Shops, Markets and Food

Shops and Markets
The center of Florence is crowded with shops selling everything from stylish clothing to used books.
Generally stores are open from 9 to 13 and from 15:30 to 19:30 in the winter; in summer afternoons they open at 16:00 and close at 20:00.

Most larger stores accept credit cards and Eurochecks, while smaller shops prefer cash. Big fashion names like Gucci and Coveri are found in via de' Tournabuoni, but also in via della Vigna Nuova, where Armani and Valentino have opened up shops.
There are also many shops for shoes and leather goods, from the classy and always elegant Ferragamo, in via de' Tornabuoni 14r, to the more affordable Cresti, in via Roma 9r.
Across the Arno, in via di Santo Spirito 62r, one finds the little shop Francesco, with hand-made shoes and sandals at low prices.
The Piazza Santa Croce area is rich in shops for leather goods. Besides shops, Florence is rich in open-air markets.

The Market of San Lorenzo, situated at the center of the city, is the preferred destination of tourists. The New Market, where one can acquire leather goods and souvenirs, is sheltered under the sixteenth-century Loggia del Porcellino (pig) .
At the Flea Market one can make good deals on small antique items. The last Sunday of every month except July, the market expands into the adjacent streets.

Food
Florentine food is praised for its solid peasant traditions: It is based on a few fundamental genuine ingredients: olive oil, tomatoes, beans, herbs, ham and salami.
Among the first courses of the "poor style" cuisine worth mentioning are "ribollita" (a soup based on black cabbage, beans, and other vegetables), "bruschette" (toasted bread with garlic and olive oil, sometimes covered with liver patè , anchovy paste or olives), beans "Uccelletta" style, minestrone soup with boiled beans, cooked in oil with tomato sauce and sage.

Among the second courses, the most famous is surely the "beefsteak Florentine style", cooked rare, without salt, flavored with herbs.
Among the less noble second courses the most characteristic is "tripe Florentine style," covered with tomato sauce and an abundant sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese. Game dishes worth mentioning include boar and rabbit with their typical sauces. The most common cheeses are pecorino and ricotta.

Desserts are simple; in Italian they are called "poor," the most characteristic being "cantucci" (cookies sweetened with almonds, for dunking in "Vin Santo") and "schiacciata Florentine style" (a pastry covered with vanilla sugar and flavored with lemon). Tuscany is a region famous also for its wines, reds and whites ranging from table wines to wines of great prestige and universal fame.

The most famous reds are "Brunello di Montalcino," "Nobile di Montepulciano" and Chianti produced in the hills and bottled by the Sangiovese vinyards. Most of the white wines come from Trebbiano vinyards, like the light and sparkling "Galestro" and the simple "Tuscan white."
The "Vernaccia of San Gimignano," obtained from Vernaccia grapes, is very flavorful, as is the "Montecarlo," from the Lucca region.
Among the characteristic sweet wines is the "Vin Santo" made with raisins from Trebbiano and Malvasia, aged for several years in small casks and then bottled.