Florence Eating: Le Bertucce

During my last semester in Italy I lived in an apartment on a tiny street called Via Sant'Elisabetta. The Medieval and Renaissance streets of  Florence's historic center are all tiny--meant to accommodate carts and horses instead of cars--but Via Sant'Elisabetta is especially so. As a tiny off street near Piazza del Duomo, it escapes a great deal of tourist foot traffic.

Our little apartment's kitchen window opened out onto the street, right across from a little pizzeria called Le Bertucce. In the evenings we would call down to our favorite server, Ricardo, the other girls testing their first Italian sentences, while I translated the conversation for them. We threw paper airplanes, attempted to share our s'mores, and ate a hell of a lot of pizza.

Le Bertucce itself is a small little restaurant serving pizza by the pie or the slice, calzoni, and panini to order. A favorite of locals, it is home to some of the best pizza in the city center. The lines are long during lunch hours (but worth it) and almost non-existent the rest of the day. All the pizzas are made in a stone pizza oven, and slices are often reheated in the same place. (If they try to put it in the toaster oven, ask for the pizza oven instead, it's much better.) If you're stuck making your choice, try the Pizza ai Quattro Formaggi, which is by far their best option.

Pizza is 2 euro a slice or 6 euro for a personal pizza. Calzones are 2.50 and panini depend on the ingredients.

Le Bertucce
+39 055 285595
Via Sant'Elisabetta/ Via delle Oche


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anywherebuthereitis

Lately I've been suffering from a strong case of what I like to call anywhere-but-here-itis. Being in one place for four months is seriously wearing on my sanity, which is bothersome and worrisome and many other somes I have yet to identify. But mostly I'm just scared. I have one more year of college left and after that things seem very final. Pick a career, pick a city, pick an apartment, and stay put. I'm afraid of being stuck, and I'm afraid of making the wrong decision, and more than anything I'm afraid that I'll never be able to find a home if I keep wandering. But I suppose it will all turn out in the end.

In the meantime I dream of far away places.

Mostly when I dream I dream of Florence. Florence with its little cars and cobbled roads and Italian sunsets.

But who knows? After all, life's a mystery.

ties to places

1.Think of a place that is significant to you.

2. Find a piece of string, ribbon, shoelace, rope, etc. Something long enough to be tied around an object.

3. Cut a rectangle out of a piece of paper. On it write your first name (or the name you go by), a date, and a noun that relates

to the significance of your location.

4. Take a picture of your label.

5. Put a hole in the paper and put it on your string.

6. Go to your location, and tie the ribbon to something there.

7. Take a picture of your completed project.

if you tilt your head a little to the right and squint . . .

 . . . you can almost see it. Autumn is coming.

siena.

As much as I love Florence (and I do love it dearly) there are times when a wanderer feels a bit claustrophobic. After all, even remarkable cities are cities. Walking the same streets in my tiny pixel of existence everyday can make me forget how lucky I am to be here. At such times one needs a bit of what the world likes to call perspective. For me that means getting my ass out of Florence. ASAP.

One of the lovely things about this city is how easy it is to get away. There are countless little towns all around. Some are nestled in mountains, some laze by the sea, Siena is tucked in the hills. Its sights are those of Tuscan postcards: uneven land rising like rounded waves and the tall cypress trees that proudly guard their villas. Even the view from a highway tells the character of this land.

Then there is Siena itself. Like many of the cities here, it was once an autonomous city-state. A solid wall surrounds it, to keep out those pesky Florentines, and to hide the treasures within. It seems that the early Tuscans took "hiding your valuables" seriously. My friend and I spent our day visiting the museums and and cathedral, getting a workout climbing steps, and (for me) enjoying a last summer peach. And when we got home at the end of the day, I felt my city was itself again. As beautiful as Siena is, I know where I belong.

Because Florence changes me; the essence of who I am is shifting here. If I don't look too closely, I can see it.