Welcome to San Gimignano (Jim-in-Yan-oh), a small medieval town near Florence, Italy. This isn’t my house you see above, but I want it, so let’s pretend it is. I’m here to take you on a journey to Florence. Our goal is simple: to see, eat and haggle as much as possible in 4 days. Along the way we’ll find enough meat, cheese and wine to make you totally forget about fruits and vegetables. But the big question still remains: will we find burro di arichidi (Italian for “peanut butter”) in this gorgeous Italian city?
Between San Gimignano and Florence you’ll find a large supermarket just off the highway – the perfect place to look for peanut butter. Cool digital price tags and all, but is this really all they have? How depressing…
I won’t let yesterday discourage me, it’s time to rise and shine! We’re staying at Hotel Calzaiuoli, about 2 blocks from the Duomo. The buffet-style breakfast assortment consists of fresh fruit, pastries, breads, cereal, yogurt, meats and, of course, the biggest cheese wedge you’ve ever seen:
Ok, it’s time to explore. First stop is a random window filled with kegs and blue lights, representing none other than my favorite beer – Guinness!
Judging by the number of shoe stores, Italian people sure enjoy their leather and their shoes. But the women out there need to explain something to me: how can you possibly walk in this?
Lunch time! We should start off with something simple yet oh-so-delicious. How about crostini with cheese, walnuts and honey?
I’m tired from all this eating, it’s time for a coffee break. I probably had 12 cappucino’s in that 4-day time period – they are so much better in Italy! The high-class places served them with tasty treats like these:
Now it’s time to head to the San Lorenzo markets where you will find a plethora of goods for sale, especially leather ones. But don’t get too distracted or you might miss the Mercato Centrale, a large indoor market with an astonishing array of food. Despite being 1 block long and 1 block wide, it’s easy to miss since it’s surrounded by the San Lorenzo market stands. You can get almost any part of an animal here, even ones you didn’t know existed! They also have the more “standard” cuts too.
No Italian food market would be complete without an awesome old Italian man selling you fresh produce.
Amongst the array of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and cheese at the market, I didn’t even think to look for peanut butter. But lo and behold, I stumble upon this!
While a much better find than Skippy, neither of these brands were made in Italy. Still, it was for sale, which means that SOME people in Italy eat peanut butter. On the plus side, I’ve never heard of either brand before so I got one of each. Want to know how they taste? You’ll have to wait for my upcoming round of peanut butter reviews that I dub the International Edition!