Another Striking
Peculiarity Is The Smart Appearance Of The Tuscan Peasantry.
They are a
remarkably handsome race of men; the females unite with their natural
beauty a grace and elegance that one is quite astonished to find among
peasants.
They express themselves in the most correct and classical
language and they have a great deal of repartee. As the peasantry of
Tuscany enjoy a greater share of aisance than falls to the lot of those
of any other country, and as the females dress with taste and take great
pains to appear smart on all occasions, they resemble rather the
shepherdesses on the Opera stage or those of the fabled Arcadia than
anything in real life. The females too are remarkably industrious and will
work like horses all the week to gain wherewithal to appear smart on
holidays. Their dress is very becoming, and they wear sometimes jewellery
to a large amount on their persons; a very common ornament among them is a
collar of gold around their necks. Their usual head-dress is either a white
straw hat, or a black round beaver hat, with black ostrich feathers. I
prefer the straw hat; it is more tasteful than the round hat which always
seems to me too masculine for a woman. At the inn at Le Maschere we were
waited on by three smart females. The whole road from Le Maschere to
Florence is very beautiful and diversified. Vineyards, gardens, farm houses
and villas thicken as one approaches and when arrived within three miles of
Florence, which lies in a basin surrounded by mountains, one is quite
bewildered at the sight of the quantity of beautiful villas and maisons de
plaisance in every direction.
Every thing indicates life, industry and comfort in this charming country.
We stopped at a villa belonging to the Grand Duke called II Pratolino,
seven miles distant from Florence. Here is to be seen the famous statue
representing the genius of the Appennines. The Villa is unfurnished and out
of repair and the garden and grounds are neglected: it is a great pity, for
it is a fine building and in a beautiful position. The celebrated Bianca
Capello, a Venetian by birth, and mistress of Francesco II de' Medici,
Grand Duke of Tuscany, used to reside here.
FLORENCE, 27th August.
I am extremely well pleased with my accommodations at the hotel where I am
lodged. Mme Hembert, the proprietor, was once femme de chambre to the
Empress Josephine; she is an excellent woman and a very attentive hostess,
and I recommend her hotel to all those travellers who visit Florence and do
not care to incur the expence of Schneider's. There is an excellent and
well served table d'hote at two o'clock, wine at discretion, for which,
and for my bedroom, I pay seven paoli per day. This hotel has the
advantage of being in a very central situation. It is close to the Piazza
del Gran Duca, the post-office, the Palazzo Vecchio, the Bureaux of
Government, the celebrated Gallery of Sculpture and Painting and to the
Arno.
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