To Borgo, with Love, Florence, Italy (B)

“How is life in Florence?! Show me around one day when I visit there!” One of the most popular sentences from my friends in China since I moved to Florence.

If I am the local tour guide for my friends I may not take them at all to the Duomo, the museums, or the Ponte Vecchio, etc. They can find information of those places from thousands of resources on-line and off-line, and they may be already familiar with those must-do items in each of those famous tourism spots, probably more than I do! I would take my visitors (friends) to those local districts, where they find one-next-to-the-other houses with the terracotta roof, those green and dark-brown color shutter windows, and the campanelli (door bells) next to the vintage doors. AKA, the Borgo!!!

Borgo is where you can live like a local. Spare just minutes and go further into the district, you are already off those tourist traps, and find some authentic places.

It is true that in a city like Florence, where residents and tourists mingle, it is hard to tell where is more local. A Florentine preferred restaurant can be full of tourists. In the lane opposite to Palazzo Pitti (less than 1 minute walk), there is the Piazza della Passera (the pussy square), where you find good restaurants, one of the best gelato shops in town, and people greeting friends with drinks! It is a place popular among residents, as well as young tourists who like to hang out in the local neighborhood. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).