After class, we headed into the winding, medieval streets of Santa Croce to find a tiny restaurant for il pranzo. It was, of course, molto buono. The restaurant gave us (gratis) this lovely array of antipasti: two kinds of bruschetti, pomodoro and liver pate, some marinated vegetables, eggplant, mushroom and peppers, and interesting spinach and cheese balls:
And then I had the
pappardelle con ragu di cinghiale (wide pasta with wild boar sauce), one of my favorite things with a glass of Chianti Classico. The side plate is fried zucchini:
After lunch, I wandered over through Dante's neighborhood, just because. Santa Margherita is there, which is really the only 'authentic' thing, I think. There is the "house of Dante" but I am not really sure it is legit.
Today my mission was to go to the Salvatore Ferragamo museum. Born in 1898, to an enormous family with something like 14 children, dirt poor (of course) and struggling, he became fascinated with making shoes after he experimented and made a few pairs for his sisters. He was lucky enough to be sent to Naples to apprentice as a shoe maker. In 1915, he emigrated to the US, to Boston, where one of his brothers had a job in a shoe store making cowboy boots. They eventually moved to California and slowly, Salvatore established himself as a master designer and shoemaker. The catch was, that he insisted that his designs actually be comfortable, so he took an anatomy class at USC.
In 1927, he returned to Italy, to Florence, where he set up shop and began to provide shoes for the rich and famous. He's a shoe guy, and the museum is filled with them:
But the museum also focuses on an aspect of social history that is relevant to Ferragamo's time and contribution to fashion. The rooms discuss how after WWII, new worlds and possibilities opened up for women who wanted to work, to be professionals, and simply to appreciate fashion. There are sections devoted to the beginning of the whole ready-made industry:
And just the joy of fabulous clothes. There are 'palazzo pajamas':
And then there are other lovely things:
Leaving the exhibit takes you right into the showroom and shop. And let's just say,
molto costoso.
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