Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Walk past the market and along Via Porta Rossa to
Palazzo Davanzati
(
Click here
) with its
magnificent studded doors and fascinating museum. A few doors down, next to the
Slowly
(
Click
here
)
bar, peep through the sturdy iron gate and look up to admire the ancient brick vaults of this dark
alley - this is hidden Florence of 1001 fabulous doors and lost alleys at its best!
Continue to
Via de' Tornabuoni
with its luxury designer boutiques. Swoon over frescoed
chapels in
Chiesa di Santa Trinita
(
Click here
), then wander down Via del Parione to visit paper
marbler
Alberto Cozzi
(
Click here
) and puppet maker
Letizia Fiorini
(
Click here
).
Backtrack to Via de' Tornabuoni and turn right, past 13th-century
Palazzo Spini-Feroni,
home
of Salvatore Ferragamo's flagship store, to Borgo Santissimi Apostoli. A short way ahead on Piazza
del Limbo is the Romanesque
Chiesa dei Santissimi Apostoli
, in a sunken square once used as a
cemetery for unbaptised babies.
After browsing for Tuscan olive oil in
La Bottega dell'Olio
(
Click here
), continue east and turn
right into Vicolo dell' Oro, home to the
Hotel Continental,
whose sleek rooftop terrace is the per-
fect spot for a sundowner with a
Ponte Vecchio
(
Click here
) view.
Courses
Florence has zillions of schools running courses in Italian language, culture and cuisine.
Scuola di Arte Culinaria Cordon Bleu
MAP
COOKING
GOOGLE MAP
( 055 234 54 68;
www.cordonbleu-it.com
; Via di Mezzo 55r)
Serious cooking school for ama-
teurs and professionals with heaps of short-term, long-term and one-off courses.
Scuola del Cuoio
MAP
LEATHER WORKING
GOOGLE MAP
( 055 24 45 34;
www.scuoladelcuoio.com
; Via San Giuseppe 5r)
Leather-working courses in a
leather school created by Franciscan friars after WWII.
COOKING
In Tavola
( 055 21 76 72;
www.intavola.org
; Via dei Velluti 18r)
Take your pick from dozens of carefully
crafted courses for beginners and professionals: pizza and gelato, pasta making, easy
Tuscan dinners etc.
