ISSUE No. 168
ISSUE / No. 168
September 13, 2012
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Florence for Students
Welcome to Firenze
So you've made it to bella Italia, the land of pizza and gelato, where the sun always shines, no one ever stops talking or pays their taxes, and lovelorn Romeos call out ‘Buongiorno principessa!' to their sweethearts. While the country may not live up …Write the Mayor
Matteo Renzi answers a reader's complaint about an unfortunate visit to the city
Dear Mayor Renzi, It is with utmost respect that I write to you. My wife and I, having recently retired, finally brought to life our long dream, visiting Florence, exploring its marvels and savoring Tuscany, a dreamland to so many of us. We could have summarized our …
Community News
Request your ballot now
U.S. citizens can vote from abroad
In view of the upcoming elections this November that
will elect the next president of the United States of America, U.S. citizens
can vote from abroad. For U.S. citizens who need to cast their votes from
abroad, four nonpartisan websites guide you through the …
Florence News
Gilded glory
Gates of Paradise back on show
After one of Italy's longest, most complex restoration
projects, Lorenzo Ghiberti's most precious masterwork, the Gates of Paradise, a
pair of gilded bronze doors at the east entrance of the Baptistery, is once
again on public display.
In early July, the doors, which took as …
Florence News
FiRenzi in the running
Mayor takes a shot at centre-left primaries
After months of denying that he is eyeing a spot in
the Italian Senate, Matteo Renzi finally came clean: anticipating the
centre-left primaries (date still TBA), on September 13 from Verona, he kicked off a 75-day
tour of Italy in a motor home, campaigning …
Florence News
Medici stamps
Florentine princess to appear on Italian stamps
Postage stamps featuring Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici,
the Electress Palatine, will be issued in 2013.
To mark the 270th anniversary of the death of the last
member of Florence's Medici dynasty on February 18, 1743, the mayor of
Florence, Matteo Renzi, and the city's …
Florence News
Carrot and stick
In response to long-standing complaints, and following the temporary closure in May of many bars in via de' Benci for numerous violations, among them exceeding noise limits and outdoor alcohol consumption (see TF 165), a group of bars in Florence are participating in a …Florence News
Savings at supermarkets
Tuscany cheapest region for food shoppers
According to a survey conducted by the consumers
association Altroconsumo, Tuscany's supermarkets are the cheapest in Italy. Of
the supermarkets surveyed in 61 Italian cities, Pisa and Florence have the
lowest average prices in the country, followed by Verona.
‘Where there is competition,' the survey …
Florence News
Films in English at the Fulgor
Cinema Fulgor in the borgo Ognissanti area is starting a programme of films in their original languages, with three shows every day-a response to the increasing interest on the part of Italians and English speakers alike in seeing films with the actors' own voices …Florence News
Branding the city
Florence's municipal council has launched an international competition to design a new logo for the city. The vice mayor of Florence Dario Nardella says ‘The logo will serve for promotion and marketing ... and will be an opportunity to give Florence renewed visibility and …Florence News
Graffiti welcome here!
Three over- and underpasses in the city of Florence have been designated pilot areas for street art and murals, the result of a resolution passed by youth policy councillor Cristina Giachi to promote urban or graffiti art in specified areas. The wall next to …Florence News
Barter for your food
A used book for a bistecca fiorentina, a pair of shoes for a plate of panzanella: Opening at the end of September is a new restaurant where you can now barter for a meal. Designed to combat the effects of the economic crisis, the …Florence News
Culture with a cup of joe
The Museum of Palazzo Vecchio will open a café as part of a 2 million euro expansion project. The plan is for a ground-floor cafeteria with two entrances, one by the Anagrafe and the other by the bookshop. The work will cost 106,000 euro …Tuscany News
Hike in health care for big earners
More money for services, exams and meds
On September 3, 2012, the Tuscan Region introduced
a new fees schedule for regional health care services. In particular, the new
schedule increases the minimum fee charged for health care services for those
who earn more than 36,000 euro a year.
The fee increase is …
Tuscany News
Forests up in smoke
Summer wildfires at their strongest ever
Record high temperatures, a drought emergency
and a slew of suspected cases of arson are to blame for the 303 forest fires
that raged across the region this August. According to AIB, an association that
works to safeguard Tuscany's forests, some 888 hectares of …
Tuscany News
Sign and support
UNESCO petition for 14 Medici Villas
The popular international travel magazine Condè
Nast Traveller is helping the Tuscan
Region's campaign to include its 14 Medici villas and gardens on UNESCO's list
of global World Heritage Sites. The magazine has launched an online petition
campaign to support UNESCO status for these architectural …
Tuscany News
Tuscany's mission to Mars
A rover on and meteorite from the red planet
It is partly thanks to a lab in Pisa that the
space rover Curiosity landed safely on Mars on August 6. Asic Rems, a
sophisticated microchip able to withstand the radiation and extreme
temperatures of the red planet, was designed and manufactured by the
Tuscany-based …
Tuscany News
A Westlife wedding
Singer ties the knot in Florence
Former singer of the popular pop group Westlife,
Brian McFadden, married DJ Vogue Williams at the Vincigliata Castle on
September 2. McFadden and his new wife chose the medieval castle for its high
walls, which gave privacy from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. …
Italy News
Restoring Rome
Landmarks to be beautified in capital
ome of the best-known monuments and landmarks
in Italy's ancient capital city will soon be under restoration. Among the areas
in the historic centre to undergo works are the 2,000-year-old Colosseum, the
Trevi fountain and Tridente area.
Over the summer, Rome officials confirmed that
the long-delayed …
Italy News
Pains at the pump
Gas prices hit record high
Driving in Italy, especially in Tuscany, became
more expensive this summer as petrol prices hit a record of 2 euro a litre last
August. The most expensive gas prices were recorded in Tuscany and Emilia
Romagna.
According to the 2010-2011 National Income of
Infrastructure and Transport …
Italy News
Health reforms passed
National government introduces changes to service
A higher level of health care
is a productive asset for the country, provided costs are kept in check,' said
Mario Monti, Italy's prime minister and head of the current technical
government, as he spoke of the latest reform bill focusing on health care.
The reforms …
Sport News
All new Viola
Summer transfer season wrap-up
by
Sam Lawley
ACF Fiorentina may have failed to sign Dimitar
Berbatov, but there are reasons for quiet optimism this season.
In one of the quieter transfer periods of recent
years, ACF Fiorentina bucked the trend by staging a major overhaul of the
squad. Out went Riccardo Montolivo …
Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews - September 14 to 27
THE BOURNE LEGACY Not a traditional sequel, this fourth instalment of the Bourne franchise introduces a new character and a new storyline different from Robert Ludlum's, although the Matt Damon original hovers in the background. Generally considered not a meaningful addition, but the absence of Matt …
Best Events
The don't miss list - September 14 to 27
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. In addition to the events described here, for current and upcoming art exhibits, see Fall Exhibits in …
Interviews
Andrea Davis
Building community through the Tuscan American Association
Andrea Davis came to Florence in the mid-1980s,
a bright, young lawyer from Boston who was looking to take a career break and
live the dolce vita in Italy. It was
her original intention to stay for a year. Twenty years later, she is …
Famous Expats
Mabel Dodge
From Tuscany to Taos
American writer and patron of the arts Mabel
Dodge (also known, in recognition of her four husbands, as Mabel Evans Dodge
Sterne Luhan), was born Mabel Ganson on February 26, 1879. She was the only
child and heiress of a wealthy but unloving family …
The Medici Archives
Streaming the Renaissance
The Medici Archive Project puts centuries-old letters online
The irony of my job is not lost on me. As I go
to work each day, I make my way on stony streets where it seems, at times, that
you can still hear the Guelfs and Ghibellines hurling abuses, and sometimes
even projectiles, …
Best Events
Autumn is for art
Best 2012 exhibits in Tuscany
As summer ends and autumn's chill sets in, an
afternoon at the museum sounds ever more inviting. With numerous art exhibits
in Tuscany this fall exploring a range of genres and media, from pop art and
contemporary photography to avant-garde, fashion and Renaissance masters,
expanding …
Economy + Society
The economics of study abroad
TF x FLORENS 2012
There are many students arriving this September
anxious to explore a new city, culture, and nightlife options. But how many of
them have considered the economic and cultural impact of their three- or
four-month stay in Florence? Study abroad is an extended form of …
Florence for Students
Guide to good reads
Exploring Florence through literature
Florence has long been the muse of many writers
and poets over the centuries, and looking at the city through the eyes of a
writer can help you see things in an entirely different light. Just in time for
the arrival of thousands of …
Florence for Students
Tuscany's tomb raiders
How students are helping to dig up and restore the past
Of all the reasons for coming to Tuscany,
spending weeks under the scorching sun digging in the dirt might not be high on
most people's list. But that is precisely what scores of students, mostly
foreign, do every year. Italy, and particularly Tuscany, is …
Florence for Students
Inside the mind of an americano
Reflections on the student experience in Florence
Many thousands of students study abroad in
Florence every year, and Naomi Rose Howell, at the end of her semester in the
city, provides insight into the surprises, delights and difficulties in store
for incoming students. While concentrating on American students, of whom the
city …
Recipes
Autumn harvest
Spelt and pumpkin risotto
The tomato sauce passata is made for the year, a variety of tomatoes procured
already sun-dried from Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, some in oil with garlic and
herbs, others halved and dried ready to be reconstituted in boiling water, and
chillies in the pantry …
Features
Articles
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The English-speaking news magazine in Florence
Thursday, May 23, 2013