FLORENCE, Italy — My husband and I were looking forward to our first visit to Florence, but there was just one catch — and it was a big one.
The dozen or so politely worded faxes we sent in search of an affordable hotel room resulted in as many apologetic "no vacancy" responses. And with only weeks to go before our departure, we were getting desperate.
With time running out, our last-minute solution to the problem was to try staying in a convent. That decision opened a whole new world for us, for which we will always be grateful.
A helpful colleague, who speaks Italian and once lived in Italy, recommended a convent of the Ursuline Sisters, which is in a beautiful 15th-century villa called Villa I Cancelli in the hills on the edge of Florence. It would cost about $50 a night for two, including some meals. Despite some initial worries about language and double-beds and not being in the city center, we jumped at the chance.
My colleague made the reservation for us over the phone in Italian, although we probably could have done it ourselves with help from a phrase book, and we secured it by sending a small deposit in the form of a personal check, which they returned to us after we'd paid our bill.
The nun at the other end of the line giggled when my friend assured them that my husband and I were married. "It's not important. We take all kinds of guests," the amused nun explained in Italian.
Staying in the convent turned out to be one of the most magical experiences of our trip, and although the nuns spoke no English, a dictionary and a ready smile worked just fine. An enthusiastic "Buon giorno" — meaning "good day" — was easy enough to muster, and I wrote a little "cheat sheet" for myself with key phrases culled from the back of my tour book.
After enjoying a golden sunset on a large tiled terrace which looked out onto the little winding roads and tile-roofed villas typical of the Tuscan countryside, the nuns served us a homey meal of salad, pasta, roast chicken and plenty of red wine and bottled water.
We ate in the villa's ancient dining room, with its dark-stained wood and towering doorways, with a handful of other guests, mainly French and Italians, and shared a table with two friendly Milanese ladies — both of whom spoke a little English. One of them spoke fluent French and the other, much to the surprise of my Japanese husband, even spoke some Japanese!
The convent's garden, with its olive and lemon trees, flower garden and chirping birds, was lovely and serene. Although the convent was not in the city center, the $9 taxi ride from the main train station took only 5 minutes and the bus ride, which cost less than $1, took about 30 minutes or so and gave us a welcome glimpse of ordinary life in Florence.
The room, with a private bathroom and shower, was immaculate if spartan and offered a view of the garden and the hills sloping down to Florence itself. Although the convent had no double beds, we didn't mind pushing the two single beds together. And we were careful to separate them again each morning before we left to go sightseeing, carefully making sure each was directly under its appointed crucifix.
We spent our days visiting the sights of Florence.
Everywhere we went there were mobs of tourists.
Amid the jostling crowds of tourists in the city center, and the endless whine of careening motorbikes and incessant honking car horns, we felt privileged to return each night to our serene home away from home, which dated to the same period of much of the art we'd come to see.
Two new books on the subject, "Lodging in Italy's Monasteries," by Eileen Barish (Anacapa Press), and "Bed and Blessings: Italy," by June and Anne Walsh (Paulist Press), make finding convents and monasteries — and securing reservations in Italian — easy, even for those who speak no Italian.
Italy seems to have more convents and monasteries that accept guests than all of Europe combined, so it's a natural — and surprisingly often overlooked — alternative for tourists willing to veer off the beaten track.
Lodging in Italy's Monasteries: www.monasteriesofitaly.com
Bed and Blessings: Italy: www.paulistpress.com