Santa Maria Novella, Bella!

If you've ever been to Italy, you may have noticed a preponderance of churches.  Initially, it's fascinating to tour duomos from different centuries, to compare the regional architectural differences, and to admire the art.  Eventually, however, you hit the wall.  (This can also happen in museums like the Uffizi, after viewing your 200th Madonna and Child.) On our trip to Italy last year with 8 friends, a group of us decided to visit Florence.  I had been there a few times before, but some of our buddies had never seen this wonderful city, so 5 of us took the train from Chiusi for a very memorable day.  We had already seen many churches, so our itinerary would be a little different this time.

Orvieto Cathedral- loveliest facade in Italy.  

One friend who didn't come, our Lone Italian, asked a favour of us before we left- she wanted us to pick her up some soap from "the old pharmacy near the train station.  You can't miss it- Catherine de Medici used to shop there!"  No problem.  With no better instructions, we headed to Florence, and got off the train at Santa Maria Novella station, near the church of the same name.  We glanced around for a fancy pharmacy, but didn't see anything, so we continued on past the church.  I lead the pack, as I tend to do, down a certain walk to show them my highlights of Florence.  We headed down via dei bianchi, then onto via tornabuoni.  Our first stop was Procacci, a little truffle shop the BF and I discovered a few years ago, and where I had a lovely afternoon sitting at a green marble table, drinking Prosecco, and eating tiny truffle sandwiches.  Heaven.  This time, we were able to get a few tables together, and everyone tried various little delicacies with the required bubbly.  (A side note on Prosecco- it's much cheaper than Champagne, and delicious in its own way.  I was happy that on this trip, one of our group, an inveterate beer drinker, also enjoyed a Prosecco aperitif each evening.  One glass and he was hilarious for the rest of the night.) After leaving Procacci, we walked down to the Arno, passing my church, the Ferragamo flagship store and museum.  No shoes this time, but my loafers from a few years ago are holding up beautifully. 

Procacci deliciousness.

It was a ridiculously hot and humid day, and I had forgotten my hat, so I decided to buy one from a street vendor.  When I came upon a man selling a hat that was really cheap and only sort of ugly, I stopped to purchase.  Before walking away, I asked about the pharmacy, in the saddest Italian ever. "dove la farmacia Catherine de Medici?"  He responded by pointing south, and I was about to walk away when an old man who had heard me piped in "Non, Non" he shouted, "via della scala! Via della scala!" The two of them fought for a bit, waving their arms for emphasis, pointing in opposite directions.  Eventually, the man who sold me the hat relented.  In halting English, he said "He is sure," and he shrugged.  I had to choose, so I went with the old man.  I decided to trust him because of his certainty, and because he was rocking a 3 piece suit when all the tourists around him looked like they were at the beach.  Surely this slave to style and taste wouldn't put me wrong.

That's one ugly mofo of a hat, isn't it??

After a few hours sweating our way through the Boboli Gardens, and the Galileo Museum, we had a late lunch, wandered past the famous duomo, and went off to see if we could find the pharmacy on the way back to the train station.  We found the street easily, but without anything else to go on, we were still just looking for a fancy building.  Many side streets in Florence are a little grubby, and via della scala is no exception.  We were almost ready to pack it in when one friend ducked into a hotel lobby to ask for directions, and right as he reappeared, I said- "It's got to be here- do you smell that?" He pointed across the street- we had at last found Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella . 

Shopper's Drug Mart this ain't.

Had we ever!  Inside, it was an amazing structure, full of marble, old wood, and frescoed ceilings, and selling perfumes, soaps, even pet care items, all in glass cabinets.  It was such a beautiful oasis that we all decided to get a few things, so we put together a large order with one helpful clerk.  I don't think I realized at the time that I was paying 30 Euro for a lip balm, but what the hell, we were on vacation.  Indeed, Catherine de Medici had been an early customer, and the whole operation was started by monks at the eponymous church (of course).  We left with bags of soap, lotion, fragrance and balms.  I don't think anyone broke down and bought this for their pet, but what we did get certainly qualified for a VAT refund.

An oasis!

The S. M. Novella pharmacy was a wonderful discovery thanks to an Italian friend, a natty old man, and my desire to go anywhere other than inside another church.  After all that fun, we had a train to catch.