A Chocolate Drug Deal

It's 1:30 a.m. in Florence. And, while some locals enter the deeper stages of sleep, resting up until the morning returns, other are still awake. Some are in Kikuya on Via dei Benci enjoying the last few sips of their wine. Others are at the Red Garter, singing karaoke belligerent, drunk and forgetful of tomorrow's classes. You pass Moyo and take the next right off the bar infested street. This leads you to Piazza Peruzzi which seems contrastingly lifeless. The street is dimly lit. The stores are all closed, with their gates down and graffiti exposed. The next right leads to a remote ally. To be precise, the secret bakery is located on via del Canto Rivolto 2. But once you turn on this street a number is not needed. You could easily just close your eyes and let the smell guide you instead.

It is certainly not difficult to find amazing food in Florence, or the Tuscan region in general. Locals here are spoiled and accustomed to some of the best pasta dishes and smoothest wines in the world. But there is simply nothing like a fresh Italian pastry. This delicacy which would seem easy to come by can become surprisingly difficult. That quick snack before class can turn into a stale disappointment after lying out on a cold metal rack all day. So where can you go to get that chocolatey, sweet delight? That fresh doughy pastry that flakes off and falls to the ground softly as you devour it in no more than four blissful chomps?

Secret bakeries in Florence operate in the early hours of the night in order to supply the city with their pastries. any local cafe's, bars and restaurants will purchase goods from these bakers to serve to customers the next day. usually they begin working around 1:30 a.m. and finish around 6 a.m. But what makes these places so secret? In short, these bakeries are not your standard Italian cafe. Via del Canto Rivolto 2 has no decorations outside, nothing alluring to those passing by. It is not "open" in the sense that you can walk in, order a pastry, sit down and enjoy it as music plays int he background and regulars greet their local baristas. Instead, you will encounter a completely different experience. One much more mysterious and exciting than you would have during the day time.

If you are craving adventure and yearning to satisfy your sweet tooth the secret bakery off of Via dei Benci awaits you. Whether you have stayed awake long enough, or are still out after being at the bars and clubs, you can go here and get served the freshest pastries in town. The secret bakery off of Piazza Peruzzi is completely unidentifiable. Foggy looking from the frosted glass, nothing on the inside can be seen. This is the point where you begin questioning the directions you have been given. There are no decorated signs hanging outside to act as a friendly invitation. Instead, there is just a taped sign on the door: "Please be quiet".

Knock on the door and wait. One of the bakers will answer; with hair pulled back and remnants of flour on his apron. Strangely, he will not initiate conversation, or invite customers inside. It is up to you to assertively ask for a pastry. The baker will describe what they have that night. Usually, depending on when you arrive, there are a few options: chocolate or creme filled pastries. Some are plain with sugar. Some are in the form of croissants, others are like American donuts. They even have fresh mini pizzas which can be ordered. The inside of the bakery is simple, with one purpose only. No special decor, just a bunch of silver ovens, and silver kitchen counters. Only the basic necessities needed to make the baked goods. And before you can catch another glimpse he shuts the door. There is no extra conversation or friendly conversing between the pastry exchange. You are left waiting for another few minutes in anticipation outside.

A baker will come back out with your pastries in individual bags. They are one euro each; extremely reasonable considering the upcoming delight. The pastries come right out of the oven, still warm, with chocolate oozing out of the sides when bitten into. Or melted on top of a croissant-like dough in a heated pool of chocolate.

Aside from the obvious splendor of the fresh pastry, the secret bakery is an inimitable experience in and of itself. In the middle of the night, on an empty, desolate road, the quest for chocolate becomes a mysterious adventure. All the ingredients involved in the process of getting your pastry from the secret bakery become an enticing recipe. From the moment you are greeted by the seemingly annoyed baker, to the moment you finish your pastry you will feel a rush of adrenaline that signals forbidden activity. You fear that you will somehow get in trouble, even though you will not. Like a chocolate drug deal of sorts, you will finish your pastry wishing already that you had purchased more.

Why we travel

February 1, 2010

In class today we discussed the Pico Iyer article "Why We Travel" that we had to read last week. One of his quotes that impacted me the most was when he said, "The most distant shores lie within the person asleep at our side." Although everybody had many different interpretations, this was mine. There is a certain philosophy to travel that has sparked a new feeling of excitement and appreciation in me regarding my trip. Traveling is significant because it wakes up parts of us that are normally asleep. When you travel you are freed of conditions of worth from others and life is, in general, simplified to our basic necessities. In the end, you find yourself alone in a way. Leaving everything behind, but never escaping the self. This unfamiliar and foreign "part" or ourself is never ventured to when we are cradled by familiarity, family and friends at home. Traveling, like reality in general, is totally subjective. There is no set-in-stone experience that everyone will endure while at a certain location. This has lead me to believe that we do not find geographical cures to our problems or geographical answers to the main questions our life proposes. But how is it then that we feel as if we have evolved somehow when we return from abroad? We become familiar with the untraveled parts of ourselves through the act of traveling itself. It is here that we are simplified to the most basic questions we could ask ourselves; who am I? And what is my purpose? Iyer said that we go from "innocents abroad" to "sophisticated travelers." Perhaps it is that travel reduces us to our nakedness and then adds a layer to our soul which is crucial to self-growth, change, and discovery.