Back in Florence for a few days before transit to Orvieto/Civita. Goals today: sketch the town and visit Rivoire Firenze.
Breakfast across the river at Ditta Artigianale Riva d’Arno, sketched the view of the river. Is the service slow or are they ignoring me? Its a fine, fine line, so I’m gonna accept Slow Travel pacing. Now, should I take the 30 min bus to San Minato on the hill? Could be a lengthy round trip due to bus service and imperfect midday light so instead decide to wander the streets of Spiritu Santi.
Great sketching and painting session at the farmers market in the Piazza de Spiritu Santi. Again no one bugging me, so refreshing. A little girl runs up to me and wants to take my brush and paint a little. She paints a flower in my sketchbook. So cute!!
Trying so hard to do it all in Italian….”insalata Greco per favore…agua frizzante…vino della casa, one glass” then the table next to me speaks in English and the waiter replies in English…should I even bother…
And is the secret to La Dolce Vito, having wine at every meal?? Seems to be working for me!
Don’t know what more to say about Rivoire Firenze except that coming back and having Caffe Rivoire again in the Piazza is like a homecoming for me. 15 years ago it just cemented for me how a culture can not only take art to its highest level but also its food and dining to its highest level. To aspire to excellence in everything that you do, to live consciously, to not accept the lowest common denominator, to not live the lazy life.
Stopped in at Lory to pick up sketch books cuz I’m definitely gonna run out of room at my current rate of pages painted per day. Wow they had ALL the Fabriano sketchbooks, many of which i had never seen before. Hard to find a 3×5 size in any brand and Stillman Birn isn’t sold in Italy. 3×5 is perfect for sketching incognito and the 6×5 double is just big enough. The A5 4×5 especially when open to 8×5 is just a little too conspicuous for me. Remember I used to swear I’d never paint plein air cuz I hate people staring at me. Also I think I lost my size 10 Escoda travel brush today??? Wish I’d known that when I was at the store…
I don’t remember now how I heard about Antico Ristorante Il Sasso di Dante, it’s a Google maps bookmark from 15 years ago. But tonight the place was nearly deserted at prime dinner hour and they cared not one whit about my “reservation”. Tonight: Pappa al pomodoro, and Tagliata di manzo con rucola. Glass of “Riserva” and a chaser of acqua frizzante. And if I have room later, tiramasu from the place down the road. And to my new friend I met at dinner, yes I hope we scandalized the patio with our talk!
WearyTravelers.net 