Firenze, Giorno 1

Day filled with shopping at the markets!

Breakfast:

Cold pizza from Gusta Pizza (ate my half)
(Cold pizza is equally as amazing as hot pizza.)

Samples from the cantucci stand in the Mercato Centrale, Florence, Italy:

A million assorted cantucci flavours: orange choc, pistachio, pistachio choc, brownie, espresso, espresso choc, almond, fig, alcoholic almond, etc.
(Sampled way too many cantucci here. I think I ate at least two bags worth.)

 Sample from a balsamic vinegar stand in the Mercato Centrale, Florence, Italy:

Fig balsamic vinegar, two year aged & eight year aged w/truffle oil bread
(The balsamic vinegar was good! I'm usually not a fan, but these converted me.)

Sample from a pasta stand in the Mercato Centrale, Florence, Italy:

Sundried tomato

Snack:

Cantucci (broke small pieces off to sample some)
(It's a cantucci day.)

Lunch at La Bussola, Florence, Italy:

Chestnut ravioli w/butter and sage
(I hate butter and would normally never order a dish with butter as the sauce, but I figure I'll go all out just in case I'll only be in Italy this once. I don't know if the sage was supposed to be consumed, but it added a nice textural contrast to the ravioli. The chestnut filling was sweet, which mellowed out the slightly salty butter and cheese sauce. Overall, I enjoyed my meal but I don't think I'd ever order it again.)

Close-up of the filling

Sample of Kelly's house-made pasta w/smoked salmon in a cream-based sauce

Snack at Gelateria dei Neri, Florence, Italy:

Mexican chocolate w/peppercorns & pistachio and fig & ricotta gelati (+sample of pistachio)
(Both flavours were delicious and balanced each other nicely. I quite liked the fiery kick of the Mexican chocolate and the sweet, slightly tart, creaminess of the latter flavour. I'm starting to get a bit tired of all the pistachio, so I've opted to sample the pistachio flavours instead of ordering a scoop. The one here is very creamy.)

Sample of Kelly's caramel gelato

Snack at Gelateria Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy:

Black sesame and blueberries & cream cake gelati (+samples of pistacho and peach & brandy, ate with strawberries)
(Another favourite gelateria! Kelly and I bought a basket of strawberries and ate our gelato with it while admiring the view. The black sesame here doesn't come close to the one from NYC Chinatown's, but it can hold its own. The blueberries and cream cake gelato tasted exactly like its name and reminded me of a summer day's treat.)

Sample of Kelly's melon and cookie gelati

Snack from Caffe' Maioli, Florence, Italy:

Cantucci (ate a bite, shared w/Kelly)

Picnic dinner:

Pesto lasagne, assorted fruits, yogurt, salad (+sample of Kelly's arugula and cherry tomato pasta salad)
(Didn't eat all of this. Even though everything was from a grocery store, this might be one of my favourite meals in Italy. The pesto was rather salty, so I'm glad I bought a bag of salad to mellow out the saltiness.)

Snack:

Swiss chocolate from our roommates