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

The bar owner called the police and turned in the forgotten bag. After some calls, the police were able to track the tour group and the hotel in Rome where the entire group was staying at. The man was clearly agitated for the loss of the bag and very relieved to have been able to recover it – his and his wife’s vacation was salvaged.

To clearly avoid this type of shock while you travel, in Italy and elsewhere, please remember that travel belts and wallets that you wear under your clothing are not just to keep your essential documents and travel money away from pickpockets. They are also useful because hard to leave behind at a bar, restaurant, on a bus or train (which happens very often) since you’re wearing them and will no doubt save a lot of worry and agitation on a vacation.

Safe travels to everyone!

A year is passed and June has come. On the third Saturday of June there will take place a great medieval festival, very famous in Italy: La Giostra del Saracino or the Saracen Joust of Arezzo.

The Saracen Joust takes places twice per year (June and September) in Piazza Grande, beautiful square in Arezzo. This year it’s on June 19th at 9.30 pm. But the festival starts on Friday 11th when Captains take the inaugural oath and the draw of sequence of carriere (charges). Every day from Saturday to Tuesday there are the heats around 7.30 pm.

The Joust animates Arezzo for one week. In the tournament the 8 jousters or knights of the 4 Quarters of Arezzo (Porta del Foro, S. Andrea, Porta Santo Spirito and Porta Crucifera) fight each other to win the golden lance. Every jouster gallops his horse with wooden lance against the Buratto and its shield. The Burattto is an armor-plated dummy holding a shield that is divided into sectors corresponding to points. The jouster has two runs along the lizza (jousting track) that runs obliquely in Piazza Grande. The Joust is won by the Quarter whose jousters obtained more points. The price is a golden lance.

The day of the Joust starts at 7.00 am with the first mortar shot and at 11.00 am the second one announces the parade of the colorful procession with over 300 costume characters. At 7.30 pm there is the blessing of the jousters and then the parade goes from the Duomo to Piazza Grande. At 9.30 pm, just before the start of the tournament, there is the flag-wavers performance.

The Saracen Joust is certainly a beautiful medieval festival, whose origins date back to 16th century, that animates Arezzo every year with colors, sounds and flavors coming directly from the Middle Ages.

This, of course, has a direct impact on the travel plans of all those visiting the Old Continent at the moment. Apart from the mayhem of being caught at airports or between hotels and airport,  the concern is being raised over the quality of the air we breathe in. So far, the WHO has issued an advisory saying that as long as the ash remains in the upper atmosphere, there is not likely to be increased health risk.

Experts said most people had no reason to be alarmed. While people with asthma or lung disease could stay indoors to avoid irritation, there is little real danger, especially with the ash falling so far from the source.

Air quality so far has not been affected in Italy but that might change depending on whether the volcano keeps up its activity, on the direction of the winds and temperature.

The ash cloud has not reached Tuscany so far, although predictions say it could arrive by the end of today but in a very diluted form. The most updated news source is La Repubblica (use Google translator to get an idea of what is being said). For now, our plans of hiking this week are still on, we’ll see how things progress and let you know.

Forbes magazine recently published “Europe’s Most Idyllic Places to Live” with a raking of five favorite simple, unspoiled and near-heavenly locations to take up residence in Europe according to a panel of experts in the fields of travel and relocation.

Lucca came in second place, a charming medieval city in Tuscany, just after the Greek island of Patmos.

Lucca was chosen, according to Forbes, because while it has the charm of other Tuscan towns such as Pisa, it lacks the crowds and confusion. The beautiful, walled medieval city has an enviable geographic location just 45 miles from Florence, about an hour from the Tuscan beaches in one direction and an hour from skiing in Abetone in the other.

According to the panel of experts, Lucca is not an ideal city to live in but an ideal place in which to invest. The article, however, underlines the fact that it isn’t always easy to find a house within the Renaissance walls of Lucca but it is still possible to find a suitable property. The surrounding countryside is perfect for spring and summer living as well.  View our Lucca photo gallery  >>

In fourth place is another small Tuscan town: Pietrasanta. This small town is near the border between Tuscany and Liguria and is without a doubt not as well-known as Lucca but exactly for this reason more pleasurable. “It has great shopping, markets and excellent Ligurian food–pesto and focaccia to die for”, according to Amber Medkiff, a travel director of agency Travcoa consulted by the magazine.

Definitely a great result for Tuscany, a dream region in which to live in!

Arezzo's Duomo, dedicated to San Donato

We just got back from a short trip to Arezzo, a charming town in southern Tuscany, that we took to celebrate my recent birthday. Not as popular to tourists as the nearby Cortona, we were pleasantly surprised with what Arezzo has to offer.

We got to Arezzo in under an hour by train from Florence. We quickly dropped off our bag at the elegant four star Vogue Hotel just 2 blocks from the train station and set off to explore the city. Set on a hill, all of the main sights are set on the slope while the cathedral is at the very top. So be prepared to do a bit of climbing, although most of it is gradual.

We soon discovered that the things to see in Arezzo can be organized around the figure of Piero della Francesca and his frescoes. The Gothic Basilica of San Francesco houses his fresco cycle “Legend of the True Cross” and is considered one of the highlights. With the sun shining (weather forecast was for rain), we decided to bypass it at first and came back later when the rain started.
Housed in the main Bacci chapel at the back of the altar, the frescoes are a bit difficult to see but a photographic display by the door explains each section in more detail. Narrating the “Legend of the True Cross“, the frescoes show the tree of life, how it was buried and then found again and used to build the cross Christ is sacrificed on. Some areas are missing, but overall we found the frescoes and large, open Gothic church, with its round stained glass window on the facade an interesting experience.

Piazza Grande: from left, Pieve di S. Maria, Palazzo del Tribunale & Palazzo della Fraternità dei Laici

The Piazza Grande in Arezzo is the heart of the town. Some might recognize the setting from the Oscar-winning movie “Life is Beautiful” by Roberto Benigni, posters around the square reminded us of the main scenes shot throughout the city. Unfortunately, the characteristic red bricks of the piazza were being replaced and the piazza was closed off. We could walk around its perimeter, enjoying the elegant Loggia Vasari along one side of the square and its cafes and restaurants, definitely a perfect location for a light lunch.

Loggia Vasari

We visited the Gothic church of Santa Maria, the round back which can be seen in Piazza Grande. It has a unique facade and tower, with many columns and windows. We particularly enjoyed studying the ceramic figures on the outside of the facade, right above the main door – they go back to Medieval times and each one portrays a month of the year.

We then headed further uphill to the Cathedral of San Donato, or Duomo, which shows off splendid stained glass windows. Our study of Piero della Francesca continued with the Mary of Magdalene fresco from around 1460 at the front of the left nave. It has such vibrant colors it is hard to believe it is over 500 years old!

Most of the buildings and churches in Arezzo are yellowish – we soon discover that much of the town is constructed with local “arenaria”, a rock made of sedimentary granules not bigger than sand. No wonder the city is characterized by this sandy, yellow tone.

After a good evening meal and a good night’s sleep, we woke up refreshed to tackle the main event in town at the moment, the grand exhibit dedicated to the Della Robbia at the Museum of Medieval and Modern Art. Famous for inventing the new technique of glazed terracotta sculpture back in the 15th century, the Della Robbia family specialized in creating art which even today still decorates many churches and buildings in Tuscany and Italy, including the Spedale degli Innocenti in Florence. The exhibition “I Della Robbia, the dialogue between the Arts in the Renaissace” runs until June 7, 2009 – if you will be in the area, we highly recommend a visit. To learn more, visit http://www.mostradellarobbia.it/

In the early afternoon we had to leave without yet seeing Cimabue’s Cross at the Basilica di San Domenico or Vasari’s home (he was born here), but since we really liked what we saw in Arezzo, we’ll soon be back for more! Piazza Grande is also the setting of the Giostra del Saracino, a joust tournament held in June and September every year and of the popular Antiques Fair held the first weekend of every month – one of these occasions can also be your excuse (if you need one) to come by and discover this charming Tuscan town .

Thousands of persons have been left without a home. The earth continues to tremble and the aftershocks make it impossible for a lot of people to go back into their homes, many of which are severely damaged and which could come down at any moment.
A great number of volunteers have arrived from all of Italy: it is in moments of need like this that we Italians truly feel part of the same community and are able to give our best. In truth, aid is arriving from all over the world which shows how much Italy is loved.

Local news in Italy say that at this point it is best to send money as there are already enough volunteers and material aid. For donations, it is better to use well-known official channels such as the Red Cross:

• Italian Red Cross: http://www.cri.it/donazioni/
• Red Cross US : www.redcross.org/
• Red Cross UK: http://www.redcross.org.uk/news.asp?id=93875

There will be a need for a large, sustained effort to recover and reconstruct as there are so many people left with nothing. We hope that even after this tragedy will no longer be at the top of the news, aid and funds will continue to arrive and that the promises made by politicians in Rome will be maintained.

All of us in the Discover Tuscany team wish to express our feeling of solidarity and sorrow to all of the families that have been hit by this tragedy.

apertura ordinaria – would normally be open on this Monday anyways
Cappelle Medicee
Museo di Casa Davanzati
Giardino di Boboli, Museo delle Porcellane, Museo degli Argenti and Galleria del Costume (biglietto unico, a common ticket for these museums)

apertura straordinaria – normally closed on Mondays
Galleria degli Uffizi
Galleria dell’Accademia
Galleria Palatina e Galleria d’Arte Moderna (biglietto unico, a common ticket for these museums)
Museo di San Marco
Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Villa della Petraia
Villa di Poggio a Caiano

While it hasn’t been made official yet, the word is out that New Moon, the second Twilight sequel, will not be shot in Volterra as we had reported earlier. Twilight fans and locals are very disappointed, but it seems the production is being “realistic” and saying a town the size of Volterra cannot accommodate all of the filming crew.

Some scenes will still be shot in Volterra (piazza and palazzo dei Priori) but most on-location shots will occur in Montepulciano, another medieval Tuscan hilltop village about an hour away also deemed “more beautiful” for filming.

Montelpulciano is a charming town which we like and highly recommend visiting, but if size matters, Montelpulciano’s medieval center is actually smaller than Volterra’s! Both are beautiful in their own right but more importantly, since Stephanie Meyer’s book is set in and the Volturis family comes from Volterra, fans wanted to see Volterra on the big screen. If you’re coming all the way to Tuscany to shoot on location, does it make sense to not shoot in the actual town which is less than an hour away?

I suppose in the world of movies, anything is possible. Maybe any medieval town is the same as the next one?? Like I said, the announcement has not yet been made officially so we could still be pleasantly surprised. What do you think?