Off The Beaten Path: Florence's Santa Maria Novella pharmacy, La Specola, and Palazzo Davanzati

<p>Picking up where we left off on Wednesday, Darcy explains the allure of the Dominican Friar&#39;s pharmacy near Santa Maria Novella—including perfumes made from ancient recipes that can still be purchased—as Nathaniel offers two museums that might not have made it to the top of your &quot;must see&quot; list: the zoological &quot;La Specola&quot; and the suspended-in-time Palazzo Davanzati. </p><p>Keep an eye on the weather and stay cool this week! </p><p><br></p><p>Below are links to the places we talk about in this episode: </p><p><a href="https://us.smnovella.com/pages/via-della-scala-16" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy</a>: called the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica Santa Maria Novella is the oldest continuous pharmacy in Italy - free to visit</p><p><a href="https://www.sma.unifi.it/index.php?module=CMpro&func=viewpage&pageid=387&newlang=eng" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">La Specola</a>: Science Museum of taxidermy animals, wax figures, and skeletons €10 per person*</p><p><a href="https://bargellomusei.it/en/museum/palazzo-davanzati/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Palazzo Davanzati</a>: Restored 14th century home stuck in time €8-€12 per person*</p><p>*Prices as of August 2026</p><p><br></p><p>If you have any questions about your trip or if you have tips for fellow listeners, you can join our chat on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/cw/theitalytravelpodcast">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> for free or contact us on <a href="https://www.onlyabag.com/">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠onlyabag.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>. </p><p><br></p><p>Want to support the podcast? You can join our Patreon! Check out all of our tiers—free and paid—here: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/cw/theitalytravelpodcast">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/cw/theitalytravelpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><br></p><p>For articles written by us about Italy, check out our website <a href="https://www.onlyabag.com/">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠onlyabag.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><br></p><p>If you&#39;d like to support us by using affiliate links, but don&#39;t have the time to hunt them down, we have put them all in one place! Head over to <a href="www.onlyabag.com/affiliate-links">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.onlyabag.com/affiliate-links⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> and you can see all of the companies we have partnerships with and you can use them to support Only A Bag (which we deeply appreciate). </p><p><br></