Anne & Kirk Woodyard – Music and Markets Tours

You KNOW we love our markets, and those of Florence are some of our all-time favorites!
Not far from one of our favorite restaurants, Teatro del Sale, is the less-touristed Mercato Sant’Ambrogio. There’s something for everyone in the market – fresh fruits and vegetables outside,beautifully prepared meats, creative appetizers and cheeses inside, and out the back door the antiques stalls that used to be set up by the old fish market.Here’s Kirk’s description of a row of intriguing antipasti platters: “Found in a Florentine market: An assortment of ground meaty stuffings wrapped in thin “leaves” of dough. Cook in the oven and serve to admiring guests. Also there are tons of meaty cheesy vegetably things tied in strings with bacon or sewn together with toothpicks to be cooked and presented together. You don’t see this stuff in Italian restaurants in the US. Gotta be here for the real deal. Yum.”
Creative shop windows catch our eye as we meander across town to well-known Mercato Centrale, where just a few months ago we stocked up on Tuscan specialties for our New Year’s Eve feast with family in Rome. Upstairs is their latest addition, a food-hall with delights from around the country.
Our friend Marjorie Williams writes in her latest book, Markets of Provence: “Markets are a window into the soul of a place.” Yes – that’s why we love our markets!

************************************************************************************The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.
Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France.
While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.