Florence News SEPTEMBER 2016, N 0 7 www.florencenews.it
FLORENCE TAXI
FLORENCE TAXI
TAXI
TAXI
TAXI - ENGLISH SPEAKING TAXI - ENGLISH SPEAKING TAXI - ENGLISH SPEAKING
TOURS AND TRAVELS
FLORENCE TAXI
Like
Like
Call your taxi with this app:
TAXI
www.ciaoflorence.it
Like
WINE TIME Basilica di San Lorenzo
Basilica di San Lorenzo
Via L
Via L
.Go
ri
.Go
ri
THE THREE BIGGEST SUPERMARKETS IN THE CITY CENTER • Borgo San Lorenzo (near the Dome) • Largo Fratelli Alinari, 6/7 (near the station) • Via de’Bardi, 45/47 (near the Ponte Vecchio)
Il Supermercato... da Gustare e deGustare
Basilica di San Lorenzo
Via L
.Go
ri
THE TASTE OF TUSCANY _S&D_Firenze_3 PDV_31x38.indd 1
_S&D_Firenze_3 PDV_31x38.indd 1
Tours and tastings
06/11/15 17.30
06/11/15 17.30
Localitá Il Volano–Lucarelli, 50020 Panzano in Chianti (FI) 055 8561010 • www.ilmolinodigrace.com _S&D_Firenze_3 PDV_31x38.indd 1
06/11/15 17.30
2
F
Florence News
NEWS
F
lorence News is distributed throughout Florence in all key reference points for the Englishspeaking community, including hotels and hostels, universities and language schools, libraries, tourist information points, restaurants and cafes. Free copy. Price 10c.
Santa Maria del Fiore September Celebration
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Lorenzo Picchi GR APHIC & L AYOUT DESIGN: Narine Nalbandyan Ekaterina Chebotareva CONTRIBUTORS: Thomas Ricciotti, Avani Kapur, Christine De Melo, Lee Foust, Federico Curcio REGISTERED AT THE TRIBUNAL OF FLORENCE N. 6008, ON 9/12/2015. PUBLISHER: IAF PRINT: Rotostampa SRL, Florence
INTERN WITH US
CONTACT US
Design by Naz Kangal
Tel: + 39 380 90 44 142 Email: fnewev@gmail.com
C. DE MELO
O
ne of the most spectacular architectural masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance is the dome crowning the Florence cathedral. Construction of this religious edifice began in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio in the Gothic style and was dedicated to Santa Reparata. The structure remained “roofless” for many decades before Filip-
po Brunelleschi came along and designed the magnificent cupola (dome). The dome’s creation commenced in the summer 1420, but it was only completed in 1436 (minus the lantern, which was added in 1471). This ambitious project represented the beginning of the humanistic movement commonly known as the “Renaissance,” which signaled a rediscovery of building models, philosophical attitudes, and art forms from the classical age.
Design by Naz Kangal
Florence News is currently seeking outgoing and motivated candidates for its internship program. Interns will be exposed to all facets of weekly production, including news writing, photography, layout, advertising, public relations, circulation and graphic arts. Students currently studying art history, communications, journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations or graphic design are encouraged to apply.
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it The cathedral (il Duomo) is dedicated to Saint Mary of the Flowers. Who is she? During the middle ages, the Virgin Mary was a much celebrated icon. The artistic depictions commonly portray her as a powerful intercessor and helper of the people. As the mother of Jesus, she can protect Christians and make sure that their prayers are heard. There were many cults dedicated to the veneration of Mary in her many forms. When Florence was founded by the Romans in 52 BCE, they adopted the symbol of the giglio (lily) since so many of these flowers grew in abundance along the Arno River. Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of the Flowers) is one of the many aspects of Jesus’s mother within the Catholic church, and the version which is celebrated in Florence. The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, held on September 8, 1296, was the date chosen to lay the foundation of the new church to replace Santa Reparata. Since that fateful day, the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore has not be idle. For seven centuries, it has been working tirelessly to become one of the strongest links between Florence and its amazing history.
C. De Melo Author of SABINA and other unique fiction novels www.cdemelo.com
City Gets Restyling T
he Florence City Council has recently approved a plan to restore the Piazzale Michelangelo, and the surrounding area. The plan, which will cost 5 million Euro, includes the restoration of the square. Other works approved by the Council include interventions to improve the safety of the ramparts and outer walls of the Forte Belvedere; the facade of the San Giovannino degli Scolopi Church on Via Cavour; improvig the Palagio di Parte Guelfa; the facade of the Bardini Museum on Via San Niccolò; the library of the Stibbert Museum; and improving the Marini Museum. Other works include the maintenance of palaces and villas (among which are the Villa di Rusciano, the Villa Pozzolini and the Villa Arrivabene), of churches and convents (coverings, fixtures, infiltration, internal adjustment). In addition, the monumental statues of Pothos, Hermes, Apollo and Bacchus, are again on display after a one-year restoration at the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. The statues, which date back from I-II century AD, will be part of an exhibition titled Ancient Marbles in Palazzo Vecchio on display until Oct. 2.
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Florence News
NEWS
Uffizi Reopens Botticelli Room and Goes Social
Vasarian Corridor Partially Reopened The Vasarian Corridor, linking the Uffizi to the Pitti Palace, has partially reopened after being shut down this summer following a fire department inspection which revealed it was not up to code. The director of the Uffizi Complex Museum, Eike Shmidt, anounced that the corridor will reopen completely by May 27, on the anniversary of the Mafia bomb that exploded in 1993. The Vasari Corridor traces a route through the rooftops of Florence from Palazzo Vecchio, across the Ponte Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti. It was designed by Vasari in 1565
on the orders of Cosimo I de’ Medici to commemorate the marriage of his son Francesco to Joanna of Austria. Created to allow safe passage for the Medici duke and his family between their residence at Palazzo Pitti and the government offices at Palazzo Vecchio, high above the butchers’ knives and plebian crowds on the Ponte Vecchio below, the corridor stretches for more than a kilometer and showcases a collection of artworks from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Bargello Extends Opening Hours, Increases Prices The Bargello and the Medici Chapels are extending their opening hours to 5 p.m. until Nov. 1. The entrance at the museums can be booked online through the website www.bargellomusei.beniculturali. it, or by phone calling the number 055-294883. The museums of the National Bargello Museum complex, which include the Bargello, the Medici Chapels and the Davanzati Palace museums, have also increased
their prices. Entrance at the Bargello will cost, from Sept. 1, 8 Euro instead of 4, at the Medici Chapels Museums 8 Euro instead of 6, and the Davanzati Palace Museums 6 Euro instead of 2. “The increase has been decided after many years to conform to the average prices of the main Italian and Florentine public museums,” said director of the National Bargello Museum, Paola D’Agostino. The Bargello Museum (just the
3
museum, not the complex) will extend its opening hours to 8 p.m. until Oct. 1. To find out about possible guided tours to the Bergello Mesuem call 055-2388606. In addition, the museum will have an exceptional opening on Sunday, Sept. 11, from 8.15 a.m. To 5 p.m., for the Run with Roma 2024 race. For the first three athletes in the ten categories of the race, entrance at the museum will be free.
The reopening of the Botticelli room in the first corridor of the Uffizi Gallery is scheduled for Oct. 18. This month the curation of the restored rooms will be under way. The restoration was made possible by a donation by the Friends of Florence Foundation, which allowed the restoration of room 41 in the third corridor of the Gallery. The new rooms will be presented to the media the day before the reopening. The Uffizi Galleries has also recently launched official @uffizigalleries Instagram and Twitter accounts.
The Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Museum are extending their opening hours until 10 p.m. every Tuesday until Sept. 27. Entrance can be booked through the website www.uffizi.it.
San Niccolò Tower Open to Public The San Niccolò Tower is open to public until Sept. 30. Daily guided visits in English, French, Spanish and Italian are also possible from 5 to 7 p.m.. The San Niccolò tower was reopened for the first time in 2011 after a long restoration and tells an important part of the history of Florence. It was built towards the end of the XIII century together with the walls surrounding
Florence designed by Arnolfo di Cambio to make the city safer. The doors, including that of San Niccolò, were coinceived to regulate the access from inside the city and to spot potential enemies attacking Florence. When in the 19th century the walls were knocked down, the doors remained intact until today. To book a guided visit call 0552768224 or 055-2768558, or email to info@muse.firenze.fi.it.
best of f lo r e nc e
IN 4 HOURS Enjoy a 4-hours small-group guided tour of the Uffizi and Accademia galleries that includes a city walking tour as well. Stop to enjoy a cappuccino at a traditional cafe’ on this morning program that’s perfect for taking in the gems of Florence. Meeting Point: In front of gate number 1 at the Uffizi Gallery. Please arrive 20 minutes prior to the starting time.
premium tourist services
WHAT'S TOUR INCLUDED Small-group tour Official local guide Tickets to the Uffizi gallery Tickets to Accademia gallery Guided tours of both galleries Guided city walking tour
Easy booking with: email - info@keysofflorence.com whatsapp - +39 324 075 6714 phone - +39 055 045 3121 www.keysofflorence.com
Breakfast P R I C E
75€ premium tourist services
4
F
Florence News
NEWS
Hollywood Coming to Florence in October for Inferno World Premiere
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Dustin to Head up Medici Drama
Main Exhibits ♦ Buffoons, Villains, and Players at the Medici Court Curated by Anna Bisceglia, Matteo Ceriana and Simona Mammana Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Until Sept. 11
A
T
he world premiere of the movie Inferno directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks will be held next month in Florence where most of the movie was filmed last year in May. The Salone de’ 500 at Palazzo Vecchio will host a first presentation of the movie on Oct. 6 which will be attended by journalists from all over the world. The day after a party is scheduled at the Forte Belvedere during which the protagonists of the movie will be photographed with Florence on the their background. The world premiere of Inferno will be on Oct. 8 at the Opera Theatre. More than 2000 people
will attend it. “I’m happy to say it is in beautiful Florence in Italy,” Ron Howard, director of all the three previous films, told Reuters in Singapore on Tuesday, adding that the location was appropriate given that the city was the “centerpiece of the movie.” Inferno sets Harvard symbologist Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, on a manhunt as he races to stop a plot to control the world’s population by the unleashing of a deadly artificial plague. The film is the latest in line from the blockbuster book and film franchise that began with Brown’s 2003 religious-themed mystery
novel “The Da Vinci Code”, and sees Hanks reprising the role of the character he once described as “the smartest guy in the room.” The movie’s name and many of the symbols examined by Langdon draw largely from the life and works of Alighieri, whose greatest literary achievement was the 14th-century “Divine Comedy” trilogy, the first of which is entitled “Inferno,” and describes nine circles of suffering in hell. The film also stars British actress Felicity Jones and Indian actor Irrfan Khan, while Ben Foster plays the scientist who intends on releasing the virus to solve the world’s population increase.
fter the bed-hopping Borgias and the head-chopping Tudors, it is now the turn the Medicis to get the television series treatment as Dustin Hoffman will play Giovanni de’ Medici in a new family TV drama. Hoffman will play Giovanni de’ Medici, the patriarch of the banking family, who, like many in the clan, came to a nasty end. His charismatic son, Cosimo, is played by the Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden. The first of the Medici drama’s 50-minute episodes were premiered as part of the official selection at the MIPTV festival in Cannes, France. While sexual intrigue and power were driving forces for the Borgias and the Tudors, the series producers say money was what made the Florentine family tick.
About 30 artworks from the 17th and the 18th centuries, prevalently from the Palatine Gallery, will illustrate the bizarre characters that were animating life in the courts of the Medici, representing themes considered low or without decorum. Marginal, less important characters such as buffoons, ignorant
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it and grotesque peasants or villains, dwarfs and players of licit or illicit games alike will become protagonists, in such a way that the exhibition will explore an aspect of life often neglected by the official iconography.
Curated by Valentina Conticelli, Riccardo Gennaioli and Fabrizio Paolucci Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti, Until Nov. 2
♦ An eye on the twentieth century. Drawings by Italian artists between the two World Wars Curated by Marzia Faietti and Giorgio Marini Uffizi, Department of Print and Drawings, Until Sept. 25 37 between drawings and prints, many of which never previously exposed, made in the first 30 years of the last century and representing figures, portraits, self-portraits all characterized by deep expressiveness, will reveal the complexity and the approaching dramatic facts that took place in the first part of the 20th century. Among the authors showcased will be Jacques Villon, Alberto Giacometti, Anders Zorn, Ram e Thayat, Giovanni Costetti, Giuseppe Lunardi, Pietro Bugiani, Kurt Craemer, Primo Conti, Giuseppe Lanza del Vasto, Marino Marini.
♦ Minimum Splendid. Small, Precious Sculptures in the Medici Collections: From Francesco I de' Medici's Tribune to the Grand Ducal Treasure
At the Uffizi Galleries is stored up one of the most important existing collection of an extremely rare sector of glyptic art: the small sculptures made of hard stone that were produced for the most part in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, whose technique went lost in the Middle-Ages to be rediscovered in the Renaissance period. The exhibit, the first one ever dedicated to this kind of production, will showcase all the micro sculptures of the Medici collection together with others made of plastic in precious materials to highlight their technical and stylistic characteristics.
The first monographic exhibit ever dedicated to painter and art critic Ardengo Soffici (1879-1964) will showcase, alongside those of Soffici, works by Segantini, Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso, Degas, Medardo Rosso, De Chirico, Carrà, with the aim to explore one the most prolific interpretations of the origins of a kind of art, the contemporary one, characterized by revolutionizing “discoveries” and dramatic “Massacres.”
♦ The Revenge of Color Against Line. Venetian Drawings from the Ashmolean Museum and the Uffizi Gallery
Florence News
5
NEWS The exhibit will highlight the developments in the practice of drawing in Venice and in the Veneto region that occurred from the period of artists such as Tiziano, Veronese and Tintoretto to that of Canaletto when the figurative production became particularly influenced by the artistic workshops of Venice and other cities. The aim is that of understanding the ways of expression of Venetian drawing by confronting works from the Department of Print and Drawing of the Uffizi Gallery and the Ashmolean Museum of the Oxoford University.
The exhibit presents 80 of the over 200 clocks stored at Palazzo Pitti made in the period from the 18th to the 19th century, chosen for their artistic and scientific value.
♦ The Four Continents. Florentine Tapestry Cartoons by Giovanni Camillo Sagrestani Curated by Caterina Chiarelli and Daniele Rapino Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Sept. 27 - Jan. 8 (2017)
♦ Real Time and Time of Reality. The Clocks at Palazzo Pitti from the XVIII to the XX Century Curated by Simonella Condemi and Enrico Colle Palazzo Pitti, Gallery of Modern Art, Sept. 13 - Jan. 8 (2017)
Curated by Marzia Faietti, Giorgio Marini and Catherine Whistler Uffizi, Department of Print and Drawings, Oct. 18 - Jan. 8 (2017)
♦ Discoveries and Massacres. Ardengo Soffici and Impressionism in Florence Curated by Vincenzo Farinella and Nadia Marchioni Uffizi, Sept. 26 - Jan. 8 (2017)
The exhibit will showcase four magnificent tapestry cartoons from the third decade of the 18th century made by painter Giovanni Camillo Sagrestani. The cartoons represent the four continents on the base of the interpretation, often characterized by fantasy, of the cultural and historical identities of the world that was prevalent in the beginning of the 18th century.
The Terrace Bar of Florence Viale Giuseppe Poggi, 21 (Piazzale Michelangelo)
6
F
Florence News
NEWS
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
“Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards”
Exhibit on display at Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio and Forte Belvedere until Oct. 2
T
he exhibition Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards will be on display at Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio from April 15 to Oct. 2, and at the Forte Belvedere from May 14 to Oct. 2. With three such locations, the exhibit is one of the most complex and multifaceted that the Flemish artist has ever produced in Italy. It is also the first time that a living artist will be expounding his art in three venues of outstanding historical and artistic importance at once. About 100 pieces produced from 1978 to 2016 will be showcased, including bronze and wax sculptures, performance films and works made of wing cases of the jewel scarab. The opening will take place on the morning of April 15, when
two bronze sculpture specifically produced for this exhibit will be exposed and presented by Fabre himself in Piazza della Signoria. The first, large sculpture is entitled Searching for Utopia and will interact with the equestrian monument to Grand Duke Cosimo I, a Renaissance masterpiece by Giambologna. The second, called The man who measures the clouds (American version, 18 years older), will stand on the Arengario outside Palazzo Vecchio between the copies of Michelangelo's David and Donatello's Judith. Both works identify the artist as knight and guardian, as a mediator between heaven and earth and between natural and spiritual forces. Opposite to the art of Piazza della Signoria, which exalts political
and financial power with its marble giants (the David, Hercules and Neptune) and its biblical, mythological and local figures (Judith, Perseus and the Marzocco Lion of Florence), Fabre's work embodies the power of imagination and the mission of the artist as “spiritual guard.” Fabre refers to the human body, its fragility, and its possible defense. His art is conceived in the name of beauty, as an ‘exercise’ in which we all celebrate life as a preparation for death, while his fascination with the human body and for science dates back to his youth, a period from which, influenced by the research entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915), the Belgian artist’s favorite activity was to examine the insects and other animals by dissecting their bodies and
turning them into new creatures. In his conception of metamorphosis, the existence of man and animals interact continuously, the creation of various types of bodies in their transformations being dictated by the natural cycle of growth and decay. The works on display at Palazzo Vecchio include a 2.5 metres in diameter globe, totally clad in iridescent beetle wing cases, which will be interacting with the globe in the Sala delle Mappe geografiche made by Ignazio Danti in the 16th century. The exhibition at the Forte Belvedere will be inaugurated on May 14. On showcase will be about sixty works of art in bronze and in wax, along with a series of films focusing on some of the artist's historic performances. The fortress served to defend Flor-
ence from outside attack but to protect the Medici family in troubled times, thus being a stronghold for both external and internal defense. This suggests a journey through the life, the ambitions and the woes of the powerful Medici lords and alluding to opposing human perceptions and sensations such as control and abandonment, but also to opposing needs and desires such as armed protection and spiritual elan, so deep and so deep-rooted as to influence the form of architecture and the configuration of natural space. Next to the exhibition at Forte Belvedere, from May 13 until the end of July the contemporary art gallery Il Ponte is presenting a series of works by Jon Fabre. The gallery is located in Via di Mezzo 42.
The secret restaurant of Santo Spirito Open every day at lunch and dinner, closed on Monadays Via del Leone 40r • 055 224 192
OVER 300 YEARS OF FLORENCE HISTORY IN 1 HOUR
L O V E WA R H I S T O RY CONSPIRACY BEHIND THE SCENES OF MEDICI FAMILY’S MYSTERIES
THE H IS L G N E RE T A E TH SHOW E LIV
TICKET OFFICE
THEATRE
PRICE
Piazza di San Lorenzo, 6
Il Fuligno | Via Faenza, 48
Regular 30€
Show days 10am to 6pm
Everyday at 7pm
Student & Family discount
Except Monday and Friday
ONLINE BOOKING
www.medicidynasty.com
Purchase one day in advance 26€* con il patrocinio di:
*only at the Ticket Office
8
F
Florence News
NEWS
A Museum for Leonardo Exhibit showcases working models of da Vinci’s designs
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
A Glance into the 20th Century
Portraits and self-portraits of the period between the two world wars on display
T
T
he exhibit presents working models of Leonardo’s designs that the Niccolai family has been reconstructing since 1995, when Carlo Niccolai dedicated himself to the work full-time in a desire to realise Leonardo’s legacy. His passion founded the Niccolai Collection, the largest private collection of Leonardo models in the world, comprising more than 300 working models created by himself and his sons, together with a team of artisans, engineers, historians and architects. The models have been displayed at more than 100 international exhibitions throughout Europe and as far afield as Australia, New Zea-
land, China, the US, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Finland. The exhibit also displays copies of six codices, in which the visitor can view the sketches that reveal the workings of the great man’s mind. The Niccolai family has been widely praised for its ongoing devotion to realising the vast inheritance that Leonardo left to science.
Le Macchine di Leonardo da Vinci Via Cavour 21 www.macchinedileonardo.com
he exhibition Sguardi sul Novecento. Disegni di Artisti Italiani tra le due Guerre (Glances into the 20th century. Drawings of Italian Artists Between the Two Wars) is on display until Sept. 4 at the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi Gallery. The showcase can be seen during the same opening hours of the Uffizi, from Tuesday to Sunday from 8:15 a.m. to 6:50 p.m. The 37 portraits and self-portraits on display include prints and drawings, mostly unknown to the public, created in the first 30 years of the 20th century and are part of a selection of works donated or purchased by the Department of Drawings and Prints between 2004 and 2015, with the exception of one work that was donated in 1986. Portraits create a game of double glances: that between the artist on his subject, and that between the latter on the observer. “The invention of photography, the new languages of the abstract art of the vanguardist and of the human tragedies of the 19th century have fundamentally transformed the portraiture of the XX century. The works of this exhibit, on paper and thus more delicate, are among the less known of the Uffizi collection, the most ancient and the rich-
Giovanni Costetti, Portrait of Giuseppe Lanza del Vasto
est collection of portraits in the world,” said director of the Uffizi Galleries Eike Schmidt. The interpretative cut suggests paths that investigate the different ways of art in the short and intense decades between the beginning of the century and the outbreak of World War II, especially in Tuscany, between realism, vanguards and rootings in the local figurative tradition. The leitmotif of the exhibit
is the reaffirmation of individuality in a rapidly evolving modernity that constantly redefines the link between the single person and collectivity. “The particular key of interpretation used for this exhibit intends to valorize the constant aspiration to modernity, if not even to the contemporary, of the graphic collection of the Uffizi which began with the very first works collected by the Medicis. The chronological choice of the works of the 20th century is motivated by the historical consistency of that century, left behind not long ago, with the dramatic facts of its first half having left indelible traces in both the collective and the individual memory,” said curator of the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi Marzia Faietti.
Sguardi sul Novecento Department of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi Until Sept. 25 Tuesday-Sunday 8:15 a.m.-6:50 p.m.
Ristorante Natalino since 1880
Borgo degli Albizi 17/r 055 289404 ristnatalino@hotmail.it
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Florence News
9
NEWS
Museo Bardini Hosts “John Currin. Paintings” T
he Museo Bardini is hosting the exhibition John Currin Paintings from June 13 to Oct. 2. One of the most highly regarded contemporary artists, Currin is mostly known for his portraits and his often risqué figurative scenes interpreted with ironic realism. His paintings reveal a profound knowledge of the history of art and an extremely refined sense of pictorial composition. Currin has redefined contemporary portraiture through his depictions of figures at times redolent
of poses found in fashion or even pornographic magazines, placed within settings that are anything, but banal and veined with satirical implications. The interpretation of female eros and American bourgeois psychology emerges in his works as almost surreal and profoundly disconcerting. Currin’s satire is never blatant or obvious, never caricatured or in poor taste. His elegant figures, dressed or posed as actresses or imperturbable mannequins, eager in spirit even in the case of solitary or group
sexual activities, reveal signs and expressions that are unequivocally provocative. The disproportion or perspectival deformation of the anatomy alters the traditional representation of the female nude as seen in traditional Renaissance painting. His works follow on the heels of Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning rather than on those of John Singer Sargent or Edward Hopper. An instinctive, but always lavish work, or, rather, a sort of sophisticated and refined “vulgarization” of classical figurative art allows Currin to exhalt the art of painting itself and to define with it a new kind of artistic beauty that avails itself of an unexpected imagery or figurative “manner”. The sometimes inappropriate bodies and faces become beautiful in the pictorial transfiguration through the sophisticated vulgarization of the classical code. Currin searches for and creates paradoxes between real and fake, contemplation and voyeurism, obscene and refined, and photographic truth and figurative imagination. The artist paints with deliberate honesty and studied frankness, casting aside any academic nostalgia and ideological dislike of figurative painting. Never unpleasant, revolting and never predictable, Currin takes on different genres and styles, choosing and alternating
different themes and modes, such as portraiture, still life, the obscene and indecent, the lyrical and sentimental. His skill emerges in portraits realized with quick and defiant brush strokes as in Frans Hals and Édouard Manet, in still lifes made with the calligraphic precision of a Dutch Renaissance painter, in wallpaper and rose bouquets displaying an impressionistic freshness. A catalogue, including essays by Antonella Nesi and Sergio Risaliti plus an interview between the artist and Angus Cook, will be published by Forma Edizioni in conjunction with the exhibition.
John Currin. Paintings Until Oct. 2 Museo Stefano Bardini, Via dei Renai 1 Friday – Monday 11 a.m. - 5. p.m. Closed from Tuesday to Thursday and on August 15 Tickets: full price: € 6.00; € 4.50 (ages 18 to 25 and university students) www.musefirenze.it
F
10 Florence News
NEWS
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Palazzo Strozzi Presents Ai Weiwei
“Buffoons, Peasants and Gamblers at the Medici Court”
Exhibit on display from Sept. 23
HANNAH JOLLY
T
P
alazzo Strozzi is presenting the exhibition Ai Weiwei. Libero from Sept. 23 to Jan. 22, 2017. A dissident artist with a leading voice, Ai Weiwei is known worldwide as much for his challenging contemporary art practice as for his political activism. Over the past twenty years, he has become a leading voice on the international art scene and China’s most famous living artist. Ai Weiwei will be the first to exhibit in all the spaces of the Palazzo Strozzi, as he will showcase works from the façade of the palace and the courtyard to the piano nobile and the Strozzina gallery, enriching the architecture of the Palazzo Strozzi, a 15th century palace built
as a political statement. The exhibition includes monumental installations, sculptures, objects, videos and photographies ranging from his years living in New York – the 1980s and ’90s, when he discovered his ‘masters’ Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp – to the large iconic works from the early 2000s consisting of objects such as bicycles and stools, to his recent, controversial and engaged works such as the portraits of political dissidents built with Lego bricks and his projects on migration in the Mediterranean. Known for his political activism and meticulous artistic research, Ai Weiwei has become a symbol of resistance against censorship.
The showcase at Palazzo Strozzi will offer the opportunity to explore his creative genius and narrative, offering a critical insight to his ambiguous relations with China. The most important characteristcs of his art are the denounciation of the inconsistencies and gaps between the individual, and the community and a strong sense of rebellion against any form of authority.
Ai Weiwei. Libero Sept. 23- Jan. 22 Open every day 10 a.m. - 8 p.m Thursdays: 10 a.m. - 11 p.m. www.palazzostrozzi.org
he exhibit presents 30 pieces of art, paintings and sculptures, different from those of the same kind common in the Medici collections of art in the 16th and 17th centuries and featured in other museums in Florence, mainly recovered from the storage facilities of the Palatine Gallery and of the Gallery of Statues and Paintings, both belonging to the Uffizi complex. The comical nature of these subjects, figures that really existed and had with the job of entertaining the aristocracy distracting the nobles from the boredom of royal life with their improvisations, deformities, and mental impairments, is exemplified in the three kinds of the professional buffoon: the speaking jester, skilled in verbal acrobatics and witty improvisation; the physical buffoon, with the anomaly of achondroplasia and deformity; and the mentally impaired buffoon depicted in Justus Susterman’s Meo Matto. “The position of buffoons, midway between objects of amusement and the lord’s speaking conscience, elevated them to the rank of leading figures in a playful and strange
art which allowed the artist to indulge in a freedom of expression that was often extremely successful. We have but to consider the portraits of the Dwarf Morgante by Bronzino and Valerio Cioli, the dwarfs in Faustino Bocchi’s Seasons, Sustermans’ Meo Matto and
all the other works on display in this exhibition, in addition to the sylvan figures and to those engaging in bizarre activities who pop up unexpectedly amid the greenery in the Boboli Gardens,” said Director of the Uffizi Gallery Eike D. Schmidt. Palazzo Pitti Until Sept. 11 8:15 a.m.-6:50 p.m. Closed on Mondays
12 Florence News
NEWS
T
San Gimignano Hosts Benozzo Gozzoli
he Pinacoteca of San Gimignano is hosting an exhibition on Benozzo Gozzoli, one of the most important and prolific painters of the Renaissance, until Nov. 1. The exhibition explores Benozzo’s four years in San Gimignano, one of the most intense and productive periods in his career, focusing on the panel depicting the Madonna and Child with Angels, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Augustine and St Martha which will be brought together in its entirety for the very first time thanks to the loan of the fragments from the original predella held by the Brera in Milan, the Musée du Petit Palais in Avignon, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid. Benozzo’s San Gimignano frescoes include a cycle for the choir of the church of Sant’Agostino, the most important ever dedicated to that church father, and an outstanding depiction of St. Sebastian, the saint whose aid was invoked against epidemics, wearing a long blue tunic and with his cloak held open by angels to protect the people from the soldiers’ arrows, as an ex voto for the end of the plague in 1464. As American art history professor and art critic Cole Ahl points out, the cycle allowed Benozzo “to raise the quality of his work and to receive numerous commissions in an area which, while open to innovation, was devoid of the merciless
competition typical of larger cities; for San Gimignano, Gozzoli’s presence meant opening up to the major artistic and architectural transformation under way in Florence, which was to be such a major feature of art patronage for the rest of the century.” In San Gimignano Benozzo also painted two Crucifixions, one for the Olivetans (which is still in situ),
and the other (now in the Museo di Arte Sacra) for the Palazzo Comunale where he also restored the civic community’s most emblematic image, Lippo Memmi’s Maestà, and painted two altarpieces, one for the church of Sant’Andrea and the other for Santa Maria Maddale-
F
na, both of which are now on display in the Museo Civico and both of which partake of the “square” format in the modern Renaissance style inaugurated by Fra Angelico. According to art historian and critic Gerardo De Simone, the altarpiece “encapsulates the successful combination – characteristic of Benozzo’s work – of the modern Renaissance sense of measure learnt at Fra Angelico’s knee and the profusion of decoration, showing his rich and precious materials to advantage, that harks back to the late Gothic style of Gentile da Fabriano.” Born in Florence either in 1420 or in 1421, Benozzo di Lese – to whom Vasari attributes the family name of Gozzoli – was a flawless exponent of the perspective theorised by Leon Battista Alberti, which he conjugated with skilfully depicted realism and a sharp interest in both nature and the Classical world. A pupil of two of the century’s greatest artists, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Fra Angelico, with whom he cooperated on the ‘Doors of Paradise’ for the Baptistry in Florence and in the Niccoline Chapel in the Vatican respectively, Benozzo went on to work as a master in his own right in Montefalco in Umbria (1450–2), in Viterbo (1453), in Perugia (1456) and in Rome where he designed and built the apparatus for Pope Pius II’s coronation in 1458.
LIVE SPORT
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Il Ponte Presents Marco Gastini
T
he contemporary art gallery Il Ponte is presenting an exhibit on Marco Gastini from Sept. 16 to Nov. 4. The showcase includes paintings made from 1969 to 1978, a decisive decade for the career of this artist, influenced by the socalled ‘analytic painting’ movement of those years of which is one of the most important representatives. Among the pieces exposed are a few plexiglas, a big white canvas of 1973, a few big ‘japan papers’ of 1974, and some works on paper of the biennium 1977/78. Born in 1938 in Turin, Gastini’s training began at the laboratory of his father, a marble cutter. At the end of the 1960s, Gastini developed an original research on painting, investigating those elements that determine its essential expressive
Via Faenza 27/r • 055 274 1571
degree: trace, spatial presence, and chromatic annihilation. Exhibiting in New York at the John Weber Gallery in the 70’s led him to display at other important international galleries. In the 80’s, the fame of Gastini consolidated. In 1982, he participated for the second time at the Venice Biennale; in 1983 the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus of Munich hosted his first great retrospective, with Helmet Friedel as a curator; in 1983 he showcased at the Galleria Civica of Modena — accompanied by a catalogue containing a critical text by Flaminio Gualdoni — and at the PAC of Milan. Since 2005, Gastini has returned to reflect on the space of single, large canvases. The Galleria Il Ponte is locanted on Via di Mezzo 42/b.
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
New & Improved Medici Dynasty Show 2016 C. DE MELO
F
lorence would never have flourished without the Medici. True, other noble families contributed to the Florentine humanistic movement, but none as much as the city’s generous and progressive rulers. Last year, I wrote about Giuseppe Arone’s brainchild: The Medici Dynasty Show. The multi-media, interactive, and educational presentation was both innovative and unique. Of course, Giuseppe did it with the help of many talented people and the show’s two actors: Carolina Gamini and Tim Daish. Marissa Garreffa, a writer and Australian expat, rewrote the scriptand she did so brilliantly. The show flows like a theatrical performance combining moments of light humor with pockets of intense drama. Now, audience members get to see a different side of the debauched and often mocked Grand Duke Gian Gastone; a noble, humanistic side that evokes our empathy for a man whose destiny was preordained. Historical facts are presented in a manner that makes the audience participant yearn to know more about this incredible dynastic family. Some of the multimedia aspects of
last year’s show has been included this year, like images of relevant artworks and music. The new venue is truly amazing: the former Convent of Sant’Onofrio delle Monache di Foligno, which dates back to the early 15th century. The building is richly decorated with vibrant, well-preserved frescoes by famous local artists like Neri di Bicci. The quiet cloister is charming and the performance takes places within a small Baroque church boasting lovely sculptures and frescoed ceiling. In the span of about an hour, the show presents 300 years of Medici history that will surely enrich your trip to Florence. Ticket price is 30 euro (kids under 12 are free) and it’s well worth the investment. Discounts are available for students and groups. For more information or to book seats, please visit their website: medicidynasty.com
H
Florence News 13
NEWS
Why is Lorenzo the Magnificent, ‘Magnificent’?
ave you ever wondered why the most worthy heir, and most famous character of the Medici dynasty, was called Lorenzo ‘the Magnificent’? Obviously not for his beauty, as Lorenzo de’ Medici was quite ugly; but this ugliness comes from the other part of his bloodline: his grandfather Giovanni Tornabuoni and his mother Lucrezia Tornabuoni, known for having a ‘squashed’ nose. One can see this and form his impression in Santa Maria Novella church, in the main Chapel dedicated to the Assumption, as some frescoes depict this (in 1485, Giovanni Tornabuoni acquired the Chapel and commissioned the illustrious painter Domenico Ghirlandaio to paint it, according to the life of the Virgin and that of Saint John the Baptist, Patron Saint of Florence). Nevertheless, it would be a shame to recognize them only for this physical defect. Indeed, they were endowed with great intelligence, an elevated level of alertness, were highly knowledgable and friends with numerous intellectuals, poets, philosophers, humanists, writers and artists; all assets that Lorenzo the Magnificent was bequeathed with. Believe it or not, this denomination ‘the Magnificent’ is the result of an error made by writers. In fact, the exact wording should be ‘the
Magnificent Lorenzo’ (in italian, ’il Magnifico Lorenzo’). Indeed, in Florence he was given the honorary title of ‘Magnificent Lord’ – n.b translation from the italian ‘Magnifico Messere’ – to the Gonfalonier (standard-bearers). However, unlike his grandfather Cosimo the Elder and his father Piero the Gouty, Lorenzo the Magnificent had never been Gonfalonier as he passed away at the age of forty-three years, and the age of forty-five was required to obtain such a title. On the other hand, Lorenzo was designated ‘Magnifico Messere’ after Piero’s death at twenty-one years old – hence his name.
It is therefore a mistake, but more than ever a deserved one as, in addition of the above-mentioned qualities, Lorenzo de’ Medici had a natural flair for finance, was a shrewd businessman, a high-ranking diplomat, a prolific patron of the arts, a talented poet, a great ruler, and much more! One can admire Lorenzo’s exceptional prowess and magnificence in a ceiling fresco made by Giorgio Vasari at Palazzo Vecchio in which ambassadors of the most powerful Italian cities and foreign states pay tribute to Lorenzo the Magnificent seated on a throne.
TOURIST INFORMATION SOS
EMERGENCIES
Emergency Phone Number: 113 Ambulance Service: 118 Carabinieri (National Military Police): 112 Environmental Emergency: 1515 Fire Department: 115
The Firenzecard is a way for tourists and locals alike to visit the countless museums the city has to offer. For 72â‚Ź, the card includes the cost of entrance, the ticket for the exhibition, and the reservation for all the museums of the Firenzecard Circuit.The card lasts 72 hours after it is activated. Activation occurs when the card is used for the first time at a museum. Cardholders do not need to make any reservation with Firenzecard because it includes, in its price, the reservation for all the museums. With Firenzecard, cardholders can visit the museums when they choose and can access to the museums through the reserved entrance. Firenzecard can be used at 67 museums, but it can only be used once per museum. The card cannot be shared or transferred. For more information on the card or to purchase one, visit www.firenzecard.it
+ HEALTH SERVICES Piazza Duomo: 055 212221 Open Pharmacies: 800 420707 Veterinary Services: 055 7223683 Poison Center: 055 7947819
LAW ENFORCEMENT Railway Police: 055 211012 Florence Municipal Police: 055 3283333 Local National Police Force: 055 49771 Fire and Rescue Service: 055 24901
Your Private Concierge in Florence Every day problem solving - Workshops Access to treasures off the beaten path Property finding. Ask with confidence Contact us at +39 055 5357527 www.florenceoncall.com
BUSES Ataf: 6 a.m.-9 p.m. : 800424500 Li-nea: Bus info, 055 7355742 FBUSITALIA: SITA NORD: Via Santa Caterina da Siena 15 www.fsbusitalia. it, 800 373760 ETRURIA MOBILITA SCARL (Arezzo): www.etruriamobilita.it 0575 39881
i
TOURIST INFO POINTS
Via Cavour, 1r - 055 290833 Vespucci Airport - 055 315874 Piazza del Duomo - 055 215440 Piazza Stazione, 4 - 055 212245
ON THE ROAD Roadside Assistance for Foreigners: 800 116800 Obstruction, theft, and towed vehicles: 055 4224142 Highways, route planning and traffic jams: www.autostrade.it/en
AIRPORTS A Vespucci, Firenze Peretola: www.aeroporto.firenze.it/en 055 3061300 Lost and found: 055 3061302 G. Galilei, Pisa: www.pisa-airport.com 050 849300 Lost and found: 050 849400
TRAINS Trenitalia: 89 2021 Interactive Voice Response System: 063000 Italo: Call center, 6 a.m.-11 p.m. 060708
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Florence News 15
CITY BEAT
Running to Fight Against Breast Cancer Corri La Vita Returns on Sept. 25 with Duran Duran as testimonials
T
he Corri la Vita marathon is returning on Sept. 25. Founded in 2003, the marathon has been raising over 3.950.000 euro in 13 years, with 234.000 participants from all over the world, bringing together charity, physical activity, culture and social commitment. Among the testimonials of this year are John Taylor and Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, tennis player Adriano Panatta, singer J Ax, actors Luca Zingaretti, Nancy Brilli, Virginia Raffaele and Sergio Rubini, english violinist Charlie Siem. Athletes and non-athletes alike are welcome to participate in the five-kilometer walk or the 12-kilo-
meter competitive run that begins in Piazza Duomo and takes participants through some of the most scenic parts of Florence. While winding through the historic center and stopping along the way to visit gardens, churches and palaces, volunteers will provide historical and artistic information about the city. On the marathon’s day, several Florentine palaces, museums, gardens, churches will be open to the public, some of which are part of the itineraries of the race. By wearing a Corri La Vita 2016 shirt, or by showing your registration ticket, you will have free access to the
PAINTING Short and & Longterm DRAWING Workshops on Painting and INTENSIVE Drawing 10 DAYS WORKSHOP DAY CLASSES STUDIO RENTAL AVAILABLE www.facebook.com/studiotoscanella/ Via Toscanella 33R , 50123 Firenze 3407371239 340 737 1239 www.studiotoscanella.com www.studiotoscanella.com
Among these is, a handy, elegant and practical sport bag. For those who prefer to run to the beat of music there is a practical, anatomically designed backpack with holes for headphones and reflector bands. Other products include a wind jacket, an umbrella, a cap, shopping bag and a watch. Contributions to the campaign can also be made throughout the year on www.corrilavita.it/donazioni. Walkers and runners make an important social contribution, with all proceeds going directly to Florence’s public health department to support breast cancer research, help patients directly and assist
the volunteers in their work. Those collected from the last edition were given to L.I.L.T. Lega Italiana per la Lotta contro i Tumori Sezione di Firenze (Florence Cancer Association) supporting Ce.Ri.On. Centro Riabilitazione Oncologica (Oncology Center in Florence), FILE Fondazione Italiana di Leniterapia (palliative care Association), “The Vito Distante Project in Breast Cancer Clinical Research” and SenoNetwork Italia Onlus (national network for cancer patients). Enrollment forms and info are available for download at www. corrilavita.it or at participating stores.
agreement spots. The Arno river, with the Ponte Vecchio, is the new “graphic testimonial”, chosen to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Flod happened in Florence in 1966. The 35.000 t-shirts of the XIV edition offered by Salvatore Ferragamo are fluorescent blue. From Sept. 1, all participants can pick up their shirt in exchange for a donation of minimum 10 euro (15 euro for the racing bib). A new line of merchandise has been launched to support the fight against cancer, which includes a series of products specifically designed for all sport enthusiasts.
Cooking Classes In Tavola aims to spread the rich food and wine culinary traditions of Italy and the Tuscany region through an incredible variety of dishes and recipes to all interested in learning the secrets behind the traditional Italian kitchen. With this intent to promote their knowledge, In Tavola organizes several opportunities for professionals and beginners to participate in cooking and baking lessons with the guidance of professional Chefs in an individual or group setting.
Via dei Velluti, 18/20r 055 217672 www.intavola.org
Tattoo Piercing Via degli alfani 32/r Firenze +39 344 20 48 393 +39 342 75 47 804 Fb: Blood Brotherhood
#bloodbhtattoo
NEW GYM NEAR SANTA MARIA NOVELLA Brand new gym in the heart of Florence is now open. • Fully outfitted with the latest cardio & strength equipment from Technogym • Offering a wide array of classes ranging from Zumba to Pilates, every week • All-inclusive memberships with no sign-up fees • Special pricing for students • Friendly English-speaking staff • Free wi-fi Mon. to Fri.: 8 a.m.-10 p.m, Saturday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m, Sunday: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Via dei Fossi, 56/r 055 23 96 497
F
16 Florence News
CITY BEAT
Florence Creativity Returns for Fall 2016 Edition
C
reativity never ends. Especially at the fall edition of the Florence Creativity Festival, which is taking place at the Fortezza da Basso next month from Thursday October 27 to Sunday October 30. The fair, now at its fifth year, includes events, courses and presentations of new ideas, techniques and materials. Disciples of the art of do-it-yourself can find an enormous array of fabric, buttons, paint, brushes, needles, thread, glue and paper to stimulate his or her creativity. Courses offered include various silk painting techniques, home
décor, cutting, sewing, creative sewing, crochet, knitting, repairs, weaving for children and adults alike, creative workshops for children, creating bracelets, bijoux, and necklaces, processing wool, painting and many more, as infinite as the ways that human creativity can express itself. One of the most popular initiatives at the last edition, Creative Zoo offers participants a panel to create a zoo following given patterns that can be downloaded from the fair website, www.florencecreativity.it. Opening hours run from 9.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets cost €10 for adults
and €5 for children. Entrance is free for children under 10, as well as for disabled patrons and caregivers. The event also offers a number of ticket deals: Thursdays and Fridays enable two people to enter for the price of a single €10 ticket, while four-day tickets cost €16. Groups of more than 10 people pay €5 a head, and for each group bigger than 20 people a free ticket is given to the organizer. Those interested in becoming exhibitors can find a form on the website. www.florencecreativity.it
Ice Cream made daily
Open every day
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
F
18 Florence News
CITY BEAT
10 Tips for New Arrivals
?
A guide for adjusting and thriving in Florence
?
?
? ?
ous city but pickpocketing can happen, so better watch out. Do not leave your important personal belongings in your jacket when you are in some bar, pub or whatever place you are; always attend your purse and always keep it close. KNOW HOW TO FIND A DOCTOR. If you find yourself in need of medical assistance while in Florence, you can find English-speaking doctors by calling 055/475411. The call service is active 24-hour a day. The Medical Service Center is in Via Roma 4, very close to the Dome and to Piazza della Repubblica. Website is www.medicalservice. firenze.it
?
?
I
?
?
n the labyrinth of narrow streets and foreign road signs, Florence can seem like a daunting place for anyone setting foot here for the first time. Naturally, newly arrived come across hurdles as they attempt to get familiar with the city. To avoid the dangers of the first period, here are a few tips.
ing through side streets by foot is one of the best ways to get to know the city. You’re more likely to find authentic Italian craft and food shops this way, rather than sticking to the center. Pack a camera, some cash and leave your worries behind. Don’t fret. All roads (eventually) lead back to the Duomo.
DO NOT GET LOST: Take a stroll off the tourist-beaten path. Wander-
ALWAYS KEEP CLOSE TO YOUR STUFF: Florence is not a danger-
KNOW WHERE TO FIND A BIG SUPERMARKET: It is not easy to find big supermarkets in Florence. However, the three CONAD SAPORI & DINTORNI are large supermarkets in the city center that offer typical Italian products and a wide selection of wines. The CONAD SAPORI & DINTORNI for those living near the Ponte Vecchio, or in Santo Spirito or in Santa Croce is in Via de’ Bardi, near the Ponte Vecchio. For those living near the train station the CONAD SAPORI & DINTORNI is in Largo Alinari at the end of Via Nazionale, very close to the station. The third big supermarket is very near the Dome, precisely in Borgo San Lorenzo. SPEAK THE LANGUAGE: It’s easy to get by not speaking Italian at all in Florence, but do try to challenge yourself. In stores, clerks tend to respond in English if they realize
FRESH AND ORIGINAL SINCE 2004 Tel. (+39) 055 290748 | Via dell’Acqua, 2/R - 50122 Firenze
Piazza del
Proconsolo Corso
Borgo
Albizi
Piazza S. Firenze
Via della Vig na Vec chi a
#
Pando lfi
Ver di
de’
ni
Giu sep pe
Via Ghibell ina
Via de ll’An guillara
Borgo de’ Gr eci
Via
Via G hibe
llina
Via
Via
Piazza della Signoria
degli
Via de’ Pandolfini Via dell’ Acqua
del
del
Calzaiuoli
de’
Via
Via
Calimala
Piazza della Via degli Speziali Repubblica
Duomo
Via
Piazza S. Giovanni
Piazza di S. Croce
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it that is indeed your native language, but be persistent. Gesture. Practice. Meet the locals. Pick up a newspaper, magazine or even a brochure written in Italian and see how much you can understand. Underline the words and phrases you haven’t learned yet and look them up yourself. KNOW YOUR FALSE FRIENDS: Just to make learning a foreign language a little bit more challenging, Italian has several words that look and sound like the English equivalent but have completely different meanings. For example, a ‘libreria’ is an Italian bookshop, not a library, so be sure to pay for your books or you could find yourself in a bit of a sticky situation. The importance of accents should also be noted: by forgetting to stress the ‘o’ in ‘casinò’ you are referring to a brothel, not a gambling house! EAT LIKE A LOCAL: Americans are accustomed to fast food. We like our coffee on the go. Sandwiches ordered, prepared and consumed in the car all under five or less minutes. While in Florence, you should eat like the locals: take the time to eat. Sit (or stand) at a bar to drink your cappuccino. Enjoy it. You might find the change of pace relaxing. When you’re out to eat for dinner, appreciate the multi-course meal. No more of the take-home doggy bags! Portions are smaller here and you’ll notice that food is made for quality, not quantity. Embrace the fact that you’re eating the most delicious Italian food, and remember to take
time to enjoy it. When looking for a sandwich shop, avoid the prepared sandwiches displayed in cases. For the freshest ingredients, find a place that will make your sandwich when you order. A tip for gelato lovers: stay away from the foot-high rainbow mounds of ice cream. They are that bright for a reason. They aren’t as natural and definitely not as fresh. DRINK LIKE A LOCAL: Wine is part of Italian culture and is to be enjoyed and appreciated, not abused. Italians will laugh at anyone they come across drinking on the streets, so pace yourselves. Sit at a table and drink for pleasure as opposed to getting legless! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TREASURES OF TUSCANY: To live like a local, you have to know your location. While it’s exciting and rewarding to travel all over Europe during this time, check out what Tuscany has to offer! A lot of activities and trips can be done in a day, by train or by bus. STAY POSITIVE: Not everything goes according to plan, but it’s you who determines the outcome of the situation. A bad attitude isn’t going to get you far, with either locals or other students you meet. By keeping an open mind, you’re more likely to absorb the culture and will be able to take away more from your experience. Understand that you will be challenged linguistically, intellectually and morally, and recognize that it’s all part of the adventure.
F
20 Florence News
CITY BEAT
New in the community Tips and tricks to spark conversations during your first meetings
FEDERICO CURCIO
Y
ou just arrived in town and apartment, utilities, language school are all set, the fridge is full, your brand new (rigorously second hand) bike is down the stairs, you just installed the most useful apps to explore and enjoy Florence: you have almost everything you need to start living your life in Florence, right? Still, there is something missing: a social circle of live, nice and like-minded people. So you start attending aperitifs and “apericene”, doing your best to get in touch with other expats and locals but, sometimes, you realize that after the usual questions - where are you from? What do you
do? Why did you move? - you experience moments of awkardness, finding yourself wondering: how do I keep the conversation going? Locals are usually proud of their city, so ask which their favourite neighbourhoods are and why, what places you should absolutely not miss there, where you can eat and drink something typical, away from the most touristic areas. It’s your best shot to get good advice about still genuine quarters, interesting people, tasty food and best beverages. When chatting with experienced expats, ask what their first achievements were, while settling down, which they are most proud of and how they got them. Don’t forget to ask also about the shops where you can find some of your motherland specialties, in case you really miss
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
that specific brand of jam or want to read the paper version of your favourite magazine. And, of course, let them share legal shortcuts in the thick jungle of bureaucracy. These are effective ways not only to get precious advice but also to tell potential new friends with similar attitudes and ideas from people with whom, let’s face it, you wouldn’t immediately click. Then, your turn comes: it’s time to reveal something about yourself. Maybe some stories about your goofs and gaffes while adapting to the new cultural environment. Keep it light and funny. You may want to start by admitting your confusion when you first discovered that Florence still uses the so called red numbers to distinguish shops from private buildings, so, in many streets, it’s not true that, for example, 23 immediately comes after 19 and 21. As a result, you went back and forth several times, along that street, before finding the right door. Or you can tell about that time when you were frowned upon by a waiter, when you dared ask cappuccino after a fiorentina steak, thus causing all the italians in the restaurant look at you, in disdain. Luckily nobody got hurt that time: instead of being kicked out, to more appropriately end your meal you were given a fantastic homemade liqueur. On the house. So, next time you find yourself stuck in a conversation, be genuinely interested in people, ask them to share some advice and tell them about your experience. Enjoy the conversation!
In Florence there is a new pharmacy
Cavour Come to visit us. You will find a wide range of skincare products dedicated to you. Ask your pharmacist for advice.
Since its foundation in 1982, Medical Service Firenze has developed a solid reputation for providing rapid, reliable assistance to tourists and residents in need of medical attention. We accept all major travel/medical insurance policies. SERVICES INCLUDE: • 24-hour prompt house calls by general practitioners all year round. • Our physicians are available for walk-in visits to our clinic on Via Roma, 4. Monday to Fri.: 11 a.m.–12 p.m., 1–3 p.m., & 5–6 p.m.; Sat.: 11 a.m.–12 p.m. & 1–3 p.m. • Prompt consultation with specialists by appointment. • All the medical staff speak English. • For information or request visit our clinic from Mon.–Fri.: 9:30 a.m.–1:30p.m. Via Roma, 4 055 475 411 medserv@tin.it www.medicalservice.firenze.it
Lloyds Farmacia Cavour Via Cavour, 59/R Firenze We are open for you: Monday to Saturday 9.00 - 20.00
CHIANTI EXPERIENCE HIKING...WINE... FOOD... @MONTERINALDI
WINEMAKER FOR A DAY
Most wine lovers have taken part in cellar tours and wine tastings, but how many have had the chance to spend a few hours in the vineyard with an agronomist learning how the perfect grape is cultivated? Well here is your chance to do just that.
If you delight in hiking in the breathtaking landscape of Chianti.... If you enjoy a home made traditional Tuscan lunch.... If you love drinking great wines paired perfectly withyour food.... Then, “Hiking...Wine...Food@ Monterinaldi” is for you!
Winemaker for a Day is a wine course which will teach you how to taste a wine and discover its characteristics. Much more than a simple wine course, during Winemaker for a Day you will be able to create your own, unique, signature vintage by blending up to 5 different grapes.
Duration: about 5 hours Start time: 10am Mon-Fri Reservation: required Minimum: 2 people Maximum: 12 people
Duration: 4-5 hours Start time: 10am Mon-Fri Reservation: required Minimum: 2 people, Maximum: 12 people
Duration: 3 hours Start time: 10am Reservation: required Maximum: 8 people
OFF - ROAD IN CHIANTI
EDUCATIONAL VINEYARD
This is a unique experience that combines an exciting adventure off-road in a 4x4 to beautiful and unspoilt areas, along with a full homemade lunch accompanied by wines of Castello Monterinaldi, expertly paired to each course. Two different off-road routes are planned: the “medium” and “hard”... the choice is yours! Duration: about 5 hours Start time: 10.00am Mon-Sat Reservation: required Minimum: 4 people Maximum: 8 people
Book your own private experience NOW! Castello Monterinaldi – Società Agricola Monterinaldi s.r.l. Radda in Chianti, Siena, Italy +39 (0) 577 733533 • mail@monterinaldi.it • www.monterinaldi.it
The restaurant Il Rubaconte lies in the heart of Florence: it is an oasis of peace where you can spend a nice evening enjoying our dishes as well as our friendly, intimate atmosphere. As soon as you step into our restaurant, you will notice the architectural beauties of the building, just like the astonishing groin vaults: this original design enhances ancient flavours as well as modern cuisine. The restaurant provides large halls, all at the same level, and can seat many guests. Therefore, it is the ideal location for a romantic candlelight dinner, for your business lunch or dinner, or for tourist groups. Restaurant Rubaconte • Via Ghibellina 178/r - 50122 Florence (FI) Phone: (+39) 055 2645411
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
More Than Just Soccer
Discover alternative sports in Florence
S
occer dominates Italian sporting culture, yet there are several other sports one can engage in while in Florence. Whether you are looking to cheer on horses, catch a foul ball or see a sport that you have never even heard of, Florence has many sporting events to offer.
Rugby: Although seen as the evil step-brother to both American football and soccer, rugby does have a presence in Florence. The organization has multiple teams for people of all ages, so there is no telling who you will see playing when you go to the practice pitch. The senior team is called Aeroporto Firenze and still has a number of games to play before the season ends in May. Even though they aren’t professional, it would be fun to see a rugby game in Italy. For more information go to www.firenzerugby1931.it Basketball: Although not the same status as the Los Angeles Lakers, Fiorentina does have its own professional basketball team. The team is called Enegan Firenze and is part of the Italia-DNA Silver league. The team plays other local cities such as Lucca, Roseto and Bari, to name a few. Despite being in second to last place with an 8–14 record, the team would love to see some international support. It would also be fun to see how Italian basketball compares to
Florence News 23
CITY BEAT
Fiorentina Tips
American basketball with March Madness coming up! For more information go to www.affricobasketfirenze.com or call 055 53 85 922. The office is located at Viale Paoli, 20. Baseball: Baseball is great sport to watch with spring right around the corner. MLB spring training won’t be starting for a while so why not take the this time to visit another team? The Fiorentina baseball field is located a couple of blocks from the Fiorentina soccer stadium and is great sport to go watch on an afternoon. The team is currently in Series C but has had success in the past in Series A. For more information go to www.fiorentinabaseball. it or email info@fiorentinabaseball.it. American Football: Just because Americans are the only ones who watch it, doesn’t mean they are the only ones who play it! Guelfi Firenze is the American football team in Florence and currently plays in the second league under the Italian Federation of American Football. Although the season is over, the team would love to play with Americans. Spend an afternoon with the team running up and down the field, catching footballs or showing them how good you are at the American sport. For more information go to www.guelfifirenze.it or call 339 70 12 020.
FIORENTINA HOME GAMES Serie A SERIE A 3° 11.09.2016 Genoa-FIORENTINA SERIE A 4° 18.09.2016 FIORENTINA-Roma
How to get to the stadium: BY SHUTTLE BUS: Bus no. 52 runs services from Piazza Stazione at Santa Maria Novella train station during the two hours preceding the game. The same shuttle runs return services up to an hour after the game finishes. From Rifredi train station take bus no. 54. These buses are usually packed, so if you have a chance to take the earlier one I recommend it. HOW TO GET TICKETS: Stadium tickets typically cost anywhere from €20–70. They can be bought from online retailers or at authorized kiosks. The kiosk near the Piazza della Republica (right off Via Pellicceria) is a common
dealer. The best place to sit in the stadium is on the sideline so that you can see all the action. Sitting behind a goal is not ideal because it is difficult to view the action on the opposite side of the field. However, these seats are usually the cheapest. Make sure that, under no circumstances, you sit in the visitor section. This section is physically barricaded from the rest of the stadium, and the visiting fans who find themselves outside of this designated section are separated from the rest of the crowd by a human shield of security guards. Despite these precautions, tensions can get heated, so prepare for some rowdy scenes. But do not fear; it’s all part of the authentic experience of a Florentine soccer match.
SERIE A 5° 21.09.2016 Udinese-FIORENTINA SERIE A 6° 25.09.2016 FIORENTINA-Milan
EUROPA LEAGUE EUROPA LEAGUE 1° Thur. 15.09.2016 EUROPA LEAGUE 2° Thur. 29.09.2016 Keep
up to date with Fiorentina at en.violachannel.tv
F
24 Florence News
CITY BEAT
A ‘Port’ for Jazz and Traditional Italian Music A
s with any port, Porto di Mare-Eskimo is synonymous with exchange, correspondence, and coming and going. This year the club has an important novelty: courses of typical Italian dance Tarantella, which will be taking place on Friday night. Porto di Mare's focus on live music and cultural exchange is one that the man who started the club, Francesco Cofone, holds close to his heart.
“We never play anything recorded here” he says with a smile. The method of bridging cultures at Porto di Mare is just getting out an instrument and beginning to play. “I’d be keen to talk to anyone who is interested in playing and sharing their music with us,” Francesco says. The club has also created its own big band, the Eskimo Jazz Orchestra. An all-star Tuscan jazz band born under the initiative of
Francesco, it includes some of the biggest and respected names on the jazz scene amongst its members. Among these are trumpeter and band conductor Fabio Morgera, who played under legendary American jazz cornetist; composer and conductor Butch Morris for 30 years in New York; Dario Cecchini, sax and leader of Italian marching band Funk Off; trumpeter Luca Marianini; trombone player Stefano Scalzi and guitarist Riccardo Onori, who both played alongside renowned Italian singer-songwriter and rapper Jovanotti; percussionists Walter Paoli, ex-member of 1970s Italian jazz, progressive rock and electronic group Area, and Piero Borri; clarinet player Nico Gori; and guitarists Paolo Conte, Ivano Fossati and Riccardo Galardini – to name just (a little more than) a few.
Porto di Mare CHECK THE PROGRAM ON FACEBOOK CONTACT FRANCESCO COFONE Via Pisana, 128 055 71 20 34 Porto di Mare
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Murano Glass
M
urano glass and Carnevale mask enthusiasts need not travel to Venice for quality souvenir items. Alvise Giustinian is a gift and art store specializing in Murano-made items, which guarantees the sale of purely Murano products without importation. Products include masks, jewelry, and glass objects for the home. Jewelry has proven to be the shop’s most popular item, due to the ease of transport and availability of products starting at merely €5, according to its owner Paola. Alvise Giustinian’s spacious interior allows for an abundant selection of gifts and a comfortable shopping experience. Paola’s customers tell her that prices in this beautiful, museum-like shop are lower than those in Venice.
Alvise Giustinian
Corso Tintori, 19/r (near Santa Croce) www.alvisegiustian.com
A Shuttle to the Barberino Designer Outlet Located in the green heart of Tuscany, just 30 minutes from Florence, Barberino Designer Outlet is the shopping destination where you can shop 200 of the most luxurious Designer fashion Brands, including Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Hugo Boss, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike, Patrizia Pepe and many more at 30-70% less all year round. You can reach Barberino Designer Outlet with a comfortable shuttle bus service from Florence train station, 8 times a day. Tickets can be purchased online or directly on the bus. Price is €13 per person, round trip. Traveling with the shuttle bus, you will also be entitled to get the exclusive FASHION PASSPORT, the discount card which will grant you an additional 10% reduction on the Outlet price. Shuttle bus to Barberino Designer Outlet departs from Florence, Piazza Stazione 44 (in front of the Zoppini store) at: 9.30 a.m. –11.30 a.m. –2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. Return to Florence at: 1.00 p.m. – 3.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m. – 8.00p.m. For more information visit www.mcarthurglen.it/barberino
“It looks like a Vespa!”
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Florence News 27
CITY BEAT
The Aperitivo Explained What is the aperitivo in Italy? It is a way people stay connected, and can be a dinner option for those who just want a light evening meal or who are on a strict budget. This fun and tasty trend began in Milano in the 80’s when some bars had the idea to serve snacks with their drinks during Happy Hour. Naturally, people would opt to enjoy their cocktails at establishments that provided free nibbles. Other bars began to follow suit,
These iconic cocktails feature distinctive ingredients like Aperol, Campari and Vermouth which stimulate the appetite. some even offering dishes like hot pasta, thus giving people the opportunity to eat their primo and then go out for dinner afterward. The Milanese trend trickled south to many cities including Florence. Just about every lounge bar, coffee bar, and enoteca in the city serves some form of aperitivo buffet with their drinks. Good music is also crucial, since it sets the mood for relaxation and animated conversation.
Beyond the world of wine lies a wide assortment of cocktails to discover in Italy, including the Ne groni, the Spritz, and the Americano. Intended to whet the palate, these three cocktails usually contain Campari, but are also offered with some minor variations. These iconic Italian cocktails feature distinctive ingredients like Aperol, Campari and Vermouth and contain flavors that stimulate the appetite— thus, perfect for the Italian aperitivo. The social activity known as aperitivo takes place in a lively atmosphere, at a bar or party, accompanied by light-tasting cocktails and pre-dinner snacks. It happens almost every night of the week, and in some locales, the finger foods are enough for a full meal, at the price of an €8 or €9 cocktail, from 6pm to 10pm. The Americano is made with half Campari, half sweet Vermouth, and soda water, and is garnished with lemon. It was originally served in Gaspare Campari’s café in Milan and called the Milano-Torino cocktail in reference to the Campari from Milan and Vermouth from Turin. However, as the drink grew in popularity among American tourists, it became known as the Americano. In 1919, when Count Camillo Negroni was at Florence’s Caffè Casoni (now Caffè Giacosa), he ordered his Americano a little bit stronger. The bartender decided to add gin instead of soda water,
LIVE SPORT Via dell'Anguillara 54R • 055 265 4098
Credits: Flickr User Matteo Paciotti
and an orange instead of a lemon, to distinguish this new and different drink. The cocktail was so well received that the Negroni family founded a Negroni Distillery in Treviso, Italy. Currently there are three different variations of the Negroni cocktail. The first is called the Negroni sbagliato, the “wrong” Negroni, wherein Spumante Brut (dry spar-
kling white wine) is substituted for gin. The Negroski is a version made with vodka instead of gin. Lastly, the Sparkling Negroni contains the original gin, Campari and Vermouth, plus Champagne or Prosecco, sometimes garnished with an orange twist. Another typical choice for aperitivo is the Spritz cocktail, which is made with one ounce of Aperol,
two ounces Prosecco, and Seltzer. For those who prefer a more bitter flavor, Campari can be used instead of the sweeter, lighter Aperol. Venturing away from standard American cocktails makes for a delicious change of pace, while experiencing the Italian aperitivo tradition takes you a step closer to adopting the quintessential Italian lifestyle. Enjoy your aperitivo.
F
28 Florence News
LITERATURE
Gothic Italy II: Shakespeare’s influence
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
al anxieties. The tradition equates superstition with the Middle Ages, helplessness with the abuses of a fading nobility (as well as church corruption and the Inquisition), lawlessness with the Italian bandito, and sums up anxieties regarding the heartlessness of the rich, family politics, and the patriarchy in general, in the image of a gloomy castle or a haunted house. Italy’s frighteningly beautiful Apennine
English Gothic texts are a unique blend of geographical associations, symbolic motifs, and cultural anxieties.
LEE FOUST
I
n one of my previous articles on Italy in Gothic literature published on this newsppaper I explored a few of the Ancient Roman and medieval texts that influenced the English and American tradition of presenting Gothic tales in an Italian setting. The first English author to pen a self-proclaimed “Gothic Story” was Horace Walpole with The Castle of Otranto
(1764). To the classical association of the volcanoes Vesuvius and Etna with as the portals into a sulfuric Hades or medieval Arthurian Valhalla, Walpole adds an avowed model for both the supernatural shenanigans we term “Gothic” and for putting an Italian backdrop behind them: the plays of William Shakespeare. English Gothic texts are a unique blend of geographical associations, symbolic motifs, and cultur-
Mountains, many surviving medieval castles, Catholic history, and reputation for hot-headed violence, all act as perfect anti-images for eighteenth-century English parliamentary law, Protestant certainty, the rising of middle class propriety and manners—as well as Britain’s gentle landscape of rolling hills and grassy moors. As Sigmund Freud described it, Gothic literature generates fear in its audience by presenting an image of Italy that represents everything England sought to repress of its own past—its many bloody wars with France and Spain, its own internecine unrest with the various
Celtic races it has dominated, its suppression of Catholicism, and the throwing off of feudalism for the growing momentum of a mercantile capitalist economy. All of England’s past, and Italy’s fearfully imagined history, are also found in Shakespeare’s best plays. Including the Roman histories, the Bard set 15 of his 37 plays either entirely or partially in Italy—I’m including The Tempest, set on a desert isle but dealing exclusively with Italian characters. Thematically, I can isolate eight major Shakespeare plays that also feature major Gothic themes: murder, ghosts, prophecy, magic, and evil characters who verge upon monstrosity—five of these plays are set in Italy: Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and The Tempest. Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto is a fun, if somewhat clunky short read. The tale of King Manfred’s search for an heir to his throne and battle with a gigantic ghostly avenger reads more like a play than the early English novel that it is—its five chapters are much like a five-act Jacobean tragedy. More entertaining, more female-friendly, and written in luscious descriptive prose, are the romances of Walpole’s main disciple, Ann Radcliffe. The bestselling and highest-paid novelist of the late eighteenth century, four of Radcliffe’s five Gothic romances are set in Italy, including The Italian— the very name of which is meant to cause a shudder. In Radcliffe’s pages Shakespearian epigraphs commingle with Othello and Mac-
As Sigmund Freud described it, Gothic literature generates fear in its audience by presenting an image of Italy that represents everything England sought to repress of its own past—its many bloody wars with France and Spain. beth-like deposed noblemen eking out violent livings as master banditi as they chase defenseless French damsels and English roses through dimly lit passageways to even darker dungeons. Lastly, although it is perhaps the greatest of the eighteenth century’s Gothic revival, I’m sorry to say that Mathew Lewis’ The Monk is ostensibly set in Madrid. Still, whenever these pretend Spaniards curse, they exclaim “Diavolo!”—Inexplicably, in Italian! If you like a good scare and a thrilling read, or if you’re looking for an alternative to those naïve novels of the sun-drenched, life-enriching Italy of food and love, try an eighteenth-century English Gothic romance. You have nothing to lose but your sanity.
PINART BOTTEGA D’OLTRARNO
ARTISAN LEATHER JOURNALS & ITALIAN PENS
Between the Dome and the Train Station
Situated 30 meters from the Ponte Vecchio, Pinart has offered quality stationery for more than 20 years. • •
•
Books, notebooks and photo albums in artisan-worked leather with handmade paper; A large selection of writing instruments from top Italian brands, including fountain, roller and ballpoint pens; Hand-painted wooden boxes and photo frames portraying details from Florentine monuments.
Open: Mon–Sat: 10 a.m.–7:30 p.m.; Sun: 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Via dei Boni 5r 334 7007714 www.leftluggageflorence.com
Via Guicciardini, 2/r 055 23 98 450 www.pinart.it
Cartoleria Lory Srl P.za Frescobaldi 8r 50125 055-213246 Shop.lory.net www.digital-fineart.it www.lorycad.net
♦ BREAKFAST: MUFFINS AND EGGS
♦ LUNCH & DINNER Pizza all day long Via Maggio 2/r +39 055 288494
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
F
Florence News 29
CHIANTI
FLORENTINE COUNTRYSIDE CASTLES FOR WEDDINGS CHIANTI • WINE TOUR IN CHIANTI COOKING CLASSES IN TUSCANY CASTELLO VICCHIOMAGGIO - VIA VICCHIOMAGGIO, 4 - 50022 | GREVE IN CHIANTI - FIRENZE | 055.854079 | INFO@VICCHIOMAGGIO.IT
F
30 Florence News
CHIANTI
Understanding Chianti Wine Chianti Classico
Chianti
Bottles simply labeled as Chianti are made from a mix grapes from several regions in the Chianti region. The main difference with generic Chianti and the rest, is that the minimum percentage of Sangiovese allowed is 75%, with the rules permitting white grapes to be blended in. Adding white grapes to a red wine isn’t as crazy as you might think! The French have been addingViognier to their Syrah in
the Rhone region of France for decades. The reason they do so is to soften the tannin in the Syrah, and to add what they call “aromatic complexity”. The addition of white grapes into the Sangiovese mix however, is less about romance and more about cutting costs. As with all Chianti’s, there are some minimum rules set, i.e. the minimum alcohol level in regular Chianti is 11.5%, and grape harvest yields are “restricted” to 4 tons per acre.
The Chianti Classico region is central to the region and arguably the most famous. In 1996 it was awarded DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) status, in an effort to raise its perceived quality. All Italian DOCG wines are actually tasted and analyzed in a lab in order to meet government approval. Kind of like SAT exams for wine. If the wine passes, it will receive an individually numbered governmental seal across the cap or cork. Chianti Classico bears a black rooster on the neck of the bottle. This is a conglomeration of Chianti producers whom have setup the Consorzio Chianti Classico, in a bid to improve the quality and reputation of the region. The minimum percentage of Sangiovese allowed in Chianti Classico is 80%, with only red grapes permitted to make up the rest of the blend. Producers can of course choose to make their wine up to 100% Sangiovese, but it’s the exception and not the rule. The alcohol content must also be at least 12%, and the wine must spend at least 12 months aging in oak barrels. The Chianti Classico region covers an area of around 100 square miles, and the grape harvest is restricted to no more than 3 tons per acre.
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it Chianti Riserva / Classico Riserva
If you guessed that Riserva is Italian for Reserve you would be correct! Riserva on a bottle of Chianti is your first clue that the bottle of Chianti you’re holding, stands head and shoulders above the rest. Riserva is a term that can be applied not just to Chianti, but to plenty of other Italian wines such as Brunello and Barolo. Of course, just to make things difficult, it has various meanings, but Riserva on a Chianti just means that the wine spends a minimum of two years (in oak) and three months (in the bottle) aging. The alcohol content must also be at least 12.5%. Chianti Riserva is also a great candidate for additional bottle aging, depending on the producer and vintage.
Vin Santo
Vin Santo (literally meaning “holy wine”) is a style of Italian wine dessert typical of Tuscany. Vin Santo wines are often made from white grape varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, though Sangiovese may be used to produce a rosè style known as “Occhio di Pernice” or eye of the partridge. Vin Santo is described as a straw wine since is often produced by drying the freshly harvested grapes on straw mats in a warm and well ventilated area of the house. However several producers dry the grapes by hanging on racks indoors. Though technically a dessert wine, the wines can vary in sweetness levels from bone dry (like a Fino Sherry) to extremely sweet.
WINEMAKER FOR A DAY Winemaker for a Day is a wine tasting course in which you also will be able to create your own, unique, signature vintage by blending up to 5 different grapes while working alongside our award-winning winemaker. Your signature wine will be shipped home for your future enjoyment.
EDUCATIONAL VINEYARD Spend a few hours in the vineyard with an agronomist learning how grape has to be cultivated. HIKing...wine...food...@monterinaldi Hike in the breathtaking landscape of Chianti before enjoying a home made Tuscan lunch while sipping the real Chianti Classico
OFFROAD ADVENTURE IN CHIANTI Discover the Chianti hills, vineyards and lakes on a land-lover. Then enjoy a homemade lunch paired with Chianti Classico More info on: www.monterinaldi.it
MONDAY & THURSDAY: 2.30PM wine and olive oil tasting - visit of Molino Grace farm and Vicchiomaggio Castle TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: 2.30PM wine and olive oil tasting – visit of Verrazzano Castle and Frantoio Pruneti (olive oil producer)
WINE & TYPICAL TUSCAN PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING Piazza Matteotti 18 50022 Greve in Chianti (FI) 055853631• chianticlassicoshop@gmail.com Enoteca Bottega del Chianti Classico
FRIDAY & SATURDAY: 2.30PM wine and olive oil tasting - visit of Lamole di Lamole and Riseccoli wineries HELLO FLORENCE & CHIANTI TRAVEL AGENCY & INCOMING TOUR OPERATOR Piazza Matteotti , 10 – GREVE IN CHIANTI 055-853606 / 055-8546299
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Florence News 31
CHIANTI
5 Tips for Visiting Greve, the Heart of Chianti SUPER CARRIAGE TOUR AND WINE TASTING
PRESS REVIEWS AND AWARDS THE WINERY: Top 100 producer of the world 2009, Wine & Spirits Top 100 producer of the world 2007, Wine & Spirits Newcomer winery of the year 2004, Gambero Rosso
1) How to get to Greve: Although getting to Greve in Chianti via car would be the easiest and the most scenic, there are other modes of transportation available. An easy way to get to the town would be from the Santa Maria Novella station. Hop on bus line 365 and you will get to Greve in Chianti in just about an hour. 2) What to do: Beyond being the entrance gate into the Chianti region, Greve in Chianti is full of historical sites. Every Saturday morning, the weekly market takes place in Greve in Chianti’s main square, Piazza Matteotti. The Saturday morning market offers local products by artisans, workshops and restaurants. 3) What to see: the Piazza Matteotti; the Chiesa Santa Croce, constructed in the 11th century and was rebuilt in 1325 with a neoclassic façade; the Montefioralle and
THE WINE:
Verrazzano castles. 4) Museums: Greve offers two museums, the Museum of San Francesco, which was inaugurated in 2002 in the former convent of San Francesco and presents several important paintings and other pieces of art; the Wine Museum, just outside the square, set in a space as big as 800 square meters where previously were the Mirafiori cellars and where now it is possible to learn and ‘see’ the history of wine.
CHIANTI CLASSICO
Here the perfect chance to live a special moment in Chianti a romantic CARRAGE tour will take you in two of the most charming wineries of Greve in Chianti
HOTEL • RESTAURANT GIOVANNI DA VERRAZZANO
Piazza Giacomo Matteotti n° 28 Greve in Chianti (Florence) 055 853189 / 055 8546098 www.albergoverrazzano.it
2010 95 points, Decanter 2008 90 points, Wine Spectator 2008 Silver Medal IWSC 2007 Silver Medal Best in Class IWSC 2007 88 points, Robert Parker 2006/2007/2008/2009 4 Grappoli, AIS
5) What to eat: Beyond sipping on the wine from Greve in Chianti, must-eats in Greve are grilled meat and pig products such as prosciutto, salami, finocchiona, crostini, and truffles. For more information on Greve visit the website: http://www.comune. greve-in-chianti.fi.it/
2011 2 Red glasses, Gambero Rosso
CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA 2007, Silver Medal Outstanding IWSC 2006, 93 points, Wine Spectator 2006, Bronze Medal Decanter WWA Silver Medal IWSC 2005 91 points, Wine Enthusiast 2005 93 points, Wine & Spirits 2004, 2 Red Glasses, Gambero Rosso
2005 90 points, Wine & Spirits
2004 90 points, Robert Parker
2004 5 stars, Decanter
2001 3 Red glasses, Gambero Rosso 2001 93 points, Wine & Spirits
For more information go to www.helloflorence.net
IL MARGONE
GRATIUS
2008 5 Grappoli, AIS Bibenda
2008 93 points, Wine Spectator
2007 94 points, Wine Spectator
2007 93 points, Wine Spectator
2006 Gold Medal IWSC
2006 Bronze Medal IWSC
2005 92 points, Falstaff
2006 91 points, Falstaff
2005 3 Red Glasses, Gambero Rosso
2005 90 points, Veronelli
2004 90 points Wine & Spirits
2004 Gold Medal Decanter WWA
2004, 3 Red Glasses, Gambero Rosso
2004 3 Red Glasses, Gambero Rosso
Il Margone 2003 90 points, Parker
2004 90 points, Parker
Il Margone 2003 5 stars, Decanter
2000 3 Red Glasses, Gambero Rosso
Il Margone 2001 5 Grappoli, AIS
www.ilmolinodigrace.com
Il Supermercato... da Gustare e deGustare
Sapori & Dintorni is the new way to do the shopping: in the heart of Florence there is a place where Food, Culture and Territory meet. Get in and discover the Big Supermarket to test and taste! Inside you will find many typical products of the Italian food tradition. Buy your favorite product and taste it within the tasting area.
FIND YOUR LOCAL BIG SUPERMARKET IN THE CITY CENTER
Be nso C
.Go
ri
elli
Ric a
so
li
i Mart
Via
e
Via dei Lamberti
Piazza De’ Donati
Chiesa di Santa Trinità
Gu
ccia
posto
li Piazza di Santo Stefano
rdin
i Fiu
Ar
no
Piazza Santa Felicita
Ve cch
me
llo
de ron
Sp
agg
Costa S.Gio rgio
lli me
Ar
no
Via d e
di
Costa S.Gio rgio
e’ B
ardi
li
agno
dei M
Via M
Via d
Costa
io
e
Piazza Santa Felicita
Fiu
’ Bar
Po nte
Via Piazza degli Angiolieri
Sapori & Dintorni Borgo San Lorenzo Po nte Ve cc hio
no
nti A
io
gar
iffi
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza di Santa Cicilia
o Sa
ei B
Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
Battistero di San Giovanni
Via Porta Rossa
Borg
Via d
o Borg o Sa n Lo
renz
Piazza della Repubblica
Via dei Calzaiuoli
Vi ad
uova
N Vigna
Sapori V&ia Dintorni LG ori Largo Fratelli .Alinari, 6/7
Basilica di San Lorenzo
Via delle Oche
Via dei Sassetti
a
ei
Fo s
si
ad
Via de’ Tornabuoni
Sp
Donne
lla
Via dei Vecchietti
Via dei Pescioni
o or lM Vi a
Belle
de
lle Via de
de
arion
Lun
i
Piazza del Duomo
Via dei Pecori
Via degli Agli
Largo Fratelli Alinari
ucc
Via dei Cerretani
lla Via de
Via d iP
el P
Via d e
Borg Piazza degli Ottaviani
Via
Via d
o n Lo
lG
de
o Sa
i
an
renz
nz
Pa
a Vi
lio
ig
Piazza dell’Unità italiana
sol i
Via L
Via
Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
L
Marte
elli
Via Ric a
ori ’ Gin
ei N
i
ar
lin
A lli
e
at
Fr
Via de i
od
am illo
ant
Basilica di San Lorenzo
o
g ar
Via C
Piazza dell’Unità italiana
Via d e
el C
Largo Fratelli Alinari
avo ur
lla S tufa Via de
Via d
e
za
aen
o
rg
La
Stazione Ferroviaria Firenze Santa Maria Novella
F Via
Piazza della Stazione Centrale
a
ium
i
ar
lin
A F.
de
F Via
e
a Vi
Ta d
to ien
ium
i
z Na
Vi a
r ll’A de Via
F Via
Stazione Ferroviaria Firenze Santa Maria Novella
le
a on
Vi a
de
Lun
’B
gar
ar
di
no
Tor r
igia
ni
Sapori & Dintorni Via de’ Bardi, 45/47
THE BIG SUPERMARKETS ARE OPEN: • Monday - Saturday: from 08.30 am to 9.00 pm • Sunday: from 09.30 am to 9.00 pm
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Gagliardi Presents “Real Beauty”
Contemporary art gallery celebrates 25th anniversary with an exhibit on Riccardo Mannelli
T
he story began 25 years ago when Stefano Gagliardi decided to open a contemporary art gallery in San Gimignano following a new, quite personal criteria: that of selecting artists and artworks on the base of beauty, truth, quality and real value. A criteria quite difficult to sustain in a market, such as that of art, often characterized by speculative attitudes, ephemeral productions, transitory trends and operators that often lack professionalism. But it worked, and worked well, as the fact that many
artists launched by the gallery have successfully been showcased in important galleries and museums in Italy and abroad, and that the gallery itself has been invited throughout the years to organize over 60 events in collaboration with other galleries and public and private museums, demonstrate. To celebrate this important anniversary, the gallery is hosting an exhibition on one of the most important Italian living painter and cartoonist, Riccardo Mannelli. An artist that perfectly embodies the
values that have inspired the activity of the gallery in its first quarter of a century. Curated by Alessandra Frosini, the exhibit, which is entitled “Real Beauty,” is running from Sept. 10 until Oct. 2 and presents a dozen of inedited artworks made on a canvassed paper-cardboard, and dozens of drawings and watercolors. As curator Alessandra Frosini states, “beauty is a a fragile good par excellence, which transforms us leaving a trace, giving us life, nourished by our limits as well as by our potentials; something we cannot do without after we have encountered it: not because it coincides with perfection, but because it is a state of our soul.” Born in 1955 in the Tuscan town of Pistoia, Mannelli has been living in Rome since 1977. He collaborates with some of the most important national and international newspapers including la Repubblica and Il Fatto Quotidiano and teaches at the European Institute of Design in Rome. In 2011 he has been invited to the Venice Biennale. His most recent important exhibits have been “Rops + Mannelli” at the Ducal Palace in Urbino, and “Notes for the Reconstruction of Beauty” at the Buidyng Bridge Art Gallery in Los Angeles.
Experts in Culinary Travel !
Via San Martino 25 San Gimignano 53037 0577 907153 www.tuscanyex.com
Florence News 33
CHIANTI A Journey Through Human Cruelty
A Typical Dish From San Gimignano Asparagus and Truffle Risotto
The Torture and Death Penalty Museum displays more than 100 tools designed to torture and kill. Some of these tools are extremely rare, dating to the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They include the notorious ‘iron maiden,’ the guillotine, rack, torture chair and the chastity belt. Also on display are lesser-known sophisticated devices, such as the ‘heretic’s fork,’ the ‘noisemaker’s fife,’ the ‘Spanish spider’, and flaying instruments. Via San Giovanni, 82 & 125 San Gimignano Open daily: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. 0577-940526, 055-940151 Tickets: Full €10 Concessions: €7; Groups: €5 www.museodellatortura.it
1/2 kilo fresh asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces 2 scallions, chopped 2 T olive oil 3 cups arborio rice 1/2 cup Vernaccia di San Gimignano 4 cups vegetable broth 3 T butter 1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan or Aged Pecorino) 1. Place olive oil in pan with scallions and asparagus. Sauté for 2 minutes. 2. Add rice, wine, and half of the water. Lower heat and let simmer. 3. As water evaporates, keep adding more, stirring frequently to achieve a creamy texture. 4. Rice should be cooked until tender yet al dente. Add butter and cheese, stirring to distribute evenly. 5. Sprinkle generously with grated truffle.
Ristorante Il Pino Via Cellolese 6 San Gimignano 057 79 40 415 www.ristoranteilpino.it
F
34 Florence News
CHIANTI
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Discover Colle Val d’Elsa
‘The Italian Way of St. James’
• Sant’Agostino
Via Francigena, among ancient routes and modern “pilgrims” 25,000 people, half of whom are Italian, walked at least a part of the Via Francigena last year. Compared to the number of people who walked that stretch in previous years, this is encouraging — an improvement due to the increasing number of bed & breakfasts along the route and to the efforts to promote the route made by the region of Tuscany who has been trying to transform it in a sort of Italian version of the Spanish Way of St. James — but that could, and should, be improved in the future. It was this the conclusion of Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano that recently published a reportage on the route. According to Il Fatto, the potential of the route are huge and, if well exploited, could make it the Italian version of the St. James Way. First documented as the Lombard Way and then the Frankish Route in 725, according to the travel records of Willibald, Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, the route was named Via Francigena in 876, given its crossing with French territories (Francia, in Italian) at the Abbey of San Salvatore al Monte Amiata in Tuscany and was used
throughout the Middle Ages by pilgrims headed to Rome from the North, particularly from France. Nearly 400 kilometers of the Via pass through Tuscany, accounting in part for the development of a number of the region’s historic settlements and trade and religious centers. Today, tourists and history buffs can enjoy the cultural mecca that is Via Francigena by following one or all of the 15 Tuscan legs, beginning with the journey from Passo della Cisa to Pontremoli and ending with the route from Radicofani to Acquapendente. The Via passes through San Gimignano and its Fortress of Montestaffoli. Originally a castle for the Lombard Astolfo and later a Dominican Convent, the fortress took on a defensive role in the 14th century while under the threat of attack from Siena.
To book a trip to the Via Francigena: www.spreadyourwings.it
• Duomo di Colle di Val d’Elsa • Chiesa di Santa Maria in Canonica
• Chiesa di San Pietro
• Chiesa di Sant’Agostino
• Chiesa di Santa Caterina
• Convento di San Francesco • Cripta della Misericordia • Bastione di Sapia
• Casa-torre di Arnolfo di
I
ts name means “Hill of Elsa Valley”, where “Elsa” is the name of the river which crosses it. Today, Colle di Val d’Elsa is internationally renowned for the production of crystal glassware and art (15% of world production), largely produced in the industrial lower town. The area was settled by man from at least the 4th millennium BC, but first mentions of the city are from the 9th century AD. In 1269 it was the seat of a famous battle during the wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines and in 1479 it was besieged by Neapolitan troops. From the 14th century it was a possession of Florence and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the unification of Italy in 1860. In the 20th century it became
“ A spasso nel tempo” TREKKING & FRANCIGENA
PLACES OF INTEREST IN COLLE VAL D’ ELSA
A ROOM WITH A VIEW ON SAN GIMIGNANO
an important industrial center. During World War II it was bombed by Allied aircraft. The oldest part of the town is the “colle alta”, the higher part, with a well preserved medieval center. The town developed along the river from the 11th century onwards, building an artificial canal to power various industrial activities, such as wheat mills and paper factories. The city is also famous as the birthplace of sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.
To book a trip to Colle Val d’Elsa: www.spreadyourwings.it
Cambio
• Palazzo Pretorio
• Palazzo Campana
• Palazzo del Comune o dei Priori
• Palazzo Vescovile
• Palazzo Buoninsegni • Porta Nova
• Teatro dei Varii
• Teatro del Popolo
• Banca del Monte dei Paschi di Siena
• Via del Castello • Il Baluardo
• Piazza Arnolfo di Cambio
THE FARMHOUSE • BED AND BREAKFAST Restaurant “Zafferano by Casanova di Pescille”
TRUFFLE EXPERIENCE
• Personalized Tours • Tours for Disabled • Guided Tours • Wine Tasting Via Vecchia, 3 - 53037 San Gimignano (Siena) 0577 940568 - 3393817394 www.spreadyourwings.it info@spreadyourwings.it
Via Vecchia, 3 - 53037 San Gimignano (Siena) 0577 940568 - 3393817394 www.spreadyourwings.it
Loc. Pescille, 53037 San Gimignano (Siena) 0577 941902 • pescille@casanovadipescille.com www.casanovadipescille.com
SEPTEMBER TRIPS WITH BUS2ALPS Check out some of our upcoming trips below, and make sure to check out more online at www.bus2alps.com
Amalfi Coast
Every weekend
Oktoberfest
9/15, 9/22, 9/29
Taste of Tuscany
Every Weekend
Cinque Terre Day Trip
Every Weekend
Croatia
Every weekend
Interlaken & Lake Como
bus2alps.com
9/15 bus2alps
@bus2alps_travel
F
36 Florence News
TRAVEL
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Visit the Amalfi Coast with Bus2Alps K
nown for its picturesque sights and a laid-back beach vibe that has attracted celebrities, weekend jetsetters and college students from all around the world, the Amalfi Coast is one of Italy’s true paradises. It is also the site of a variety of unmissable destinations, including Naples, Pompeii and the Isle of Capri. Spring is the best time to visit this region because the crowds and heat have not yet swarmed the beaches, making the trip with Bus2alps to the Isle
bus2alps
of Capri and the seaside towns of Positano and Sorrento ideal. When first visiting this region, visitors are greeted with the sight of Mount Vesuvius looming over the countryside and dramatic views of traditional cities built into sloping cliffs.As the tour journeys to the Isle of Capri, visitors experience a mystical place that is home to many ancient myths, including the sirens from Homer’s Odyssey. On the private boat tour around the island provided by Bus2alps,
AMALFI COAST €265
Included:
you too will be captivated, not by mythical creatures, but by the natural beauty of the area. Visitors also journey to the world-famous Blue Grotto and the peak of Mount Solaro. The grotto is not only exceptional because it is an accessible sea cave, but the sunlight that travels through the entrance illuminates the clear water and creates brilliant blue and green hues. Mount Solaro is the tallest point on Capri, reaching 589 meters and providing unparalleled views of the landscape. After sunbathing and exploring the island, visit the seaside town of Positano, a short ride from Sant’Agnello and Sorrento. Positano is made up of multicolored buildings that cling to the cliff above the hot black sand and pebble beaches. Visitors can enjoy people-watching in the glorious surrounds and a variety of water sports. Only the Bus2alps tour includes a ferry to Capri with a private boat tour of the island, as well as transportation to Positano and Pompeii. The last day of the trip includes a tour of the ruins of Pompeii accompanied by an optional private guide, who recounts fascinating tales of the ancient city’s history. The trip was awarded Second-Best Tour Worldwide and is the twoNext Tripwinner Dates:of Best Tour in Europe time Every Weekend in 2012 and 2013. by TourRadar
• Round-trip luxury coach transport (with A/C, DVD & bathroom) • Accommodation with your friends at top-rated hostels • Breakfast • Private ferry to the Isle of Capri with a private guided boat tour of the island (with a stop at the Blue Grotto) • Private transfer to Positano • Private transport to Pompeii • Exclusive Bus2alps discounts everywhere • A Bus2alps trip leader • The Amalfi Coast Bus2alps destination guide
THE RESTAURANT OF THE FLORENTINES
Wide selection of vegeterian dishes
Located on Via Ghibellina near Santa Croce, Da Que’ Ganzi offers a fresh seafood and meat menu for both lunch and dinner. Tuscan specialties include ribollita and authentic Florentine steak, and all of the cakes and sweets are homemade. A special weekday lunch menu for less than €10 makes the restaurant affordable for anyone. Special dishes: BAKED SEA BASS & TUSCAN STEAK Mon. to Sun.: 12–2:30 p.m. & 7–11:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. Via Ghibellina, 70/r •055 22 60 010 www.daqueiganzi.it • info@daqueiganzi.it
F
SEPTEMBER
ICAN
CO
E*
*NE
M ER A *
E FF
W
www.florencenews.it
Florence News 37
TRAVEL
F
38 Florence News
TRAVEL
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Explore Croatia with Bus2alps
island of Brač. Brač is known for its rolling hills, isolated bays, clear waters and breathtaking views; however, it is also home to medieval buildings and an exciting range of activities, such as windsurfing in the harbor. In the evening Bus2alps organizes an optional trip to the island town of Trogir,
Europe’s best-kept secret
about 30 minutes from Split, to enjoy one of the many dining options available. On the last day the group takes a trip to Krka, where a few hours are dedicated to swimming and exploring the magnificent waterfalls of the national park before heading back to Florence. See www.bus2alps.com for full details.
The trip includes: Round-trip luxury coach transport (with A/C, DVD, & bathroom) Accommodation with your friends at top-rated hostels Breakfast
W
hile traveling to one of Europe’s well-known destinations can be an exciting experience, visiting one of its best-kept secrets can open the door to true adventure. Croatia’s natural beauty makes it one of the best destinations for outdoor activities, relaxing on the beach and admiring cultural wonders. Untouched sandy beaches, the magnificent wonder of the Krka Waterfalls and whitewater rafting on the emerald-green Cetina River are just the beginning of a perfect coastal getaway.
Student travel company Bus2alps offers a convenient way to reach the country and an itinerary that covers must-see locations and includes the most exciting activities. The tour focuses on the medieval port town of Split located on Croatia’s pristine Dalmatian coast. On the first day Bus2alps organizes an optional whitewater rafting trip on the Cetina River, an adventurous and scenic experience on one of Croatia’s great natural landmarks. Those who don’t join the rafting adventure can spend the day laying out on one of Split’s
bus2alps
beaches, join a tour of the Split city center, visit the Diocletian Palace, rent a bike and ride up Marjan Hill, or take a day trip to local surrounding towns, such as Omiš, or the Krka Waterfalls. Omiš, located 25 kilometers from Split, can be accessed by the local bus and is where the Cetina River meets the sea. An optional pub crawl through Split’s nightlife is also offered, ensuring travelers don’t miss out on the hottest spots. The following day gives the group a chance to join an optional private island cruise tour destined for the
CROATIA
Transport and entrance to Krka Waterfalls National Park Exclusive Bus2alps discounts on various activities (rafting, island-hopping, and more) The Croatia Bus2alps informational guide A Bus2alps trip leader
€265
Next Trip Dates:
Every Weekend
F
SEPTEMBER www.florencenews.it
Taste Wine with Pino In a 700-year-old well
‘P
ozzo Divino’ is a witty play on words: literally meaning ‘divine well’, it also translates as ‘wine well’ when read as ‘Pozzo di Vino’. The ancient well is now the cellar that hosts Pozzo Divino’s wine tours. Dating back to 1312, the well was built to supply water through a vast system of underground tunnels and pipes to the prisoners of a local prison known as ‘The Stinche’ (now Teatro Verdi) that stretched as far as the Bargello. Pino bought the location in 2006 and restored it himself with the help of some friends. Despite its
restoration, Pino reveals that it was always his principal intention to maintain a tangible sense of history when stepping into the cellar. This is something he has undoubtedly achieved; the place is almost like a time-machine propelling you back a few centuries into a part of authentic medieval Florence – albeit in excellent condition. Pino imparts his knowledge while taking guests around the cellar, offering a range of Italian wines to sample with an appetizer of complementary regional cheeses, cuts of meats, bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
SNACK BAR ANNA THE BAGEL POINT Enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and the jumbo cappuccinos while having a chat with Anna and Stefano, who will welcome you in a warm and friendly way. Grab one of the many homemade bagels, the bar’s perfected specialty since 1990. These bagels and sandwiches have made this snack spot one of the most popular among local Americans. While taking a break in the back seating area you will be pleased to experience the no-charge table service, which places Snack Bar Anna far from the ‘tourist traps’ in the city. Opening hours: Mon. to Sat.: 8:30 a.m.–7:30 p.m. Via de’ Ginori, 26/r 055 23 81 143 miranna.lomartire@gmail.com
Guests are offered a spectrum of Tuscan flavors to try, from a variety of the region’s renowned Chianti Classico to white wines that include Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio. The wine-tasting ends with the most exclusive reds of the cellar: Bolgheri, Super Tuscan, Morellino and Montepulciano. Upon request, guests also enjoy a buffet lunch comprising fresh pasta, specialty Italian second courses, and “the best panini in the world” made by Pino himself. Pino boasts that 90 percent of the wines he holds are of Tuscan origin, and that his tours prove so popular that he often ships back boxes of the wine sampled to America in order to appease impressed customers. Those looking to take a taste of Tuscany back home can find comprehensive information on shipping zones and freight costs on the company’s website. Pozzo Divino’s wine tours can be organized for tourist groups, families and universities, and cost only €15 a head – which not only makes it an experience to enjoy over the festive season but also an ideal Christmas gift for lovers of Tuscany’s finest vintages.
Pozzo Divino Only 15 Euro! Via Ghibellina, 144/r 055 24 66 907 Open from Monday to Saturday Wine-tasting on Sundays by appointment (minimum 10 people) www.pozzodivino.it
WINE ON TAP IN SANTO SPIRITO Bring your bottle to be filled starting from less than €1.50 straight from the barrels of Il Santo Vino. Here patrons can choose from a wide range of Italian wines alongside selected local specialty and organic products.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.; 5–9 p.m. Borgo Tegolaio, 46/r Tel. 055 53 87 122 , 345 90 93 425 www.ilsantovino.it Facebook: Il Santo Vino
Florence News 39
FOOD&WINE
Dine with Dante
N
amed after Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, a homely, rustic taverna fittingly lies on Via dei Cimatori, only a few meters away from Dante’s house. The restaurant offers traditional dishes based on medieval recipes. Some are adapted and revisited for the modern age in a way that one maintains the omnipresent feeling of Florentine history and tradition – so much so that Dante himself could walk in and dine next to you. Others are as they were centuries ago. Traditional medieval-style dishes include homemade ribbon pasta with wild boar and mushroom sauce, roast shin of pork with new potatoes and seasonal vegetables, risotto inspired by medieval Tus-
can flavors, and tasting plates of assorted cheeses accompanied with fresh fruit and jams, including the taverna’s specialty hot red pepper jam. Also serving as a wine bar and pizzeria, the restaurant offers an eclectic selection of wines from its cellar, an outdoor summer terrace, and is fittingly decorated in a medieval style with armour and banners.
Taverna Divina Commedia Via dei Cimatori, 7r 055 21 53 69