Today was an Italian national holiday, Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione), celebrated on the 25th of April. It marks the fall of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic and the end of the Nazi occupation in Italy in 1945, towards the end of the second World War. Liberation Day remembers Italians who fought against the Nazis and Mussolini’s troops during World War II. The day also honors those who served in the Italian Resistance. Marching bands, music concerts, food festivals, political rallies, and other public gatherings take place in many places.
I planned on going today to MIDA (La Mostra Internazionale dell’Artigianato di Firenze), the International Handicraft Exhibition in Florence. It was good 20-minute walk going close to the main train station, and takes place annually at the Fortezza da Basso, a fort built into the fourteenth century walls of Florence. Its official name is the Fortress of Saint John the Baptist (Fortezza di San Giovanni Battista) and is now home to numerous conferences, concerts and national and international exhibitions with a total area of nearly 100,000 square meters – over 1,000,000 square feet. The Fortezza was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger for Alessandro de'Medici, Duke of Florence, also called The Moor, and built between 1534 and 1537. It is the largest historical monument of Florence.
MIDA is focused on enhancing the production of traditional and innovative homegrown crafts and art as well as from other countries. The fair offers clothing and accessories, articles for decoration, gifts, jewelry, food, wine and beautiful crafts. There were artists making ceramics, metal pieces, clothing and I there were many booths, some from Egypt, Peru, and Columbia.
After spending a bunch of time at the fair I started walking home and looked up some good restaurants on Yelp. One that stood out was near the Mercato Centrale and is called Trattoria Za Za (https://www.trattoriazaza.it).
There was a long line and I assumed it would take forever to get in, but it was maybe 5 minutes and Za Za was another place with great ambiance and food. I ate inside and for my antipasti had prosciutto con melone (ham with cantelope) and for my main course vitello con funghi tartufati (thin veal with truffled porcini mushrooms and French fries), and of course vino rosso della casa (house red wine).
The story of the trattoria:
Stefano Bondi, owner and soul of Zà Zà since 1977, was born in the Piazza del Mercato Centrale.
The first store, selling wine, salami and cheese was purchased by the Bondi family: Stefano’s father Silvano, who owned a stall in the Mercato Centrale, and his mother Mara, who spent her life in the restaurant’s kitchen from its early days and taught a lot to her son. Stefano always had many passions in his life. Other than good food and culinary research, which of course come first, he has a passion for music. He even composes and plays music. He also has a passion for antiques: he looks for pieces of art and
furniture – items that tell a story. He has a passion for racehorses, is a breeder and a rider. He is into writing and studying, which allow him to deepen the concepts and the ideas that are then translated into experience. Just like the food that can be tasted in his trattoria. Looks like the trattoria has done very well for his family!
After lunch, I continued my walk home to get ready for my regular Italian lesson with my teacher Elisa – today at 4pm – and then to pack for my 3 days adventure in Venezia. It looks like I can get everything in my backpack, so no struggling with a wheeled suitcase over all the little bridges and vaporetti (water buses). My train gets in around 11:30am and I can leave my backpack at a store near my vrbo and then meet my landlord at 4pm for the keys. The landlord is Gianni Ielovcich and I asked if he had Serbian or Yugoslavian heritage – and his family is Croation – small world.
I plan on going to pick up my new eye glasses from Micromega tomorrow afternoon, and bought tickets to the Venezia Biennale for Wednesday. Our old friend JoAnn Locktov gave me some suggestions for places to go including names of her restaurant friends to say “Hi” to, and also a place by Phillipe Stark.
I’m going to keep including links to Google Photos which makes this process much more effective (https://photos.app.goo.gl/GEJ3pNUAvugukJsL8) – if you don’t have Google Photos it’s easy to sign up. The images today show the Fortezza and some of the MIDA exhibits, one of which is an image of Firenze made of tiny mosaic pieces. The female sculpture is wire and the postcard is of Za Za. Enjoy.
I planned on going today to MIDA (La Mostra Internazionale dell’Artigianato di Firenze), the International Handicraft Exhibition in Florence. It was good 20-minute walk going close to the main train station, and takes place annually at the Fortezza da Basso, a fort built into the fourteenth century walls of Florence. Its official name is the Fortress of Saint John the Baptist (Fortezza di San Giovanni Battista) and is now home to numerous conferences, concerts and national and international exhibitions with a total area of nearly 100,000 square meters – over 1,000,000 square feet. The Fortezza was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger for Alessandro de'Medici, Duke of Florence, also called The Moor, and built between 1534 and 1537. It is the largest historical monument of Florence.
MIDA is focused on enhancing the production of traditional and innovative homegrown crafts and art as well as from other countries. The fair offers clothing and accessories, articles for decoration, gifts, jewelry, food, wine and beautiful crafts. There were artists making ceramics, metal pieces, clothing and I there were many booths, some from Egypt, Peru, and Columbia.
After spending a bunch of time at the fair I started walking home and looked up some good restaurants on Yelp. One that stood out was near the Mercato Centrale and is called Trattoria Za Za (https://www.trattoriazaza.it).
There was a long line and I assumed it would take forever to get in, but it was maybe 5 minutes and Za Za was another place with great ambiance and food. I ate inside and for my antipasti had prosciutto con melone (ham with cantelope) and for my main course vitello con funghi tartufati (thin veal with truffled porcini mushrooms and French fries), and of course vino rosso della casa (house red wine).
The story of the trattoria:
Stefano Bondi, owner and soul of Zà Zà since 1977, was born in the Piazza del Mercato Centrale.
The first store, selling wine, salami and cheese was purchased by the Bondi family: Stefano’s father Silvano, who owned a stall in the Mercato Centrale, and his mother Mara, who spent her life in the restaurant’s kitchen from its early days and taught a lot to her son. Stefano always had many passions in his life. Other than good food and culinary research, which of course come first, he has a passion for music. He even composes and plays music. He also has a passion for antiques: he looks for pieces of art and
furniture – items that tell a story. He has a passion for racehorses, is a breeder and a rider. He is into writing and studying, which allow him to deepen the concepts and the ideas that are then translated into experience. Just like the food that can be tasted in his trattoria. Looks like the trattoria has done very well for his family!
After lunch, I continued my walk home to get ready for my regular Italian lesson with my teacher Elisa – today at 4pm – and then to pack for my 3 days adventure in Venezia. It looks like I can get everything in my backpack, so no struggling with a wheeled suitcase over all the little bridges and vaporetti (water buses). My train gets in around 11:30am and I can leave my backpack at a store near my vrbo and then meet my landlord at 4pm for the keys. The landlord is Gianni Ielovcich and I asked if he had Serbian or Yugoslavian heritage – and his family is Croation – small world.
I plan on going to pick up my new eye glasses from Micromega tomorrow afternoon, and bought tickets to the Venezia Biennale for Wednesday. Our old friend JoAnn Locktov gave me some suggestions for places to go including names of her restaurant friends to say “Hi” to, and also a place by Phillipe Stark.
I’m going to keep including links to Google Photos which makes this process much more effective (https://photos.app.goo.gl/GEJ3pNUAvugukJsL8) – if you don’t have Google Photos it’s easy to sign up. The images today show the Fortezza and some of the MIDA exhibits, one of which is an image of Firenze made of tiny mosaic pieces. The female sculpture is wire and the postcard is of Za Za. Enjoy.