28th
Salsaccio Fiorentino
One thing that is unavoidable in Florence is sausage in both its literal and metaphorical forms.
The farther north one travels in Italy the more meat specialties one encounters. In Florence the ‘menu turistico’ typically feature ‘ragu’ sauces, hearty stews and some lovely sausage. At the family-run and thus highly entertaining Trattoria Buzzino, located at the exit to the Uffizi, we enjoyed a lovely lunch of penne al ragu followed by salsaccio e fagioli. Homemade sausage, fresh and very good.
We encountered a more entertaining - or sinister, depending on how one sees it - form a sausage in the window of a pet store. Perhaps it was our disorientation from having wandered for over an hour in the twisting streets north of the Duomo, or perhaps it was the surprise at seeing a middle-aged, bottle-blond prosie exiting a car, doing up her pants while pocketing loose change, but this window of a pet store near l’Accademia both enthralled and frightened us just a little bit. All those aggressive plastic bulldogs and regimented legions of mice made of catnip and bunny fur.
And then we spotted all those grinning, plastic sausage links. No wonder Italian dogs are so weird.
The next day, while waiting our turn to tour the Uffizi Gallery, we were reminded what makes all men happy. Is that a feedbag strapped to your face or are you just happy to see us?
Of course, one doesn’t have to go too far in Florence before spotting the ‘salsaccio di marmora’, the most common form of sausage in the city. At l’Accademia we saw the city’s (likely the world’s) most famous marble sausage on Michelangelo’s David. Unfortunately, in his case, big feet just means he wears large sandals. Still, surrounded by Mapplethorpe’s nudes, there was enough well-muscled sausage to satisfy even the most ravenous appetite.
On that happy thought, our trip to Florence was at an end.
