Jim’s
daughter is an international student and has an apartment near the Duomo. She
is a college tennis player and is looking to play. Which tennis courts are
located closest to her apartment?
Ian,
from Glasgow, needs information about the city-tax for buses entering Florence.
He is bringing a busload of Rangers supporters to Florence, and he would like
to avoid paying the very expensive tax.
Liz
needs help organizing her wedding in Florence. It’s a
low-budget wedding, and though it seemed easy once she set the date and booked
the church, now she realizes that is quite complicated.
Lory
is luckier-she needs only a hairdresser for herself, her mother, sisters and
bridesmaids-and Linda is looking for a cool jazzy band that plays a range of
music, from blues to jazz, soul, and even traditional and contemporary Italian
songs.
John,
Mike, Mark and many others got caught in the ZTL (Limited Traffic Zone). How is
it possible that you discover the existence of this ‘obscure area’ only when
you go back home and receive a monster fine?
George
is angry: When he was student in
Florence 25 years ago, he took his girlfriend to Forte Belvedere to enjoy one
of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Now he is in Florence with his wife
and Forte Belvedere is closed. Is it a sign?
We’ve
had many ‘missing person’ requests-often times from those looking for friends
they studied with in Florence-as well as requests for recipes and advice about
restaurants and hotels. A noted British journalist called us to find an
English-language journalist in the Perugia area to cover the terribly sad
Meredith Kercher murder. And when ESPN wrote to ask us to cover the story of a
former Harvard football player now playing for the Parma Panthers, we could not
help but feel honored.
In the period
running up to our special issue for the 40th anniversary of the Florence Flood,
there was a huge boost in requests from all over the world about missing or
long lost ‘mud angels’, pictures and documents about the flood. An array of
schools in Italy and across the world carried out workshops and seminars on
this event, often comparing it to more recent natural disasters.
And how can we not
mention the many requests by international production companies and other media
firms asking for our help in obtaining permits to shoot movies or documentary
films here in the most uncommon locations (including Sollicciano prison!).
Even top tour guide
publisher Time Out contacted us out to help update their guide
information for Florence. This gave rise to a long-standing and important
commercial partnership between Time Out guides and The Florentine.
These requests from
our readers provide a ‘slice of life’ at The Florentine. They testify to
the fact that The Florentine speaks the same language and is on the same
wavelength as its public and for this reason it is seen as a trusted partner
our readers can talk to. When we can, we give in-depth responses to fulfill the
trust they have put in us.
The paper was created as a
service to the community of English-speaking residents of Florence, as well as
those who live elsewhere, outside of Italy and around the world.
The Florentine’s website
is fundamental for keeping in contact with all of our readers, and we are
working to improve it and make it more interactive and useful to our varied
public. An
independent publication like The Florentine is able to reach a public
interested in Florence and Tuscany and eager to share their experiences in
Italy. This is also one of The Florentine’s strengths: it is a paper
made by those who read it, shortening the distance between journalist and
reader.
After
another 100 issues, who knows what other ‘slices of life’ will reach our
editorial office? We hope they will be many, and that our wonderful readers
continue to find us open and welcoming.
Thank you, readers and partners, for supporting us
over these first 100 issues: we are still here because of you. And please keep
those ideas and comments coming-TF relies on YOU to help us thrive and improve
with each and every issue.
Please email to: inbox@theflorentine.net
