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

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.
Continue reading about our visit to Arezzo »

From now until May 3, head towards Florence’s Horticulture Garden to witness spring’s bounty in the shape of plants and flowers at the Mostra dei Fiori, or Flower Fair. Open from 8.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, the fair is located in the external area of the horticulture garden (one of the entrances is on Via Bolognese 17). Among the fair’s exhibitors we even saw noted nursery breeders in Tuscany such as “Rose Barni” from Pistoia.

Entrance is free but we warn you that it will be difficult to resist the temptation of purchasing something…

Also up until May 20, the Iris Garden just below the Piazzale Michelangelo is open (open every day from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m.). This beautiful garden is completely dedicated to the iris, the symbol of Florence, which is presented here in many sweet-smelling varieties from all over the world. Between May 4 and 9, the annual International Competition will elect the most beautiful iris hybrid for the year. Entrance to this garden is also free so, weather permitting, take a stroll up the Piazzale and enjoy the blooms.

This Easter and the day after we took a short yet relaxing vacation in the Valdichiana area we like a lot. The valley lies between the Tuscan regions of Arezzo and Siena and the Umbrian regions of Perugia and Terni. Our destination was Cortona and Montepulciano.

Cortona welcomed us with beautiful sunshine despite the uncertain weather forecasts and we had marvelous weather throughout the day and evening, giving us the chance to enjoy a relaxed stroll through the city and enjoy splendid views over the surrounding countryside.

Cortona’s historical center is built atop a hill 600 meters high, and once you park your car outside the city walls be prepared to climb a bit. The most difficult path up is the one that takes you to the Santa Margherita Sanctuary and to the Girifalco Fortress but both are worth it. As we climbed the hill, we found ourselves following the outer walls and from here the  beautiful view of the countryside gets better as you climb (we were able to see as far away as Lake Trasimeno!).

Continue reading about our trip to Cortona »

View of the Cinque Terre coastline with Vernazza poking out at center

We spent last weekend at Cinque Terre, planning to hike and visit all five of the towns along the beautiful coast that give the name to the area. Even if the Cinque Terre are in Liguria, we are just a few kilometers out of northwestern Tuscany and many people visit the coastal towns as part of their vacation to Tuscany. We thus justify our choice to explore the area .

We took the 7:50am train from Florence, and two and a half hours later we arrived at Monterosso, the town closest to Genova to the north. At the train station you’ll find the office for the National Park of the Cinque Terre – here you can buy the Cinque Terre Card, a must if you want to hike along the main trail, Sentiero Azzurro (n.2), that connects all five towns. The card costs 5 euros per person for 1 day, 8 euros for 2 days and includes free use of the shuttle buses that connect the towns. For an extra fee, you can get the card that also includes unlimited use of the train – the 5 towns are connected by train, which is without a doubt the easiest and fastest way to move between the towns.

Continue reading about Cinque Terre »

As you probably already know, on the night of April 6 a strong earthquake (5.8 on the Richter scale) hit the region of Abruzzo in central Italy. The medieval city of L’Aquila, the region’s capital, was hit hard and other minor cities around it, like Onna, have been almost completely destroyed. The buildings were too old to withstand the earthquake, and homes, churches and monuments made of stone collapsed or were severely damaged. There are 281 victims, with a lot of students making up the toll as l’Aquila is mostly a university city. The number of victims is likely to grow as the search among the rubble continues through Easter.

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.

Across all of Italy, the “Settimana della Cultura” or “Week of Culture” will take place this year April 18-26. The 11th edition will once again promote art and culture by offering free admission to all Italian state-owned properties and to especially organized guided visits and exhibits to these cultural treasures.

To see a list of the special events taking place during this Cultural Week, you can check out the list divided by region on the official website for the Ministry that oversees the management of Italy’s cultural heritage (unfortunately, the site is only in Italian but it is easy enough to see a list by city).

The initiatives organized during this week are a perfect opportunity to spend a few hours in some of the most beautiful artistic settings Italy offers. The fact that they are free doesn’t hurt either, a nice detail in this period of economic difficulty.

Anyone in Florence for that week can check out a map of state museums here.
Among these, you’ll find the Galleria degli Uffizi, the Accademia, the Medici Chapels and the museums within the Palazzo Pitti.

As the slogan for the inititive says, “La cultura è di tutti: partecipa anche tu”, or “Our cultural heritage belongs to everyone, so participate!“

This is the list of Florence State museums that will be open on April 13 (”Pasquetta” or Angel’s Monday) as advertised on the official site.
Many of these are generally open on Sundays so they’ll be open on Easter Sunday. Check the site above for hours and to double check which ones will be open on Sunday.

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

photo by dan taylor

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?

Visiting Florence and Tuscany is an unforgettable experience. For many, it might be a trip made once in a lifetime, for others it will be start of a love affair that makes you return over and over again. I first came to Florence over 10 years ago and have made it my home for almost 7 years now. Falling in love with an Italian certainly helped pave the way for my permanent stay .

In all these years, I’ve never really felt unsafe in Florence. The historical center is small, especially compared to many other European cities. You can walk almost everywhere, and there are people on the streets at all hours, making us feel relatively safe. Like all cities in the world, though, there is an uglier, shadier side that exists around this center. I was reminded of Florence’s darker side this last week when I had my purse/camera bag snatched just as I was leaving the city center.

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