Katherine-Mary Pichulik For VISI: All About Florence

Over the next month, Katherine-Mary Pichulik of PICHULIK will be blogging exclusively for VISI as she embarks on a two-month artist residency in magical Italy.

WORDS AND IMAGES Katherine-Mary Pichulik

I have visited Florence before and explored the jam-packed tourist hubs where you are herded like cattle in 38°C heat to view the Davids and Michelangelos in between the flashes of cameras and mash-up of languages. All except Italian. Florence is crazy in summer and although these masterpieces are awe-inspiring and moving, I wanted to see the city in an idiosyncratic way. Like learning a lover’s body, slow, with curiosity and playfulness.

This weekend, I stayed at a Florentine’s apartment belonging to Lorenzo, a gent I had met at the villa.

His apartment is old and sits between the Palazzo Pitti and Ponte Vecchio. It has an old lift and marble floors and I arrived to chilled rosé and vinyls in his lounge. Italians are great hosts and they have a languid charm that immediately puts you at ease. While he attended a meeting, I changed for dinner to the sounds of Billie Holiday crooning against Florence’s night sounds of Vespas, clattering plates and church bells.

He booked us a table at his local trattoria off the Uffizi, Vini e Vecchi Sapori. We were late but they made a plan and set a table for us on the pavement. We drank Prosecco before our wine arrived in large pitchers and the five courses of homemade Italian goodness followed. Seafood ceviche, cured meats, burrata caprese, pappardelle with duck ragù, spaghetti alle vongole (clams), calamari fritto misto and bistecca alla fiorentina (Florentine steak), all digested with Grappa.

Thereafter we headed to a California-themed ‘50s party on the Arno where the lights of the city were reflected on the water, making for a bright clash with the Hawaiian shirts and Beach Boys soundtrack.

The next day, I started with a humble breakfast of pastry and coffee on San Spirito, the shaded square that’s a hide-out from the heat. From there I strolled through back streets to Piazza Santa Maria Novella under the watch of grey-haired men on geranium-kissed balconies.

The Santa Maria church was closed and I went to the Museo del Novecento, a contemporary art museum at the old Leopoldine spedale (hospital) in the central Piazza Santa Maria Novella. The permanent collection there includes the inspiring abstract paintings of Alberto Magnelli and the totemic sculptures of Mirko Basaldella.

I visited the Santa Maria Novella perfumery with its austere elegance speaking of its 600-year heritage. It was wonderful to see the brand in its headquarters and to experience for myself all the stories Michelle Knapp, the owner of the perfumery’s Cape Town boutique, shared with us at the launch of the PICHULIK AW15 Pietra Terra Collection in April.

The day also brought a few chance treats: coffee at an almost men-only café, a Nocciola ice-cream cone on the river banks and climbing to Piazzale Michelangelo through a rose garden with 300 species.

When in Florence, do:

Get perspective and view the city from Piazzale Michelangelo
Stroll the San Nicollò area just below this viewpoint and have dinner at Fuori Porta
Have an Aperol spritz aperitivo at around 6pm on San Spirito square
Navigate the city by foot and discover the family-run osterias and trattorias in the side streets
Buy some espadrilles

When in Florence, don’t:

Get upset if you can’t find ice. It’s as scarce as hen’s teeth in Italy and as valuable as gold when you do find it.
Order cappuccino at any time other than breakfast
Ask for Wi-Fi passwords. It’s considered impolite when having dinner, even when dining alone.
Ask for a takeaway. It undermines the whole point of eating for Italians.

Another tip: Don’t trust the photos of dishes outside restaurants. This equals frozen ingredients.

Below is a selection of what inspired me as I discovered the city. (Note my ‘thing’ for marbled nakedness.)