ISSUE No. 152
ISSUE / No. 152
November 10, 2011
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Italy News
Floods in Tuscany and Liguria
High water and solidarity following latest storms
Italy's recent torrential rains claimed 17 lives, left hundreds homeless, paralyzed businesses and caused millions of euro in damage. Residents in Genoa, the Cinque Terre and Tuscany's Lunigiana and Elba island are still digging out the from the mud and debris …
Florence News
Learning through experience
Artisan workshops in English for kids
Let’s Work Artisans! Junior project
not only teaches young people the art of ceramics, but they learn the
craft in English, developing knowledge of culture and craft. The
ninety-minute workshops for children ages 6 to 12 are being held on
November 10, 12, 17 and …
Write the Mayor
Write the Mayor
by
Matteo Renzi
Those interested in writing the mayor can send messages and comments via email to redazione@theflorentine.net, stating 'Write the Mayor' in the subject line of the email. Emails must clearly state the author's first name, surname, city and country of birth, and …
Florence News
'A giant leap for womankind'
Accademia hosts symposium on Irene Parenti Duclos
It was ‘Woman's day' at the Accademia Gallery's Tribuna del David on October 24 as art historians, restorers and museum directors gathered to present and share the discoveries that emerged during the restoration of Irene Parenti Duclos's copy of Andrea del …
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the editor
Editor's note: In TF 151, we ran a story about a divorce and custody case involving alleged international child abduction. We ran the story because we believe it is important to chronicle events that touch on issues that affect the Florence …
Florence News
Fresco found
'American' angel discovered in Sant'Orsola
The search for the bones of Lisa Gherardini, who is assumed by many to have been the subject of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, has brought to light a forgotten artwork.
The most recent discovery in the now-abandoned former convent of Sant'Orsola, in the …
Florence News
Bookstore in search of a buyer
Without a new owner, city's first English-language bookstore will close by year's end
‘I can't believe it; it is the end of an institution,' said Tom Bauch, when he heard the news that Florence's first English-language book store, BM Bookshop, would close its doors on December 31 unless a buyer is found. A resident …
Florence News
Valentino chooses Florence!,
Italian fashion house comes to Pitti
One of Italy's most renowned fashion labels, Valentino, will present its autumn 2012/winter 2013 menswear collection at the upcoming Pitti Uomo 81. Not only will this be the label's first runway show since Valentino's retirement in 2008, but it will be …
Florence News
Biodiversity at its best
The quality of the forests surrounding Florence is so high that they are setting international standards for sustainability and biodiversity. A group called the International Model Forest Network, which represents countries with heavily forested areas, recently met in Villa di Poggio Reale …Tuscany News
Solar forecasting
Daily renewable energy counts in Livorno
The weather forecast in Livorno is about to undergo a major change: the prediction will include not only temperature, precipitation and barometric pressure, but also the amount of renewable energy created from the sun and wind.
As of November, Livorno is the …
Tuscany News
The eyes have them
Doctors in Pisa claim another first
A team of physicians at the University Hospital of Pisa has successfully restored partial vision to a blind patient through a micro-implant, the first device of its kind in the European community.
The device enables the blind to see shadows, shapes and …
Tuscany News
Tuscany is a melting pot
Immigrants also feeling the crisis
Just over one-tenth of people living in Tuscany are immigrants, according to a new report released by Caritas and Migrantes. Research reveals that 396,000 residents (10.6 percent of the region's population) were born outside of Italy, a 7.5 percent increase since …
Tuscany News
The wine that unites
Brunello a symbol of Italy
Is wine the symbol of Italian unity? A group of sommeliers who recently met in Rome think so. Moreover, the wine that unites is one of Tuscany's own.
Selecting the Italian wine that best represents Italian unity, the sommeliers chose Tuscany's most …
Tuscany News
Metro area connected
More hotspots around Florence
Greater Florence, including Prato and Pistoia, will soon be part of the Free Wi-Fi Italy national network, which allows the public to connect wirelessly to the Internet free.
The plan is to develop the national network as a ‘federation' of local networks.
In …
Tuscany News
Dry season
Tuscan delicacies harder to find
Although vacationing Italians and tourists from abroad probably welcomed the many days of sun this summer, too much Tuscan sun shone on the region's traditional crops.
According to experts, olive oil production is down by 40 percent, with many blaming the exceptionally …
Italy News
More art in Milan ,
Gallerie d'Italia opens in Piazza Scala
In anticipation of Expo 2015, Milan recently opened a new museum of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art. Located in the heart of the city, the new Gallerie d'Italia is important not only for its collection but also for its location: the historic …
Italy News
In Draghi we trust
Italy's top banker is the Eurozone's hope... and Italy's
The annual list of the world's most powerful people issued by U.S. business and financial magazine Forbes included Mario Draghi, Italy's most powerful man and the new head of the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ranked 12, the former governor of the Bank …
Sport News
Miha let go
Third straight loss leads to big changes
The bookmakers were already betting on whether the coach of the ACF Fiorentina, Sinisa Mihajlovic, would still be with the team after lossing to Chievo on November 6. It was the team's third consecutive loss, and fourth loss so far this …
Sport News
King of the ring
Leonard Bundu is European champ
On November 4, at age 37, in his adopted home of Florence, Leonard Bundu clinched the European Boxing Union's Welterweight title.
Bundu claimed the title in a return match at the Mandela Forum, just four months after meeting his rival, Rome's Daniele …
Community News
Florence's best export
Latest Porcellino unveiled by Young Friends of Florence
With copies sent around the world, Florence's bronze boar fountain, Il Porcellino, is one of the city's most popular exports. On October 25, another bronze replica of the Porcellino was unveiled in Greenville, South Carolina. Contessa Simonetta Brandolini d'Adda, founder of …
Community News
'The thrill is gone'
A report from La Pietra Dialogues: Politics 2012
On October 12, New York University's La Pietra Policy Dialogues opened its fourth annual political conference. Held at NYU's Villa La Pietra, for the first time, the conference was held in anticipation of the 2012 U.S. presidential election instead of in …
Community News
News for overseas voters
U.S. Presidential Preference Primary Elections
The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, is calling on all U.S. citizens abroad to inform each other about registering to vote and requesting a ballot from overseas.
By accessing OVF's website, www.overseasvotefoundation.org, voters can generate their voter registration/absentee ballot …
Movie Reviews
Movie reviews - Nov 10 to 23,
Editor's Note: The Odeon Original Sound programme continues at the Astra 2 in piazza Beccaria during the 50 Days of International Cinema Festival, which is being held at the Odeon (see TF 151 for details). For showtimes at the Astra 2, …
Best Events
The don't miss list - Nov 10 to 23
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. Music/Dissonant Live November 11, December 23, January 13, Auditorium Flog, via Michele Mercati 24b, Florence This concert …
Interviews
Vintage instants
Rediscovering old-fashioned fun
In the age of digital cameras, the photo-booth experience leaves nothing to the imagination, producing flatly lit low-resolution printouts of the image you choose for official documents. If you were born in the 1970s or earlier, you may recall the joy …
Interviews
TED comes to Florence
Innovation and optimism are key
‘TED' stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It's a conference format that started in California in 1984 as a platform for the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas. The 18-minute talks are by far the most fascinating conference talks you'll ever see, partly …
Filming Filippo
The story of a man
Forging a portrait of Brunelleschi
Filmmaker David Battistella moved to Florence from Canada earlier this year to pursue his dream: writing and producing a feature film based on Ross King's 2000 book Brunelleschi's Dome, about the life of Filippo Brunelleschi and the building of Florence's cupola. …
Current Issues
What lies beneath
Word on the street as the city prepares for the TAV
Preliminary work on the high-speed TAV lines started in Florence this month. While the railway system promises to ease intercity travel, shorten journey times to France, and lessen road traffic, there is much fear among residents in Florence's northern neighbourhoods about …
Monuments + More
The statue of Goldoni
Unmasked comedy
Debonnaire and elegantly dressed in knee breeches, coat and flowing cape, a tricorner hat in one hand and a book in the other, the bare-headed but smartly wigged statue of playwright, Carlo Goldoni looks down on Ponte alla Carraia and over …
In Other Words
System me
In Italy, transport strikes loom suddenly, like a sharp-toothed dinosaur in a children's pop-up book. The country's queues are waves rather than lines, forming like a tide, with surge and flow. Around here, calendars are used for counting down, not for arranging …Florentinisms
Beccassi, Becchettassi, Fare i' busco
Your in-progress dictionary of the Florentine dialect
Beccassi: To meet one another.
Example: ‘Allora ci si becca in piazza della Repubblica verso le 18! A dopo!' (‘OK, let's meet in piazza della Repubblica around 6pm! See you later!')
Becchettassi: To fight.
Example: ‘O maremma bona, e son stati tutto i' giorno …
Life
On the hunt in Tuscany
A case of declining numbers
About the same time that all the supplies for making homemade tomato sauce appear on display at large supermarkets like Ipercoop, a section devoted to hunting gear also materializes. There, you can find camouflage pants, vests, military sweaters, waders and hunting …
Tuscany + Beyond
Tuscany's truffle heartland
San Miniato and its white treasure
by
Emiko Davies
The pretty hilltop town of San Miniato, situated halfway between Pisa and Florence, is tied so closely to its food that even a mention of its name will spark the imagination of those who know it for its rare delicacy, the …
Recipes
Peasant food at its best
Chestnuts in the kitchen
With the cooler days and nights and the richer colours and flavours of autumn, I find myself longing for Tuscan chestnut dishes. Foraging is great at this time of the year: autumn walks in the countryside yield pockets full of castagne, …
The Arts
David Battistella Filming Filippo
Making a film based on Ross King's book 'Brunelleschi's Dome'
Filmmaker David Battistella moved to Florence from Canada earlier this year to pursue his dream: writing and producing a feature film based on Ross King's 2000 book Brunelleschi's Dome, about the life of Filippo Brunelleschi and the building of Florence's Cupola.
This …
Best Events
Thanksgiving 2011 in Florence
Where to celebrate with Thanksgiving Dinner
For
our American friends who wish to celebrate Thanksgiving Dinner in Florence (Thursday, November 24 2011), we provide the following list of dinners that
have been pointed out to us.
Annual American
Community Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner
8pm,
St. James Church, via Rucellai 9
This
is the real thing, …
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