Back to work

my house is there, click picture to enlarge

After my trip to Belgium I arrived back in Florence still homeless.  Before leaving I had made an attempt to locate an apartment using an agency, but that turned out to be a big rip-off, not sure how you say that in Italian, and so I had to do it the old-fashioned way, search the internet.  After a couple of days I responded to an ad for a studio apartment, went to see it on my lunch break, and by that evening I was moved in!  The place is great, clean, quiet, fully furnished with everything I need and it's in a fantastic location alongside the river in the center of Florence.  I must say I really lucked out with this one.  Only thing is it's about a 20 minute walk to work everyday, so I really need to get a bicycle.  However, that walk is along the river and past some of the main Florence attractions, such as the Ponte Vecchio, so it's way better than spending and hour in your car on the 101 back home.  Now that I'm settled in it's time to get to work, so flashback a couple days to April 1st.

After years of thinking about I finally started a real job here in Italy.  I had an idea of what to expect after doing that first week but I was still anxious to see how it would really go.  I've been thinking about it and what it would be like for so long that it was now kinda strange to actually be doing it.  My first week was spent finishing the work I started before, putting the Vespas back together, and I can now say I know the ins and outs of a Vespa pretty well.  We had a few customers come to rent them and I learned the rental procedure and everything that goes along with that, like calling and asking for a credit card authorization (autorizazzione) for the damage deposit, how to pronounce the word autorizazzione, and other important words like danni, damages, which unfortunately is a word we use a lot here.  I had to learn a lot all at the same time while also learning the language, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job and it's nice to be doing something new.  And of course I'm surrounded by motorcycles everyday, so that's always nice.  Even better than that though is when I get to play tour guide and lead people on Vespas through Tuscany.  I spent a lot of time riding and learning the tour route, even recording video of it all with my new helmet camera so I could run through it again at home and get familiar with each turn I have to make.  This part of the world is incredibly beautiful, especially the Chianti wine region of Tuscany where we ride.  This is where the famous Sangiovese grape grows best and the hills are literally covered with grape vines for as far as you can see.  It's been neat to ride out there every week and see the changes in the landscape as spring progresses.  First it was all green grass, then blankets of yellow flowers everywhere, then when they died off they were replaced by red poppies, then the grape vines start to grow until there is nothing but a sea of green leaves.  It's really amazing how everything seems to be so perfectly placed, from the vines to the flowers to the stone houses and stone walls and thin cypress trees along the roads, everything seems so well kept.  It's amazing how these people could take something already beautiful and enhance it without ruining it.  I've seen countless images of Tuscany in photos and movies, but it's hard to imagine it could all be that beautiful, but it is and then some.  In short, it's a nice place to work.

My first opportunity to give a Vespa tour turned out to be for my cousin Sheryl and her husband Erick.  They had planned a trip to Spain and when she found out I was here they decided to leave early and detour to Italy to go for a ride with me.  This worked out well for me, as it was almost like a practice run for the tours I would be giving for "regular" customers, but without the pressure since if I made a mistake or got lost I knew they would understand.  However I did just fine and we had a great time.  Here's how the basic tour goes:  The ride starts at our shop in the center of town as I lead them through the bustling city, across the river and back again, past the Ponte Vecchio then turn right in front of my house to cross the river yet again and follow it until ascending a small switch-back road leading to Piazziale Michelangelo, a large square-slash-parking lot set on a hill directly above the city, where you are rewarded with the most spectacular view of Florence.

The city is especially beautiful from there, and your eyes are drawn immediately to the Duomo and it's commanding presence in the very center of it all, as well as the tower of the Pallazzo Vecchio and the Old Bridge crossing the Arno river, which seems to underline everything from this point of view.  Besides the bella vista, I also like stopping here to give the riders a chance to catch their breath after the initial shock of Italian city traffic.

After a couple photos we hop back on the Vespas and start to make our way out of the city, which from there only takes about 5 minutes before the road changes from traffic dominated chaos to a narrow two-lane between stone walls and buildings, and soon after the walls disappear and the Tuscan countryside starts to dominate the views.  We casually roll down the undulating road and around every corner there's another breathtaking view.  After some quality time on the scooters we make a pit-stop at a tiny town called Impruneta and do the most Italian of things and have a caffe'.  From there the ride continues and the hills become more and more covered with vineyards, signaling that we are officially in the Chianti region.  At the center of that is an old hilltop town called Panzano where we stop for lunch.  I know what you're thinking now.  Cheese and cured meats or bruschetta, followed by a huge plate of pasta, or maybe a nice pizza and a glass of wine?  On most days you'd be right, but not on this tour.  We turn left off the main road and immediately park the Vespas on a tiny street in front of a red and white striped building where we find the Antica Macelleria Cecchini, Cecchini's old-fashioned butcher shop http://www.dariocecchini.com/.

We step into the room off the street and are greeted by Dario Cecchini, probably the most famous butcher in Italy, and are immediately handed a glass of wine and offered some hor d'ourves of local bread soaked in olive oil, or had with something he calls Chianti butter, also known as lardo, pig lard.  I know that last one doesn't sound good, but trust me it tastes better than it sounds.  After the greeting we head past the meat counter and prep kitchen and an automatic "hidden door" slides away to reveal a staircase that leads to the Officina della Bistecca, the steak workshop.  The main dinning area consists mainly of one long table where everyone sits together to share one another's company, and outside there is a patio with two more long tables for when the sun is shining, which is most of the time.  Here there are only two fixed menus, one is called the Mac Dario, which is a large beef burger, no bun, lightly breaded and fried but left pink inside unless specified well-done, with a side of potato wedges and tomato.

This sounds basic and it is, but it's one of the best meals I've had and every person I brought here in the 6 months said it was one of the best things they'd eaten in Italy, no kidding.  The other menu is called Accoglienza, Welcoming, which consists of some raw veggies dipped in olive oil and red wine vinegar with Dario's special Chianti seasoning to start, followed by four individual plates of meat.  One is called Porchetta, a typical dish around here that is basically pork rolled with spices, tied up and cooked until it has a crispy fat exterior, it's very good but not the star here.  Another dish is meatloaf, again very basic, but consider the high quality of beef and their delicious house made sauce made from fresh red bell peppers that tastes surprisingly sweet as well as spicy and you find that this is not your mom's classic standby.  Third is what Dario calls Chianti sushi, or steak tartar.  It's basically raw ground beef, but take my word for it it's so much more than that and one of my favorites, but admittedly not for everyone.  Last but not least is arguably the best one, called Chianti tuna.  This is not tuna at all, in fact it's not even fish, it's pork, but as prepared it resembles pieces of tuna fish.  However the taste is nothing like it and it's wonderful, very light and refreshing for something made from meat.  Both meals are outstanding and the lunch is truly the standout of the tour and a vacation highlight for everyone that goes.

After lunch it's back on the bikes for more rolling hills and vistas, but not for too before stopping for another Italian favorite, gelato, at a town called Castellina in Chianti.  It's a neat little village with, as the name suggests, a tiny castle.  There is an excellent gelateria at the side of the road there, and after enjoying some gelato while strolling around the town we return to the Vespas and start heading back towards Florence.

Unfortunately on this particular day the clouds decided to show up and make some rain which followed us for the last two hours of the ride.  Erick and Sheryl took it in stride though and kept smiling even though we were all freezing and couldn't wait to get back to Florence and get warm.  I'm sure it was a day they won't soon forget.  Oh, and they both rode great, no danni!

It was nice to see them and have their company for a couple days, and while I enjoyed taking them on the Vespa tour, I also enjoyed showing them around "my town".  The highlight was visiting the Duomo, the famous cathedral in the center of the city, and walked up the 450 steps to the top where you're rewarded with a fantastic 360 degree view of the city and surrounding hills, it's beautiful.

Of course I've been up there a few times before but it's always nice.  On the way up you also get a good look at the largest frescoe in the world on the ceiling inside the dome.  It's really impressive and even a bit graphic with all the demons killing and eating people down in Hell, ouch.

We also discovered a new to me tasty sandwich called a piadina, which is very similar to a tortilla.  I got mine filled with porchetta and cheese, then it's rolled up and heated in a panini press, simple and delicious.  There are so many hidden treasures to find here and I'm looking forward to finding as many as I can....