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Behind an Italian Door
My Secret Tuscany...
Our five April days spent in and around beautiful Florence were filled with the sights, the sounds, and the smells of spring...heavenly for Canadian travellers who had escaped the last of the winter blues just days before. As we explored the neighbourhood of our small hotel close to Santa Maria Novella, we recognized many treasures of the area. Our very own piazza, just moments from our doorstep, was host that week to a travelling food fair. It provided us with more sights and smells as we chose from a variety of delicious offerings to accompany an early evening glass of Italian vino. Walking back to our hotel the first evening we became aware of a sweet fragrance, already a familiar pleasure at a certain place along our short street. At this point in the day the doorways and windows along many streets had been hidden behind the rolling security covers. If we were to discover the source of the fragrance we would have to return during business hours!
The opportunity presented itself the next day. The sweet scent lured us into a narrow doorway just steps from our small hotel. What lay beyond that door transported us back centuries to a time when the Dominican monks first distilled the rose water that became the original creation, the first of many fragrances that today are recognized in the poshest of perfumeries in capital cities of the world. The fragrances, based on recipes that the monks began creating using herbs from the monastery gardens eight centuries ago, were a delight to the sense of smell! Besides that pleasure was a feast for the eyes. The shop, which opened in Florence in 1602, is housed in the authentic historic chapel of the church built by the Dominican monks in the 13th century. The frescoes on its domed ceilings and the wooden interior create a rich, aesthetically very pleasing experience. We marvelled at the beautiful surroundings in which we found ourselves, thankful we had not passed by that rather unremarkable doorway.
For us, the time taken to explore this unique hidden gem spoke to us of the invitation to experience the richness of Italian culture and history around every corner and through every doorway in Tuscany in beautiful Italy. A number of times throughout our most enjoyable time in Tuscany one or the other of us was heard to say, "You never can tell what you might find behind an Italian door!"
