[Florence, ITALY] Day 2: Piazza Republicca, Cantinetta Allegri Trattoria, Marco Ottaviano Gelato, Caffe Giubbe Rosse, PiazzaSignoria,Palazzo Vecchio (Secret Passage!)

From Italy to Croatia, I've found the footsteps of the Roman Empire.

The Romans had a very systematic approach to city planning and it was unsurprising that the forum (or also known as the main intersection and heart of the city) was situated at the exact spot of Piazza Republicca. Usually you would find a thermae (public bath complex) and or temples of the Roman gods close by.

We can no longer see the remnants of the thermae, which was situated on the south side, or the temple of Mars (swept away in a flood in 1333), but you can get insights about the remains beneath the space based on the road names i.e. Via delle Terme.

There you would find the Column of Abundance, the witness of the demolished Piazza del Mercato Vecchio (currently known as the Piazza Republicca).

Piazza della Repubblica

We got tired of being disappointed by highly reviewed restaurants, and decided to try our luck at ones that we thought would be good instead. This trattoria only had 2 reviews on google map, but was one of the best ones that we've had during this trip.

Cantinetta Allegri Trattoria is one of those restaurants you would want to go to for family gatherings and celebrations. It was an indulgence to eat here! I would have wanted more if only my stomach could have accommodated it.

Cantinetta Allegri Trattoria

Proscuitto with Mozzarella cheese

Truffle with sliced steak and arugula

Florence is more of a meat city I would say, so indulge in the Florentines steak and beef stews if you ever get bored of the pastas here.

In the afternoon, we got coffee at Caffe Giubbe Rosse (famous for Futurist gatherings). It's a place where you go for the atmosphere and just chill to enjoy the children's laughter riding the merry-go-around. When my boyfriend first arrived Florence, he was shocked that there was NO starbucks at all. Being a starbuck's fanatic he was so ready to leave Florence just because of this. However, he gradually understood why.

No matter where we went, the coffee was perfect. The Muslims and Turks introduced coffee to the Venetians in the 14th century, and the first coffee house was opened in Venice in 1645. So Italians have had a long history of knowing how to brew the best coffee.

Piazza Signoria

At night, we signed up for the secret passage tour at Palazzo Vecchio, which covered the key history about the Medici family and the hidden study room of Francesco Medici. He was a great alchemist, and his love for art, literature and alchemy shows through these walls of painting.

Palazzo Vecchio Francesco Study Room

Each painting is a cabinet, where the painting infers from a Roman myth, or some symbols that are related to the treasure that he has inside the cabinet. For example, they believed Francesco kept potions, medicines behind this cabinet.

Can you guess what's behind this painting?

Secret passage!

The Hall of 500

The tour is about 30mins, and you get to visit the museum too afterwards. For the Dan Brown Inferno fans, you will get to see most of the secret passages that were shown in the movie!