ISSUE No. 148
ISSUE / No. 148
September 15, 2011
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Florence for Students
Congratulations!
Welcome students to a new experience
After months of
applications, paperwork and visa headaches, you are now living in Florence, one
of the lucky 4,000 American students enrolled in one of the 40 different study-abroad
programs. A celebratory gelato in hand, you are officially ready to start your
European adventure.
No doubt …
Write the Mayor
Write the mayor
Fostering dialogue between Florence's mayor and the English-speaking community
by
Matteo Renzi
As of today, The
Florentine will be hosting an
innovative new column, Write the Mayor,
in collaboration with Florence's 'first citizen', Matteo Renzi. Write
the Mayor is an initiative that was
suggested by the mayor himself, as he wishes to initiate a lively
dialogue with the English-speaking …
Community News
Welcome Day!
Florence embraces its new residents at Palazzo Vecchio
The fall 2011 semester has begun, and Florence will celebrate the arrival of students from abroad with the annual Welcome Day event and annual Tuscan-American awards ceremony on Sept 22 at 5:30pm in Palazzo Vecchio. A tradition since 1995, Welcome Day …
Community News
Job posting: British embassy seeks honorary consul for Florence
The British Embassy in Rome will appoint a new honorary consul to Florence. Working with the consular team in Milan, who will deal with general, day-to-day issues, the honorary consul will provide consular assistance to British nationals visiting or residing in …
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
Dear The Florentine, Many readers faithfully stop in at our bookshop near the Duomo to pick up their copy of The Florentine, and say hello, and occasionally, thank you. Many, also, thankfully, buy a book or two from us. One lovely, breezy afternoon …
Florence News
TF goes green
New delivery is zero emission
As of this issue, The Florentine will be delivering issues
exclusively by bike courier thanks to collaboration with the Florence's new
emissions-free delivery service, Ecopony. Papers will reach distribution points
from 9am to noon every other Thursday. This change promises a better,
eco-friendly service, since …
Florence News
1 card = 12 museums
Ten Florentine cities join new initiative
Although Chianti and
the Valdarno are better known for their culinary excellence, magnificent
artwork hangs in their churches and museums.
From now through
October 21, a new museum card offers those touring the province of Florence
during the fall to see lesser-known but nonetheless magnificent works …
Florence News
Roll out the red carpet
With the famous on hand, Gucci to open new museum
Hundreds of stars of
the silver screen are rumoured to be attending the upcoming inauguration of the
Gucci museum on September 26.
Famed faces like
Madonna and Jennifer Lopez are expected to be at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in
Palazzo della Mercatanzia in piazza Signoria, location of …
Florence News
Avoid traffic
Those needing to get somewhere fast can now get traffic updates in real time on major thoroughfares in Florence, Bagno a Ripoli, Pontassieve, Scandicci and Sesto Fiorentino. Increasing numbers of Florentine drivers and cyclists with a smartphone in hand are using the new online geolocalisation …Florence News
Skip the line
Every year, thousands of tourists line up under the scorching summer sun to visit Florence's Duomo, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Now those willing to spend 7 euro on a ‘priority card' can skip the line and get direct access to the …Florence News
Florence best loved, again
The results of the 2011 World's Best Awards Reader's Poll conducted by U.S. magazine Travel and Leisure (T+L) released in August revealed once again that Florence is considered one of the world's best cities to visit. Ranked just behind Bangkok, Thailand, which claimed the World's …Florence News
Pedestrian Florence
Additional modifications to the city's pedestrian plan went into effect over the summer, these latest benefitting residents in the Palazzo Pitti area. When Florence's most recently created pedestrian zones, piazza Pitti, piazza Santo Spirito, via Tornabuoni and Por Santa Maria, were put into effect in …Tuscany News
Health costs
New regional health care fees take effect
As a new wave of
austerity measures passed by the national government go into effect, the region
of Tuscany has decided to participate in the cost-cutting initiative in the
national healthcare sector, but under its own set of rules.
The Tuscan region was
initially against the …
Tuscany News
Joining the fight against blight
Citizens in Pisa can report potholes, dumping and more
From unsafe sidewalks to broken traffic lights and missing traffic signs: anyone in Pisa with an Internet connection can now report and map blight and problems on a new page of the city of Pisa's official website, http://segnalazioni.comune.pisa.it. Those without an …
Tuscany News
A foodie favorite
Make restaurant reservations in Siena
A new online portal, www.mangiareasiena.it, makes it easier for foodies to find and book restaurants in the city of the Palio. In addition to its latest feature of taking online bookings, the site offers useful information on locally sourced and certified …
Tuscany News
A tasty farewell
Extra Virgin's final episode in Cortona
by
Emiko Davies
This year's Tuscan Sun
Festival in Cortona had an incredible line-up of cultural events that included
Jeremy Irons as Chopin, tangoing to Martha Argerich, and yoga with Trudie
Styler. But the other attraction of the festival was the array of foodie
events. Tucked away in …
Tuscany News
Saving the Planet, a bottle at a time
Italy's first eco-friendly wine from Montepulciano
Awareness is growing
about the impact of the wine industry on the environment and a vineyard in
Montepulciano is the first of its sort in Italy to dramatically cut Co2
emissions.
The
Montepulciano-based vineyard Salcheto has a reputation for sustainable farming,
using biodynamic and organic techniques. Moreover, …
Italy News
Austerity, Italian style
Government passes drastic budget cuts
Among
the steps Italy's government has taken in a new era of austerity are
constitutional amendments mandating that state budgets must be balanced
and the elimination of Italy's provinces with fewer than 300,000
residents. These two bills, which passed from the …
Italy News
Tapping into the sea
Italy looks to marine energy as electricity source
Some are eyeing the country's 8,000 miles of coastline for its potential to generate energy. Marine currents are increasingly harnessed as becoming a viable source of energy; the Strait of Messina alone, for example, could provide enough energy for a city …
Italy News
Bacteria that cleans
Italian researchers use germs to help art
A strain of bacteria may become an important aid in restoring many of Italy's frescoes, paintings and murals. Developed by Italian microbiologist Giancarlo Ranalli of the University of Molise, the new microbes have already been at work in a church in …
Sport News
Study abroad at the stadium
Student discounts for Fiorentina matches
Through an initiative launched by the OSA Soccer Academy and ACF Fiorentina, foreign and non-resident students currently enrolled in any of Florence's many American university programs can get discounted tickets to all of the Fiorentina's home games and some away games.
Study-abroad …
Sport News
See Tuscany on two feet
Walking Festival returns with fall events
Themed walks, events and activities for those who seek the ‘true Tuscany': six regional natural parks are welcoming visitors during the Tuscany Walking Festival. Both residents and tourists are invited to explore historical, natural, archeological and ‘food and wine' trails in …
Movie Reviews
Movie reviews - Sept 16 to 29,
CARNAGE Roman Polanski's adaptation of the celebrated play by Yasmina Reza premiered at the Venice Film Festival last week and at the time of writing is still hotly in competition for the various prizes. Kate Winslet's by now famous projectile vomiting aside, …
Best Events
The don't miss list - Sept 16 to 29
Our events listing keeps you up-to-date on the latest and greatest in culture, music and other English-friendly entertainment; this is a selection of the best of them. Culture/Giornate Europee del Patrimonio 2012 September 24 and 25 European Heritage Day is a cultural heritage event …
Families + Kids
Rolling on the river
See Florence from the bottom up
Simone Ciabatti is a guide, a businessman and a proud Florentine who wants to share his city with others-and to do it in the most inventive way possible. For years, Simone has run his company, Accord Solutions, with an eye toward …
Insider Florence
Early Florentine social services
Behind the walls of the Bigallo Museum
At the corner of Piazza Duomo and via dei Calzaiuoli is a small loggia that played a big part in Florentine civic history. In the shade of the bell tower, behind malodorous horses and carriages, until recently, few tourists or residents …
Monuments + More
The Column of Abundance
From forum to piazza
Possibly no other monument in Florence is more widely used than the Column of Abundance in Piazza della Repubblica. Tired tourists and weary locals often sit on the steps surrounding the base of the monolith, where they can rest and watch …
Interviews
Cerca trova
Join the quest for Leonardo's long-lost masterwork
A freelance photographer based in Milan, Dave Yoder has an ambitious fund-raising goal for an equally ambitious project: raising over 250,000 U.S. dollars to build a super high-tech camera that can ‘see' Leonardo da Vinci's fabled painting The Battle of Anghiari …
People
How to live like Leonardo
Seven steps to becoming a real-life genius
by
Tiare Dunlap
Living in Fiesole, I had the privilege of hiking in the forest where Leonardo da Vinci used to hike, his apprentice carrying some complex feat of imagination, painstakingly crafted from wood and cloth. Making my way through dense thickets of cypress …
In Other Words
Making local mind
This morning, a newspaper whose name means ‘read' printed a headline that I've been trying to get my head around. One Italian in 10, it says, suffers from stress da rientro, a form of the blues that stems from one's disgruntled …Florentinisms
Sicche, Midolla, Un sono mica ripreso dalla piena
Your in-progress dictionary of the Florentine dialect
Sicchè: So; then.
Example: ‘Sicchè alla fine siamo andati al teatro.'
(‘So, in the end we went to the theatre.')
Midolla: The soft part of the bread.
Example: ‘La midolla di codesto pane unnè bona: la si sbriciola tutta!'
(‘The soft part of this bread is …
Florence for Students
Florence treasures for 10 euro or less
Budget itineraries for the frugal daytripper
by
Mina Riazi
By avoiding the well-known tourist destinations, it's possible to enjoy many of Florence's delights for less than 10 euro, But it involves some effort. For instance, it is easy to walk right by to the museum of the Opificio delle Pietre …
Florence for Students
Hostel hopping
Florence's top 10 hostels
A fresh influx of newly arrived study abroad students to Florence this fall means many new visitors to the city. Students from abroad bring not only a new culture, language and perspective, but also their visiting friends and relatives from back …
Tuscany + Beyond
City of towers
Exploring San Gimignano
San Gimignano, a UNESCO Heritage site, is known as the Manhattan of the Middle Ages for its many medieval towers. Unlike Manhattan, however, which is large enough to entertain its tourists for weeks, San Gimignano is often crowded with day-trippers. But …
Recipes
Summer in a bottle
Make passata while the sun shines
Driving back from Puglia in August, on the stretch between Bari and Naples, I passed 36 trucks filled to their brims with pomodori San Marzano, on their way to the canneries. I dodged the tomatoes flying out of the overflowing open-top …
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