Circa 1631. Picture an uneasy Florentine, gingerly pacing up to an aperture in the wall beside a grand palazzo gate, placing his straw flask at the sill of a little window. As he counted his coins before depositing them in the metal scoop - coins that were shortly to be disinfected with vinegar by the cantiniere - could he have known that humanity would be resorting to similar cautions roughly four centuries hence.
Food and Drink
Peeking Through The Wine Windows Of Italy
At least 150 of these tiny windows, known as "buchette del vino", still exist in Florence