one night we closed the bars and were walking home past santa croce in firenze
it was nearly 5am and we suddenly could smell sweet pastries in the air
literally following our noses we wound through labyrinthine alleyways until we came across an halfway open garage door
looking in, the garage was full of industrial ovens and wheeled racks full of newly baked pastries prepped to fill the glass counters of every bakery and coffee shop around the city
we got an employees attention and politely asked to buy one of those fresh, warm, straight out the oven pastries
the bakers were happy to sell us any of the pastries all for one euro each
the first time was a magical experience and now i'm always sure to take a night to walk the streets of any italian city at 5am looking for a secret bakery baking the fresh pastries before they are sent out into the city