Florentine Steak…just wow
- Charlotte Martin
- Mar 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 30
Day 2 in Florence and the kids allowed us to sleep in again! I’m not sure if the jet lag hasn’t quite hit them or what, but I’m okay with sleeping until 8:30 every day! In an ideal world, they are awake 8:30-8:30, to accommodate a mid-afternoon long nap and late Florence dinner times. Will report back on whether or not we succeeded with this tomorrow…
The day started out with the hot water not working in our VRBO. The host was very responsive and had someone here within 20 minutes, but that still delayed our start to the day a little bit. Bren and I had our cappuccinos before we all packed up and headed toward Piazza Della Repubblica.
The streets today were noticeably busier - a weekend crowd had definitely rolled in overnight. There were many street performers and traffic had also picked up. I say “traffic” but what I mean is tiny cars speeding through narrow hundreds-year old streets!
We got to the piazza and bought tickets to the carousel. This was Silas’s first time actually wanting to ride a carousel (he’s had many opportunities before at Silver Dollar City). He climbed on it with his daddy and the street performers started playing “Volare” as soon as they took off - all I could think of was the Lizzie McGuire movie when that song plays 😂 it was too perfect.
As we meandered down the busy streets heading towards a park, Clementine fell asleep in the stroller. It’s actually worked out so well for her to take her morning nap on the go, afternoon nap in the crib as the city shuts down for “quiet hours”, then evening nap on the go usually when we are at dinner.
We found a cute little cafe right on the river where I had my second cappuccino and Silas had fancy milk again with his bacon and avocado.
Clementine decided to have a dirty diaper at the restaurant and it conveniently had no baby changing table in the bathroom. Luckily, our stroller would lay flat so Brennan was able to change her on the stroller in the bathroom! Always need to be prepared for anything with babies.
We kept walking toward a park with a playground, but it ended up being quite a long walk! Once we finally arrived, Silas had fun chasing pigeons and playing on the equipment, while Clementine and I just enjoyed the beautiful weather. When we asked Silas what he thought about Florence so far, he noted there are “lots of pigeons and lots of ambulances” 😂 welcome to the city, bud.
On our walk back, I ended up having to put Clementine in the carrier so Silas could ride in the stroller as he was totally exhausted. We seriously need to find an umbrella stroller! We get back to the VRBO in time for Clementine to nap and for Lala and Grandad to arrive.
We decided to walk toward the Duomo after Clementine woke up. We can actually see it from our apartment, but it’s so incredible close up!
We ended up walking quite a ways off the beaten path and Silas was so tired - we had to put him in the stroller again. Within about 5 minutes, both kids were fast asleep! We found a restaurant and settled in while the kids continued to sleep.
This is where the best steak of my life comes in…we ordered it off the menu and could see the raw beef hanging in the (refrigerated) window of the restaurant. I watched someone carve off a big hunk and didn’t put two and two together until he brought it to our table asking if we approved. It was HUGE - about 1kg in total…guys, that’s a 2.2lb steak 😂 when I realized he didn’t ask us how we wanted it cooked, I figured out I wasn’t even really sure what I had ordered so had to ask my buddy ChatGPT:
Bistecca alla Fiorentina is a traditional steak from Florence made from a very thick T-bone or porterhouse cut, historically from Chianina cattle. It is grilled over very hot charcoal with minimal seasoning and served rare (“al sangue”) to highlight the natural flavor of the beef.
When it came out, it was definitely not the way I normally order steak (I’m a medium filet girly), but as soon as the first bite hit my mouth I was hooked. It just tasted so pure and savory - really hard to explain. All 4 of us indulged and we really didn’t have anything left! The potatoes served with it were heavenly as well. This might have been my first, but certainly will not be my last Florentine Steak, to say the least.
We walked back to the apartment and put the kids to bed. Now that the grandparents were here, we took advantage of being able to leave the kids and check out the bar downstairs that we had been eyeing since the day we arrived.
As we walked in, I saw a sign on the door with “World’s 50 Best Bars” and realized this was not just a typical bar. I usually make it a mission of mine to visit a top bar in every city I visit so this was a pleasant surprise!
We wait to be seated as this is a proper bar - no standing room - and check out the menu, which they gave to us via QR on these cute little cards:
I ordered their version of an espresso martini, but it had fermented raspberry and butter in it! It was so delicious. Bren ordered a salted walnut old fashioned.
We enjoyed our alone time together, then headed back upstairs right about the time there was a line outside to get in. We can tell the weekend crowd has arrived but at least we have reinforcements now with the grandparents!
Until tomorrow…✌🏻
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