Tasso: A Tuscan treat
Discovering Tasso hostel in the heart of Florence is like finding the Filipino vibe in an Italian setting. Staying at Tasso is like relishing that chocolate éclair filled with macapuno custard. You take a bite and the Pinoy flavor bursts in your mouth. That’s the Tasso experience.
The hostel becomes a merry mix of Italian and Filipino zest because its co-owner Romina Diaz is Italian-Filipino. Romina, daughter of Ramon Diaz and his Italian wife Silvana, singlehandedly runs the operations of this bed and breakfast. It is inevitable to feel Romina’s passion overflowing at Tasso hostel.
On the day we arrived at Tasso, my dear traveling companions Yvette Lee and Edwin Santos and I followed Romina to the kitchen where she cooked the lip-smacking pot roast we shared that night. She brought us to our room, which was spartan in nature but gave us the warmth of home. In our room hung Romina’s poignant paintings on the walls. She also showed us the hostel’s stage where Romina would sing and jam with her friends who would also perform for the appreciative audience.
The following day, the brief walk we had from the Piazza Camine to Tasso boutique hostel revealed to us an inn-timate row of antiquated houses and buildings in Florence. In this row, Tasso offers wonderful experiential luxuries a guest can enjoy while in Florence like cooking class, grape picking and wine making.
Tasso hostel is located in an oasis replete with so much creativity. It is just a couple of minutes from the city center of Florence and is situated between the houses of the local Florentines, working craftsmen, restaurants, trattorias, wine bars and the eclectic nightlife of the Oltrarno.
Passionate pilgrims in Florence find affordable accommodation nearly difficult. Until they discover Tasso along the Via Villani neighborhood. Hostel Tasso is not only a very special find to cool your heels and hang your hat but it has emerged to be itself a destination in the Oltrarno or “beyond the Orno” of Florence.
A historic edifice in the very quaint, tree-lined neighborhood along Via Villani, #15 used to be a school and it served as the font of learning for many generations across the Fiume Arno. Gone is the old school bell but ring the doorbell now and be warmly welcomed in this brightly well-appointed new hostel. A very unique art is functionally hanging from the foyer ceiling made from old globes, cleverly glowing with lights of various colors and sizes. This is an inviting prelude to the great room where cultures mix, match and stories spark.
Tasso’s theater stage room is the perfect lounge for the many cultures that come to the hostel. Guests get the chance to jam with local bands on stage. And in some occasions, they also get to share the stage with Romina.
Tasso hostel is all about allowing every form of art — from poetry to music, graphic design to film, fashion and beyond — to be expressed by local artists and international travelers just as Florentines in history have done through the ages.
“Tasso believes in promoting its local and international musicians, poets, filmmakers, fashion designers and artists, with an alternative and vibrant space that embraces creative expression along with an exchange of innovative ideas,” said Romina.
From Thursday to Saturday, she continued, the hostel comes alive with live music, theme parties, theater plays, art shows and featured artists both foreign and local allowing guests to have a true Florentine cultural experience, by meeting the people who live in the area and wanderers alike.
Consistent with the inspiring features of the hostel are its garden and kitchen, which both draw one guest to another for enjoyable and respectable hostel visiting. As many cocktails and aperitivos there are at the hostel’s bar, so are there multilingual conversations and bubbly exchanges all through the hall.
Tasso has 12 simple yet beautiful rooms that offer a variety of accommodations at very affordable rates. Complementing the clean spaces are necessary amenities to make your stay complete and comfortable. Showers and toilets are well-appointed, choice beds and soft cotton linen are in place while vending machines, laundry room, lockers and security safe are available to store your valuables.
The transition from a schoolhouse to a hostel unfolded through the fun and hard work of a business partnership between enterprising young professionals, Lorenzo Raggiuntti Bruzzichelli and Romina Diaz. Both aligned their passion to create this oasis with one heart, one mind and one purpose.
Romina told us during our stay, “I even clean the sink and the toilet. This mundane or menial job is significant because it is important to the person sitting next to you.”
Romina added, “We have our very own travel gurus, multilingual speakers who are all-around nice guys at your service. We are here to assist you with all your crazy activities, museum bookings, tour suggestions, restaurant reservations and the best information on the city, transport and events.”
Tasso hostel, just like the other properties in the area, according to Romina, observes sustainable tourism or social responsibility without being obvious or too vague. “Because Florence’s historical center is a World Heritage property, social and green issues are becoming more and more important and we really want to do our bit and contribute to environmental and cultural protection,” she said. “By making positive choices during your visit, you can help to look after our area and ensure it is just as special on your next visit.”
Among the suggestions for sustainable tourism that Tasso espouses are 1. put on a sweater or wear more clothes instead of turning up the thermostat; 2. conserve energy by using your computer’s “sleep mode” instead of a screensaver; 3. unplug unused electronics (even your mobile phone); 4. take shorter showers; 5. taking quick showers using less hot water means using less energy; 5. buy organic food; 6. use cloth or reusable bags when shopping instead of plastic or paper bags; and 7. buy locally made products.
All these suggestion we took to heart. But more importantly we enjoyed Tasso’s sustainable tip that said: “Take public transit. Ride a bike, walk, wander.”
Florence is a city of wonders as you wander around it. It surprises you every minute you immerse yourself into it. At the Via Villani neighborhood, where Tasso is, you will joyfully lose yourself in the spectrum of sights and sounds the place has to offer. I never imagined the Tuscan treat would be this good.
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For more information on Tasso hostel, call (+39) 0550602087 or log on to www.tassohostelflorence.com.
E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.
