Discover Tuscany’s Blog: exploring Tuscany and all its hidden corners…

If you’ve walked anywhere in downtown Florence over the last few days, you’ve seen the Christmas lights appearing all over the city while shop displays have put up their Christmas decorations a few weeks ago. Tomorrow is December 1st: the holiday season is definitely here! If you’re looking for a special gift to take back home with you or just take in the holiday atmosphere, head to one of the following events dedicated to the holiday season.

Christmas Market – Piazza Santa Croce

November 30 – December 18 Every day, 10am-8pm Starting today, head to Piazza Santa Croce to travel to the traditional German/European Christmas markets – lots of ideas of gifts as well as warm wine and cider, bratwurts, crepes and more to snack on. The market continues until the 18th of the month.

Fierucola dell’Immacolota and di Natale – Piazza Santo Spirito

December 8 and 18 All day Every month on the 3rd Sunday of the month, you’ll find the Fierucola in Piazza Santo Spirito. All of the participating merchants are small family businesses that are dedicated to seeing high quality products: you’ll find organic produce, sauces, honeys, handmade items and much more. In December, aside from the Christmas one that falls on December 18th, you’ll also find a special edition dedicated to Virgin on December 8th but in Piazza della SS Annunziata, not in Piazza Santo Spirito.

Christmas in Town – Via delle Cascine

December 7-11 Every day, 10am-10pm December 11: 10am-9pm Market with lots of Christmas items and toys, a Santa Claus with his elves, a play area for children and lots of places where you’ll be able to eat local dishes and products as well as local “fast food”. There will be a lottery and shows where children can participate – fun for the family!

Ice Skating in Florence – Parterre, Piazza della Libertà

November 26 – January 8, 2012 Every day, 10am-11.30pm Fridays-Sundays open until 1am This week the ice skating rink at the Parterre opened up to allow all of us in Florence to enjoy some fun on the ice! The large central area is made into a large rink to hold up to 200 skaters. If you don’t have ice skates, don’t worry, you can rent them for € 6. If you’re looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve, a special party will be organized to welcome 2012! We hope you have a great December in Florence!

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to try something different; nothing is like my mother’s turkey so I wasn’t even going to try. So we decided to not only try something different but completely new. It was a wonderful opportunity to just go out to dinner and celebrate that way.

I had read about the restaurant Omero up in Pian dei Giullari/Arcetri right above Florence behind Piazzale Michelangelo organizing an evening with a Piedmont menu, giving you a chance to taste the regional cuisine as well as regional wines, such as the Barolo and Moscato d’Asti. I’d heard of Omero before but had never gone so this was the perfect chance to try it out.
Continue reading about our special evening out at Omero »

We saw this information circulating around on strikes that have been announced over the next month and thought it would be useful information to share with our readers traveling to and within Italy before the holiday season (strikes are are not allowed during the holiday season so they have to take place before a certain date).

Here is what you need to know:

November 17, 2011
sector: Transportation, General Strike for Transportation
when: AIR – 24 hours, Trains – 24 hours: starting from 9pm on 11/16 to 9pm 11/17, TPL – 24 hours, Marittime 24 hours, from 8am on 11/17 to 8am on 11/18 (connections to minor islands 24 hours).

November 26, 2011
sector: Railways: Personnel that drive emergency trains for Trenitalia and Trenord
when: 24 hours, from 9pm on 11/26 to 9pm 11/27

December 2, 2011
sector: Air: Flight Assistants for ALITALIA-CAI and Personnel for Enav Acc Padova
when: 4 hours, from 10am to 2pm

December 16, 2011
sector: Local public transportation
when: 24 hours, each area will follow their own schedules

Source: http://www.mit.gov.it/mit/site.php?p=scioperi

White truffle season is from October through December and simply grow wild, attached to the roots of oak, hazel, poplar and beech trees. They’ve tried to cultivate them, it can’t be done! It is a highly sought after flavoring by foodies worldwide that this autumn will be hard to find, even in Tuscany’s San Miniato, the white-truffle capital of the region. About a quarter of all Italian white truffles originate from the San Miniato area but there are truffles to be found all over various areas of Tuscany. Lower than average rainfall has made for truffles a real “treasure hunt” for apasionados!

The hunt for the “white treasure”, if not in the woods, can be at San Miniato’s Truffle Festival/Market this weekend and on the following two weekends (19/20 and 26/27) this November.

Read more on the Truffle Festival in San Miniato »