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Florence News
It's May!
by Marco Badiani
Tuscany celebrates spring
Though everyone says September is the best month to visit Italy, The Florentine staff believes that May is the most interesting time to visit Florence and discover Tuscany. What's not to love? The city is both more relaxed and livelier. People dress lighter. The sweet spring air suggests the pleasures of food and wine, and we …
Florence News
Caught red handed
Police nab arsonist
On April 20, someone began setting cars afire in and around Florence. As flames erupted night after night over the ensuing weeks, police did not know …
Florence News
Tuscan sea is crystal clear
Italy's sandy coastlines have more blue flags than ever before. The Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) recently awarded 215 Italian beaches in 104 municipalities with the …National News
Taxman tells all
Online declarations cause outrage
For just a few hours, Italian citizens were able to see how much their friends, neighbors, colleagues and bosses declared as taxable income. In early May, …
National News
Berlusconi IV
Novices join seasoned MPs in new government
Media mogul and new premier of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, formed his new government in record timing. Berlusconi broke with protocol and made history by promptly handing …
National News
The big stink
EU charges Italy for Naples trash
With some 30,000 tonnes of rubbish still lining the streets in the Campania region, the European Commission (EC) said it is bringing Italy before the European …
Florence News
May is for wine lovers!
by Marco Badiani
Enjoy the beauty of Tuscany and the pleasure of wine at two of May's most delightful events: Alla Corte del Vino and Cantine Aperte.
In the gardens of the splendid Villa Corsini, beautifully situated in the Chianti hills on the road leading from San Casciano to Mercatale, more than 100 wineries show their newest and best at …
Food & Wine
Marco's recipe for the perfect Cantine Aperte
by Marco Badiani
Tips on where to get the best sips in Tuscany
For 17 years, all of Italy has reserved the last Sunday in May for Cantine Aperte. Last year, over four million people visited the country's wineries …
Sport & Leisure News
You win some, you lose some
Viola out of Uefa but fight to stay in Champions
After a disappointing loss to the Glasgow Rangers in Florence on May 1, AC Fiorentina were out of the Uefa Cup finals. Though deemed the better …
Sport & Leisure News
Racing through Mugello
by Adam Wenger
Standing alone in the middle of a picturesque, dandelion-covered meadow, I welcomed the greatly overdue spring sunshine. With an abandoned farmhouse on the horizon and the smell of fresh grass permeating the air, I had to remind myself that I wasn't lost in the hills of Tuscany: I was standing in the heart of the International …
Culture & Customs
Carried away
by Linda Falcone
Il fatto bello della settimana. Moments from everyday Italy
In Italy, want-ad newspapers have a dual function. They keep you abreast of all the jobs that have recently become available throughout the territory. They also …
Culture & Customs
Imagine yourself involved
by Rachel Northrop
How to become a part of the Florentine community
The key to a successful study abroad experience is being able to use your imagination. You have to imagine that you aren't here for just six …
Culture & Customs
Money matters
by Haley Kingsland
How to stretch your student dollars
With the exchange rate between the dollar and euro at an all-time high and the price of oil breaking records, spending money in Florence is downright …
Culture & Customs
Looking back and looking forward
by Christina N. Caughlan
Centennial celebrations at St. James Church in Florence
On April 23, 1908, the cornerstone was laid of what would become the sanctuary of St. James, la chiesa americana (‘American Church') in Florence, Italy. Last …
The Arts
Diplomacy, Italian style
by Lisa Kaborycha
The Medici Archives
I have heard you would like to try some cheeses from Pesaro,
so I am sending you these as a sample. Let me know if you …
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The Arts
Enigma in Giorgio de Chiricos art
by Brenda Dionisi
Et quid amabo nisi quod aenigma est?
‘One clear autumn afternoon I was sitting on a bench in the middle of the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. It was of course not the first time I had seen this square...The whole world, down to the marble of the buildings and fountains, seemed to me to be convalescent...Then I had the strange impression I was looking at these things for the first time, and the composition of my picture came to my mind's eye. Now each time I look at that painting I see that moment. Nevertheless the moment is an enigma to me, for it is inexplicable'. (Giorgio de Chirico: Meditations of a Painter, 1912, trans. by Loiuse Bourgeois & Robert Goldwater).
These words from one of Italy's greatest …
The Arts
Maggio Musicale
by Helen Glave
When Maggio Musicale chose ‘women' as its theme for the 71st season, opening April 26, the idea in mind was not the self-sacrificing consumptive heroines of …
Travel & Leisure
Trekking Through Tuscany
by Gianfranco Bracci
Enjoy some springtime sunshine by travelling this ancient route from Vaglia to Fiesole and rediscover its silences, fragrances and exceptional panoramas. The second part runs largely …
Mosaics by Jane Fortune
Think Spring!
by Jane Fortune
Art in the garden
The Garden of Daniel Spoerri
In the early 1990s, Romanian-born Spoerri created a sculpture garden of 16 hectors in the town of Seggiano. Ninety installations are placed …
The Arts
Celebrating the Golden Age
China: At the Court of the Emperors
Taking a stroll through the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi these days you may feel you’ve gone back to the Renaissance…in China, that is. Fondazione Strozzi’s newest …
The Arts
The shape of the book: from the scroll to the codex
by Christopher Saint-Amand
Exhibit Review
Florence is not just a painter’s city. The Renaissance had as profound an impact on the written word. Florence was the center of this great humanist …
Florence News
Billy clubs booed
Municipal police reject calls for more weapons
As debate on the issue of urban safety and security escalates across the country, many Italian cities are considering arming their police with batons, citing the …
News in Brief
Partners in protest
In response to an invitation from the No-Tav Florence committee, anti-Tav activists from the northern area of Val di Susa traveled to Tuscany on May 2-3 …Florence News
Copy cat politics
New mayor of Rome to adopt Florence-born policies
Florence safety superintendent Graziano Cioni is an inspiration to the eternal city's newest mayor. Gianni Alemanno has said that he intends to adopt many of the …
Florence News
James jinxed?
Mishaps haunt latest Bond film
Movie buffs are starting to fear that the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, currently being filmed in Italy and other sites in Europe, may …
Florence News
Not a happy ending
Weird News
A 100-kilo wild boar was found dead along the banks of the Arno near the Ponte alla Grazie on April 25. Tourists who were sunbathing on …
Florence News
Recycle your food
Local officials share the wealth
Why throw away food when it can help feed the poor? The provincial administration has introduced Siticibo, a food-sharing measure to help feed the city's most …
Florence News
Grandmas got a Porsche
Weird News
Municipal police are cracking down on the use of counterfeit parking permits for the disabled. Since 2006, officials have confiscated over 250 fraudulent permits used by …
Florence News
The burning trend
Weird News
The new YouTube phenomenon that has swept across Italy has also enveloped the region. From Florence city to province, amateur videos posted on the popular video-sharing …
Features
Articles
Special Issues
BRAGGING RIGHTS »
May 13, 2008
The Florentine Special Edition for NAFSA Expo
Washington, D.C., USA, May 25-30, 2008
May 9, 2008
Useful to read, fun to study
Italian students do it again
May 2, 2008
Even books bloom in May!
The Florentine Press’ titles are bestsellers
Friday, May 16, 2008