ah firenze. yes, it is a city for romance. but did you know that it is also a city with the most amazing happy hour scene in italy?
just off piazza san lorenzo on via dei ginori, a spunky tex-mex restaurant was my tuesday through friday 2 hour ritual for 4 months. a 2-for-1 special on drinks as well as half off pitchers of sangria, margaritas and daiquiris made cafe caracol a hot-spot for the deal-seeking, thirst-quenching types. packed to the brim with students, travelers, and locals, cafe caracol played up the cheese factor and played down the attitude. it was fun. pure and simple.
one of the most memorable nights at cafe caracol was standing outside waiting for the doors to open. my friend and i decided to get there early and wait to grab premium seats at the bar.
5:00pm - we wait
5:01pm - another pair of patrons joined us in our eagerness
5:03pm - 3 backpackers join us
...
5:29pm - over 40 of us are clamoring at the door to enter
5:30pm - doors open
5:31pm - we are stuck at the back wall far away from the best seats in the house...
...until a gentleman shouted in our direction, "ragazze! venite qui!" we squeezed our way over to him and he actually offered us the two seats at the bar! he had kindly been saving them for us knowing that we were the first ones lined up at the door. "grazie mille!" we yelled, excited about our good fortune. it turns out the gentleman was the owner of the restaurant. we even received the first pitcher on the house.
on a recent trip to florence, i found myself in piazza san lorenzo and hoped to relive the good old happy hour days. but cafe caracol was no longer. such a pity. luckily, there was a happy hour spot just down the street. thank you, florence!
tiptoeing through florence...
xoxo
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