But for me, these
Speaker 4: incredible old church one of the oldest, honestly informants we
Speaker 4: talk about thirteenth century, even if then transformed completely throughout it,
Speaker 4: the century is in a fantastic unique by Rock they
Speaker 4: create a church. For me, the atmosphere when you enter
Speaker 4: that so usually in this special silence or someone sometimes
Speaker 4: playing the organ, and then you arrive at the end
Speaker 4: of the ale and you will be surprised. Just turning
Speaker 4: a little bit your head to your left, you see
Speaker 4: an incredible, beautiful work by job to a crucifix fourteenth century,
Speaker 4: which for me is the quintessence of spirituality.
Speaker 3: And when I say that, believe me.
Speaker 4: I'm used to work with people coming from all over
Speaker 4: the world, different cultures. I'm really talking about pure spirituality,
Speaker 4: not only a religious symbol.
Speaker 3: And when you see these crucifix and this.
Speaker 4: Cross that the artists and the genius idea to paint and.
Speaker 3: Not brown as usually but blue.
Speaker 4: A lap is laxly blue color which is so intense,
Speaker 4: giving us at the same time this idea of death
Speaker 4: and salvation I mean pain and hope at the same
Speaker 4: time you lose all sense of time and space, and
Speaker 4: you find really one of these magic moments, and they
Speaker 4: say it's hard to be found somewhere else in the world.
Speaker 4: It's really a mazing. This is one of the places
Speaker 4: where I like to take people because we can learn
Speaker 4: and discover so many things. The Synopius, this beautiful refectory,
Speaker 4: the Last Supper by Gilan Dalliens.
Speaker 3: But it's really the atmosphere.
Speaker 4: World is really changing everything, according to my opinion, my
Speaker 4: way of looking at this thing.
Speaker 1: It is so beautiful, and people just walk past, don't
Speaker 1: they They're just walking past down the.
Speaker 4: Front, not going. They don't know actually talking about it.
Speaker 4: One day, a full day experience. It's a privilege already
Speaker 4: for many people because unfortunately maybe they spend only a
Speaker 4: few hours and they only walk in between the cathedral
Speaker 4: in the old Palace, which is nice, but of course
Speaker 4: you lose a little bit of the music.
Speaker 3: Of the place, as I would say.
Speaker 4: And for sure, another place where you can really feel
Speaker 4: a different kind of atmosphere is the Ultrano. A nice
Speaker 4: thing would be to cross the river, to go across
Speaker 4: the other side, the southern side of the river, what
Speaker 4: we call Ultrano, and visit the Church of Santo Spiritu,
Speaker 4: which is a very special Renaissance, one hundred percent Renaissance
Speaker 4: church designed by Bruneileski, nothing less for the Augustinian friars,
Speaker 4: and where Michelangelo had his experience, so the first experience
Speaker 4: of as anatomist, dissecting mothers and all these things, and
Speaker 4: where he left a very special present to these fires
Speaker 4: and a crucifix, a wooden crucifix unique in Michaelangelo's work.
Speaker 4: Another example of these Florence at the end of fourteen hundred.
Speaker 4: See in the Renaissance, Michaelangelo so young had many pointer references.
Speaker 4: I mean he could have taken expiration for making his
Speaker 4: specifix looking or copying Brunelliski beautiful crucifix or the beautiful
Speaker 4: one made by Donatello, And instead of copying to art masters,
Speaker 4: he chose his own way revolutionory.
Speaker 3: I mean people that.
Speaker 4: Were asked to be revolutionery at the time, and the
Speaker 4: artists are the then protagonists at this time. The one
Speaker 4: that changed not only is style and not but a
Speaker 4: way of thinking. So all these things you can still
Speaker 4: really feel in these places. Beautiful cloisters, I mean, it's
Speaker 4: just amazing.
Speaker 3: And then the Altano is full of little markets, so
Speaker 3: just outside the church, the daily market.
Speaker 4: Where we can really just buy a piece of cheese
Speaker 4: or whatever we want and then go maybe to see
Speaker 4: one of the artists, because the ultraado is where we
Speaker 4: can really preserve probably one of the most precious heritage
Speaker 4: of my town craftmen. So they are still there in
Speaker 4: their beautiful workshops, in little, small, tiny shops and at work.
Speaker 4: One of my favorite one is the art etchings. I
Speaker 4: like a lot to go and see v Johnny, but
Speaker 4: all the others at work making these incredible stunning prints
Speaker 4: using these techniques developed in sixteenth century.
Speaker 3: Impossible not to buy.
Speaker 4: One when you're the or to go and see commits
Speaker 4: of Fiorentino. There are things, believe me, Kunti, that people
Speaker 4: come in here several times, and when I know that,
Speaker 4: I always ask, just to propose something new, maybe I
Speaker 4: always ask, have you ever seen the commiss of Hurentin
Speaker 4: or the famous Florentine Inlady, the hard and semi pracious
Speaker 4: stones artwork. Most of people they don't know what I'm
Speaker 4: talking about, and it's amazing. Behind anonymous wooden doors, then
Speaker 4: words open in front of us with these semi precious
Speaker 4: stones and these guys at work making really magic for me,
Speaker 4: and this is something that I see people. They really
Speaker 4: look at art in a different way when they can
Speaker 4: see artists at work, because we say craftsmen, but in
Speaker 4: Italian is artigiano, craftman and artista.
Speaker 3: The root of the world is exactly the same because.
Speaker 4: There are people really making art, and that's another very
Speaker 4: beautiful thing. And of course then the time for stop
Speaker 4: for eating something. It's perfect on the side of the
Speaker 4: river because you have a lot of these least small
Speaker 4: little places where you can buy just a sandwich or
Speaker 4: have it a pasta or maybe just having a salad,
Speaker 4: whatever you feel like. Or you buy a fruit sometimes
Speaker 4: or an ice cream. That's another way for having lunch.
Speaker 4: My favorite lunch is ice cream. It's summer anyway, it's
Speaker 4: very beautiful there. And just to take time, that's another
Speaker 4: very special things.
Speaker 3: I think traveling we always should have a little.
Speaker 4: Hour for ourselves, eating something, talking about nothing, just relaxing,
Speaker 4: enjoying the moment, just to be where we are and
Speaker 4: enjoy it.
Speaker 3: I think that's very important.
Speaker 4: And after that, of course, maybe the end of a
Speaker 4: day like that could be when it's too hot, I
Speaker 4: would say enter one of the beautiful museums of Peaky Palace,
Speaker 4: like the Palette Gallery, or for those they had been before,
Speaker 4: maybe the Bubbley Gardens or the costume gallery there. Otherwise,
Speaker 4: now that's the right moment, springtime. As we were saying,
Speaker 4: the temperatures are still very pleasant, so it's nice strolling
Speaker 4: through the shaded streets. Maybe we'd had on but reaching
Speaker 4: Sallyniquelangelo for the very sporty ones, it's well, we can
Speaker 4: do that in half an hour, but otherwise an easy
Speaker 4: taxi in ten minutes. We are at the top of
Speaker 4: the hill and we enjoy one of the nicest views
Speaker 4: over Florence and Piezo, the hills all around the Ana Valley.
Speaker 4: And then after we stop and now that's a compulsory.
Speaker 4: We had to stop a little bit in the Irish
Speaker 4: Garden to see the.
Speaker 3: Beautiful ones, all colors. It's very special.
Speaker 1: We will return in a moment with the rest of
Speaker 1: the episode. For daily travel tips and behind the scenes
Speaker 1: content from our tours, make sure to follow us on
Speaker 1: Instagram at Untold Italy Tours.
Speaker 4: And then maybe walking down which is very easy through
Speaker 4: the Rose Garden, that's another special little paradise. We can
Speaker 4: return to the city at the end of the afternoon,
Speaker 4: and that could be the very right moment then to
Speaker 4: end up in the signor Ya Square, this open museum
Speaker 4: with these fantastic status decoration of this, all the Middle
Speaker 4: Aged castles there still nowadays since the Middle Ages, the
Speaker 4: city hall of the town, and that's the time where
Speaker 4: we can really say, oh, that was a day.
Speaker 3: So what I would really do.
Speaker 4: That would be one of my strolls in this period,
Speaker 4: one favorite ones for sure.
Speaker 1: And it's not actually that long, you know, it's not
Speaker 1: a long distance really when you think about it. But
Speaker 1: there's so much in this like tiny pocket of a
Speaker 1: city that you can see so many things, and I
Speaker 1: even love at the bottom of the rose Garden. They're
Speaker 1: in the San Frediana. There's some lovely artisans there too,
Speaker 1: jewelry shops and I said, Alessandro, I can't remember, it's
Speaker 1: like a museum, this jewelry shop, and also the lot
Speaker 1: of perfume shops there, yeah, Alessandro Dari Yeah, and yeah,
Speaker 1: the perfume shops on that street too, and you could see.
Speaker 4: It, yeah, yeah, no, but that's why you see because
Speaker 4: as you say, that's the other very beautiful thing on
Speaker 4: my tower. I think because as you said, distances are
Speaker 4: relatively short. You can really walk a few minutes from
Speaker 4: one very special at least.
Speaker 3: In the other one.
Speaker 4: But on the way I mean same itinary that you
Speaker 4: can cover in three hours, you can spend one or
Speaker 4: two days, depends really the kind of experiences and the
Speaker 4: time of course you have at you're disposable. As you
Speaker 4: were saying in the beginning, it's very worth to be
Speaker 4: honest to see you, FIZI.
Speaker 3: The Academia, the very some of the very.
Speaker 4: Most special museums in the world, and my suggestion visit them.
Speaker 4: But go early in the morning when museums open, or
Speaker 4: at the closing time, so just before they close the
Speaker 4: ticket office, so you can really experience this museum in
Speaker 4: the right atmosphere, even at the pickup the season. So
Speaker 4: do it, but choose the right time and among the
Speaker 4: beautiful pers of my city.
Speaker 3: That maybe not very well learned or know.
Speaker 4: The very first one you had on your two do
Speaker 4: list to climb the dome of the cathedral if you can,
Speaker 4: that's one of the things I.
Speaker 3: Like a lot.
Speaker 4: Don't be scared of the four hundred and sixty three steps,
Speaker 4: but it's really amazing. That's one of the things I
Speaker 4: like a lot, the Bargello Museum, that's my favorite museum
Speaker 4: with my Donatello, and then all the others. Rotignano, Miquelando,
Speaker 4: Chilei Jian Bologna is a trianphal beauty and a new
Speaker 4: revolutionary is still the remoter vision of the world through
Speaker 4: art in a special castle. It's like to be back
Speaker 4: in thirteen hundreds. It's amazing and not only for science lovers.
Speaker 4: Galileo galile Museum is a fantastic and not only for
Speaker 4: a family.
Speaker 3: This Stepard Museum.
Speaker 4: He's a little bit outside the very city center, so
Speaker 4: maybe you need a balance or a taxi, but five
Speaker 4: minutes together and the stepend Museum is really the dream
Speaker 4: of a collector who left to the city of Florence
Speaker 4: a magnificence villa, transforming a media eval costal atmosphere full
Speaker 4: of antique or precious that scimeters elmets of every shape
Speaker 4: and they created chills and you don't believe it. But
Speaker 4: outside of Japan you find in this place the largest
Speaker 4: collections of Samurai armor in this trull and magenable context.
Speaker 3: It's amazing. Lust but not the least.
Speaker 4: Take the opportunity to do a workshop yourself and become
Speaker 4: artists or one day. That's something so special. I think
Speaker 4: that you should really experience body and soul the place.
Speaker 4: So if you have the time, try to make an
Speaker 4: experience in an art workshop. That's another beautiful things to you.
Speaker 4: Really the protagonist of your treap.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's making the city come to life for you.
Speaker 1: I love that. And in Melbourne where I live here
Speaker 1: in Australia, we have a shop called Papiro. There's only
Speaker 1: two shops in the world, one shop here in my
Speaker 1: city and one shop in your city.
Speaker 3: Is the same exactly, It's true, it's true.
Speaker 1: And they do workshops where you do paper marbling, so
Speaker 1: you make these beautiful marble designs on paper. And I
Speaker 1: have done that here in Melbourne with my family and
Speaker 1: it's something that's so great for children actually, and it's
Speaker 1: easy for them to do. And I recommend that a
Speaker 1: lot actually, because yeah, you can see that it's not
Speaker 1: so easy like it might look like splits of paint,
Speaker 1: but when you see how they do it so that
Speaker 1: they can use it in various different beautiful notebooks and
Speaker 1: other things, it's very beautiful actually.
Speaker 4: And as you were saying, because usually We like to
Speaker 4: propose this kind of thing to families because of course
Speaker 4: children they enjoy a lot, but not only and ask
Speaker 4: ourself to be creative and use our hands. It really
Speaker 4: give the possibility to ourselves to discover the part of
Speaker 4: ourselves that usually we don't do. So being not this
Speaker 4: doesn't mean to create masterpieces of art.
Speaker 3: It means just to express yourself.
Speaker 4: And sometimes you discover about yourself much more in one
Speaker 4: hour doing something with your hands than reading thousands of books.
Speaker 4: Because traveling, I think it's not only discover other places,
Speaker 4: is not yourself in a different way, So it's always
Speaker 4: a greater tunity.
Speaker 1: Yes, I think you one hundred percent right at this
Speaker 1: time with all this technology, which I I do like
Speaker 1: the technology for some things, but also it's kind of
Speaker 1: squashing our creativity a little bit, I think. And so
Speaker 1: when you see these artisans as you mentioned before in
Speaker 1: the Ltronto, where they're doing some incredible work, and it
Speaker 1: requires patience, it requires dedication, It requires thinking about like
Speaker 1: a tiny process that is going to take time, and
Speaker 1: if you make a mistake, you need to do it again.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a very special gift that you
Speaker 1: can give to yourself not just for you know, not
Speaker 1: just to do an activity, but actually to appreciate the
Speaker 1: work that goes into something like that.
Speaker 4: It's true in a sit is such as floor and
Speaker 4: so we have the opportunity to do very many different
Speaker 4: experiences like that. Honestly, for me, one of my the
Speaker 4: very most important thing I will lie really to wish
Speaker 4: to everybody. It's really first of all, travel a lot.
Speaker 4: I really hope to see you in Florence because here
Speaker 4: you will find me. But as I like to say,
Speaker 4: whatever you go leave your travelers body and soul, because
Speaker 4: only in this way you will be able to find
Speaker 4: the key, is to assess the magic and acquire those
Speaker 4: secrets that there are hidden all over around us.
Speaker 3: So that's my best wish.
Speaker 5: To all of you, hoping to see your Yeah, absolutely
Speaker 5: so lovely it and it is Florence that does have
Speaker 5: a big magical impact on people, I think, because it
Speaker 5: is so beautiful and you can see why it inspired
Speaker 5: so many people, and there's such a gift.
Speaker 1: In the city as well as like you mentioned the
Speaker 1: Stubad Gallery which was bequeathed to the city. Also, all
Speaker 1: the collections of the Medici were bequeathed to the city
Speaker 1: by a woman, no less, and.
Speaker 3: That is very true.
Speaker 4: Maria Ludovica, Jana Maria Luiz, as you prefer to call her.
Speaker 4: She's the only important woman. She has a statue in
Speaker 4: the old the Palace courtyard, so it's a compulsory to
Speaker 4: stop in front of.
Speaker 3: Her every day and say thank you.
Speaker 4: As you said, it's a special place and it's nice
Speaker 4: to discover it through history, through aunt and just walking
Speaker 4: a man. So let be inspired by the beauty and
Speaker 4: it will be for sure fantastic.
Speaker 1: D Yeah, and I think people see a lot of
Speaker 1: crowds in Florence, and the crowds are sort of concentrated
Speaker 1: in one spot, aren't they. They kind of go from
Speaker 1: the Drmal to the Academy, to the Ufitzi and then
Speaker 1: maybe over the ponte Vecchio, but they're kind of in
Speaker 1: this one spot, which is maybe less than a kilometers square.
Speaker 1: So if you go out and if you go wandering,
Speaker 1: like Francesca suggested, then you can get away from those crowds.
Speaker 1: You go into the Ultrono, go to Piazza Santa Spiriotau
Speaker 1: and just go to Ani Santi and go to Santa Croce.
Speaker 1: You know, you can go away from those crowds for sure.
Speaker 4: For sure, and choose the right time of the day
Speaker 4: because I know you're on holidays, maybe you don't like
Speaker 4: waking up too early. But there was a reason why
Speaker 4: in the past we used to add this yesta, especially
Speaker 4: during the summer in bedween twelve, I mean at midday
Speaker 4: and four is when it's.
Speaker 3: Really the worst because it's very hot. Of course, you
Speaker 3: enter museum if you like.
Speaker 4: But it's probably the very most pleasant moments of the
Speaker 4: day are early in the morning and lead in the afternoon,
Speaker 4: so try to visit then the most famous places at
Speaker 4: that moment of the day. And then as you were saying, Kaded,
Speaker 4: you need really just to leave the two main streets
Speaker 4: vehicles in via a roma and then you experience a
Speaker 4: completely different influence. And all year long, I mean not
Speaker 4: only during the low season, if we can talk about
Speaker 4: low seasonal flulls, but of course November when days are
Speaker 4: shorter or when it's well the weather is not so nice.
Speaker 4: But there are many people that come in November because
Speaker 4: they know they found the gallery is empty, so it's
Speaker 4: the best moment for art lovers. But you have not
Speaker 4: to wait in November, I mean, so just to plan
Speaker 4: in a smart way your time and try not to
Speaker 4: visit too many places at the same time.
Speaker 3: So try to dedicate more time to a place.
Speaker 4: Don't think because flaw andc It's small, so half a
Speaker 4: day or few hours are enough. Or if you do it,
Speaker 4: you will see that you would come back anyway.
Speaker 1: You can't keep me away. I love it so much.
Speaker 1: It's such a beautiful place and I can't wait to
Speaker 1: go back soon. Actually, because I think everyone of our
Speaker 1: listeners knows, I had to reorganize my trip so I
Speaker 1: might redo a trip that I did before COVID actually,
Speaker 1: and I've got a very special memory of Florence from
Speaker 1: that because I did get up very early per your suggestion,
Speaker 1: I was staying in Altrano and I wanted to walk
Speaker 1: in the city when the sun came up. So I
Speaker 1: walked across the ponte Vecchio and I was the only
Speaker 1: person on the ponte Vecchio when the sun came up,
Speaker 1: And that was a very beautiful memory for me. Oh, Fantaska,
Speaker 1: I know everyone's loved hearing you talk about your beautiful city.
Speaker 1: How can they stay in contact with you or if
Speaker 1: they want to come on a tour and go exploring
Speaker 1: with you.
Speaker 4: You can find me on the social media Peaceburg Instagram,
Speaker 4: or just send me a message to my email or
Speaker 4: to WhatsApp. You know, in Europe we use a lot
Speaker 4: what's up sir? In this way usually people they find me,
Speaker 4: so we'll.
Speaker 1: Find you and we'll put all her Francesca's details into
Speaker 1: the show notes, so if you want to reach out
Speaker 1: to her, you can do that too. But Lissima, I
Speaker 1: love talking with you Francesca, and I think Francesca and
Speaker 1: I've got some ideas about how she can come and
Speaker 1: talk on the podcast some more, which I would absolutely love.
Speaker 1: We share some passions for some nature things that I
Speaker 1: think everyone might enjoy. But Francesca, Gratzimi, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for coming onto Untold Italy and sharing a beautiful Florence.
Speaker 4: With us today. Bigget everybody, thank you so much. You
Speaker 4: soon in Florence.
Speaker 1: Saw Guatimile to Francesca, what a beautiful conversation. Every time
Speaker 1: I talk to someone who loves this city, I am
Speaker 1: reminded that there is no end to what Florence has
Speaker 1: to offer. Francesca mentioned the Aysanti Church, the Bargello, the
Speaker 1: Giotto Crucifix painted not in brown but in Lapis Lazula blue,
Speaker 1: the Oltrano craftsmen working behind doors that looked like nothing
Speaker 1: from the outside, a morning outside the Duemal before the
Speaker 1: heat and the crowd setting, and the Iris Garden, which
Speaker 1: is only open from late April to mid May. So
Speaker 1: if you are planning a spring trip to Florence, which
Speaker 1: is an excellent idea, make sure to note that garden down.
Speaker 1: The memory that Francesca brought back for me was walking
Speaker 1: across the ponte Vecchio at sunrise, completely alone. I was
Speaker 1: staying in Oltrano that time and I was completely jetlagged.
Speaker 1: The best thing I did was go for that walk
Speaker 1: to soak up the magic and Florence, and somehow all
Speaker 1: the time ness melted away. If you have not walked
Speaker 1: across the ponte Vecio before the city wakes up, I
Speaker 1: highly recommend it. And as always, you're going to find
Speaker 1: Francesca's contact detail she'd you want to join her on
Speaker 1: a tour and the places that she mentioned in the
Speaker 1: show notes at Untold Italy dot com. Forward slash three
Speaker 1: two six for episode number three hundred and twenty six.
Speaker 1: And if this episode has you thinking about the rest
Speaker 1: of Italy, we know people like Francesca in cities and
Speaker 1: towns right across the country, and they help us create
Speaker 1: experiences and moments for our clients just like the one
Speaker 1: that she described today. So reach out if you would
Speaker 1: like some help with that. Let us open the door
Speaker 1: to your Italy. Next week, I'll be answering some traveler
Speaker 1: questions that have come in from our app users. But
Speaker 1: until next time, it's chow for now. The Untold Italy
Speaker 1: podcast is an independent production podcast editing, audio production and
Speaker 1: website development by Mark Hatter, Production assistance and content right
Speaker 1: the other kJ Clark, Yes there are two of us.
Speaker 1: For more information about Untold Italy, please visit Untold Italy
Speaker 1: dot com