Gelato Festival and Wine Tastings in Florence

Today is Thursday and I’ve started planning this last weekend of May in Florence since from the next one we Florentines generally like to leave the hot city for the seaside or the countryside, even if I personally am fine with a little bit of warm sunny days.

My attention is focused on the eagerly awaited Florence Gelato Festival. It looks like Florence will turn into the international capital of ice cream from May 28th to 31st. The last 4 or 5 weeks the event has been advertised and sponsored everywhere, from newspapers, magazines, blogs, ads on streets and on buses. The festival takes places in different areas in Florence’s city center, in Piazza SS. Annunziata, Piazza Repubblica, Piazza S. Giovanni and Palazzo Vecchio. There are local, national and international ice cream makers, that means lots of ice cream to taste!

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If you happen to see a Fiat 500 around Florence making sounds like a rooster, don’t worry, it isn’t a maniac out driving having fun. The cars making the rooster’s cock-a-doodle-do are actually promoting an upcoming event in Chianti’s wine region, Chianti Classico, whose symbol is the black rooster.

Starting May 29th and continuing on to June 5th the event “Chianti è” is an important wine festival organized this year to promote the wine and culture of Chianti Classico, the most regulated and traditional of the various Chianti denominations. Eight days of wine tastings, open cellars, exhibits, concerts, guided tours, cooking classes and much more. Read the full post »

What do I do in Florence on weekends?

Today is Thursday and I’m planning my weekend in Florence. Of course as a Florentine I have lots of Florentine friends and several of them always complain that they can’t find anything interesting to do in town, from events to night-life. Well I want to prove that Florence has so much to offer and I’d like to share with you my plans for this weekend.

My weekend starts tomorrow night after work with the Friday happy-hour at the Oblate Caffè on the roof-terrace of the Oblate Library that stays open until midnight from Tuesday to Saturday. Then me and my friends will got to visit Palazzo Vecchio, that is extraordinarily open at night during the whole month of May. After a bit of culture, a bit of fun so we’ll probably get a gelato as we wait for the upcoming Gelato Festival next week, and then go to Jazz Club Firenze (Via Nuova de’ Caccini, 3) to listen to some good music.

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Palazzo Vecchio burns the midnight oil!

After the great success during Florence White Night 2010, Matteo Renzi, Florence Mayor, decided to open Palazzo Vecchio at night.

From May 2nd to 31st Palazzo Vecchio is open every day from 9am to 12 am, except on Thursday (9 am to 2 pm). It means that you can have a nice dinner out in Florence, then wandering around the city center, maybe eating ice-cream, and then you can visit the beautiful rooms and apartments of Palazzo Vecchio.

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From May 1 to 16 there is the beautiful initiative – Museums as Friends: Spring Visits – that sees several different activities in lots of Tuscan museums.

During these two weeks in May, many museums in Tuscany will be opened and offering guided tours, lectures and many activities for children.

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After Florence’s White Night, Florence turns blue with Florence’s Blue Night 2010. It will be a night dedicated to Europe and its traditions, as well as cultures and differences.

There will be many events from 3 pm Saturday, May 8 to 6 pm Sunday, May 9. More than 24 hours of concerts, dances, performances in the streets and squares of Florence, but also in stores, libraries, restaurants and cinemas in the city center and in its surroundings.

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If you are in Siena over the next few months, take advantage of the special opening to the public of the Palazzo Chigi Saracini, a beautiful medieval palace in the center of Siena normally closed to the public as it houses the Chigiana Musical Academy.

In an attempt to share its extraordinary art collection and offer a glimpse of the internal medieval architecture of the palace, the Academy has set aside a few days a week to open the palace to visitors during certain periods of the year.

Continue reading about the Palazzo Chigi Saracini »

As posted before in less than 10 days, on April 30th, Florence will be animated by a Creative Insomnia, the magical and sleepless Florence White Night 2010. And finally the calendar of this upcoming event in Florence is here.

Please click here to download the calendar of Florence White Night 2010 (in Italian).

Concerts of classic, rock, pop and jazz music, ballet performances, temporary exhibits, art installations, colorful lights, movies, lectures, comics, guided tours to museums and boroughs. And then lots to eat and drink, people, different cultures coming and mixing together.

It will surely be a great event in and for Florence and we strongly recommend you don’t miss visiting Florence on April 30th. Don’t miss Insomnia Creativa – Florence White Night 2010!

As most probably already know by now, the ashes of the Eyjafjallajokull, an Iceland volcano, continue to spread forming an ash cloud over Europe. This in turn has caused closure of important European airports in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam and cancellation of flights across the rest of Europe.

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.

From 7 pm 30 April to 6 am 1st May Florence won’t sleep. Florentines and not, will be up all night long to attend the great event of Florence White Night 2010, entitled Creative Insomnia and promoted by Florence Municipality.

Many events, concerts and performances will animate the city. Almost every borough, square and street will have its attractions. Also many museums and buildings will be open, such as Palazzo Vecchio (open till 6 am), Palazzo Strozzi and the art exhbit “De Chirico, Max Ernst, Magritte, Balthus. A look over the invisible” (till 5 am) and the Oblate Library (till 6 am) that will host special events, as well as the Uffizi Gallery open till midnight, Natural History Museums (till 1 am) and Bardini Museum (till 2 am).

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