"Please Be Quiet!"

read the door.

Rumor has it there are secret Florentine bakeries nestled in dark alleys that sell pastries in the wee hours of the morn.

Last night, we turned rumor into reality. Several different sources informed us that one such bakery was near where we live. And since we have our final exams tomorrow, naturally it was the perfect night to stay up until 2am and seek it out. Lead by our fine-tuned sniffers (and having been pointed in the general direction by our Italian mom's son who is staying with us for the week), we followed the freshly-baking bread smell until we saw the renowned frosted window panes and side door with a sign that read, "SHHH! Please Be Quiet!"

There were several other people standing around waiting for their treats, so we fell in line and prepared to pay our dues to the pastry black market. After a brief, hushed-tone inquiry, we found out they were selling orange marmalade and Nutella croissants last night. 1 euro for 1 croissant. We bought 9 between the 5 of us.

Croissants just taste better when it's 3am and when you committed a crime to get one (or two).

Now, one might ask: why is it illegal to sell bread at night? Well these bakeries make the bread for cafes and pastry shops around the city. They make the bread during the night so it's fresh for the morning consumers. Well besides not having vendor permits or store fronts, they are selling them for mere pocket change prices.

So if you are ever wandering the streets late at night and get a hankering for a pastry, seek out a frosted window pane (which, like us, may lead you to break out in song), backed by a perfume of sugary dough and you may be on to something.

Since I don't have pictures to commemorate our nomming, here's a tasteful video on the art of bread making: