On our first night in Florence, we happened to wander by the Mercato Nuovo on the way back from dinner. Seeing as it was past 8, the market had closed for the day...giving us the perfect opportunity to take some pictures with the famous pig, Il Porcellino. It's said that if you want to come back to Florence, you should stroke its nose. Something I didn't find out about until AFTER we'd already visited the pig, otherwise I might've rubbed that poor guy's nose raw!
We never actually visited the Mercato Nuovo during opening hours, but from what we saw while walking past, there was mostly just the usual tourist items being hawked, and I don't tend to purchase those anyway.
On to market #2: the next morning, we visited the Mercato Centrale, which is just a short walk from the Duomo. It's housed in a cast-iron building that was built in 1874, with a second floor that was added in 1980. The second floor was supposed to have at least one restaurant and seating, but it was closed both days that we visited.
The Mercato Centrale is comprised of various small shops and stalls selling produce and just about every kind of gourmet Italian food you can imagine: meats, bread, olive oil, dried mushrooms, balsamic vinegars, the list goes on. On our first day, we just looked around to get a feel for prices and what was offered, but the second time we purchased some good balsamic vinegar (most places will let you taste first), a bottle of wine, and this amazing little jar of bliss, Salsa Tartufata by Giuliano Tartufi (http://www.giulianotartufi.it/) Their website is in both Italian and English if you're interested. I know, because I looked them up after we went through our one jar way too quickly after returning home. Unfortunately, while the jars of truffle salsa are reasonably priced online, shipping is not. Guess we really do need to return to Florence.
Below are a few pictures from the Mercato Centrale (and the pig, of course). If you do get to visit Florence and the Mercato Centrale, wander around until you find the shop selling that salsa tatufata. It's a bit pricey but well worth your money!!!
(If you're honestly interested in finding the shop, I believe it was here: go straight through the main entrance, pass the butcher's on your right, then cross an aisle and keep going until you come to the next cross aisle--it should be the shop on the right corner before you cross, but don't quote me).
The famous boar of Mercato Nuovo
Inside Florence's Mercato Centrale
This shop had expensive but amazing bread
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