Creativity and Chestnuts in Tuscany

Although the unpredictable weather is trying to make me feel sick there are some interesting events on this third weekend in October.

In Mugello there will be the traditional Chestnuts Festival in Marradi, in Palazzuolo sul Senio there will be Festival of Marrone and other products coming from the woods. Even in Borgo San Lorenzo there will be the Chestnuts Festival, together with polenta and Florentine steak. In addition on Sunday October 24 there will take place a large market with any kind of products, from clothing to food. It will be from 8am to 6pm along the center of Borgo San Lorenzo.

In Florence there is the Creativity Festival 2010. It’ s a nice event celebrating creativity in its widest meaning. The festival is all around the city and has a full calendar of appointments. For example I suggest you go to Piazzale Michelangelo to take a picture to “Rock” a controversial marble installation. It’s signed by Italian contemporary artist Graziano Cecchini and features 400 tons of white Carrara marble framing the Duomo. I also recommend you wander around Florence discovering this great event.

Hoping it won’t rain I wish you all a nice weekend!

If you are going to be in Florence during the weekend of Halloween, you should know that All Saints Day on November 1^st is a national holiday in Italy. Halloween itself has only very recently been adopted here as a festive event, mostly for children. Here are our suggestions for spending a great Halloween weekend in Florence. Read the post »

Last week looked like winter with its gray, damp days, but the weather for this weekend should be sunny and nice overall, perfect for taking part in an event or food festival or sagra in Tuscany and enjoying a relaxing weekend.

Chestnuts and fairs:

Sunday October 17^th – departing from Florence’s SMN station, the steam engine train goes to Marradi to the traditional Chestnut Festival. Read more »

Days are becoming shorter and the light jacket I wear in the mornings heavier. Afternoons are glorious right now in Florence though! Leaves have started to fall and the hills around Florence are changing colors, a beautiful sight. What I love about this season: the full calendar of events centered around the season’s products. Here are a few events for this second weekend in October in Tuscany: Read more »

An Argentine tourist, 64 years old, traveling with his wife in Italy as part of a tour group making their way down to Rome, stopped for a day in Siena. In the afternoon, he stopped at a very popular bar in the center of Siena and unfortunately forgot his bag behind when he left. A very common occurrence, can happen to anyone. And fortunately no one noticed the bag until the owner found it as he closed for the night. Inside were the man’s passport, cellphone and travel money, well over € 3,500 and about US$ 1,300!! Definitely a tourist that believes in cash over plastic.

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!

On 10-10-10 the Italian Touring Club has organized a special event for Orange Flag Destinations in Italy. The Orange Flag is a distinction given to small Italian municipalities that stand out for their excellence in hospitality, rewarding their efforts in promoting high-quality and eco-friendly tourism and hospitality.

Tuscany has the largest number of orange flagged destinations in Italy with a total of 32 across the region. On Sunday, October 10 some of these destinations will celebrate the Touring Day with free guided tours, extraordinary openings of museums and monuments, art and craft markets, tastings of local products and lots of entertainments. All events are free but the guided tours require reservation so call and book your spot today! Read More »

We can certainly say that Autumn is here. Even though it’s quite warm during the day, early in the morning and late at night I definitely need to put on my scarf and hat.

Over this first weekend in October, Florence will be animated by several events. The most expected is certainly Wine Town Firenze. Four days entirely dedicated to high quality wine. The event will be in different places around the city and will include wine tastings. Together with Wine Town there will also be Ruralia Firenze taking place at the Cascine Park. Read More »

Autumn is here and the Tuscan countryside is changing its colors: from the vibrant green of summer into warm yellows and reds typical of this season.

In Mugello, autumn is a very special season full of events and festivals we suggest you take note of. October is the month of chestnuts and other products from the brushwood. These typical products are celebrated in several festivals and fairs all around Mugello. In the next few weeks, there will also be interesting guided tours and excursions, such as the visit to the Archaeological area of Frascole in Dicomano.

These are the main events for the upcoming month. For more details we suggest you visit the official website of the  Official Tourist site of Mugello:

PALAZZUOLO SUL SENIO

October 3
Ambientavola – Food market of typical products from Tuscany and Romagna together with food tastings.

October 10-17-24-31
Festival of the “marrone” and other products of the woods including tastings of local dishes.

Read full article >>

Wine, Beer and Much More

September is almost at its end. Sometimes I don’t realize how fast time passes! Over the weekend there several events in Florence and its surroundings. Let’s see the most interesting going on this weekend. Read full post »

In a week time Florence will be the capital of wine. From September 30th to October 3rd the city hosts Wine Town Firenze, international event gathering together high quality wine producers. A great event dedicated to wine stewards and professional buyers, but also to wine lovers, tourists  and Florentine people. Read the post »