Photo by TomStardust

The teams of the Florence’s Calcio Storico (Blues, Whites, Greens and Reds) have faced off over the last two weeks in the semi-finals to decide which two teams compete in the traditional Tournament of St. John in Florence’s Piazza Santa Croce on June 24.

The soccer game played in costume is one of Florence’s main events historically planned for the month of June in the celebrations for San Giovanni, St. John, patron saint for the city. For this special occasion, the large, beautiful square in front of the Church of Santa Croce serves as the playing field. Bleachers are set up for spectators and the stone square is covered with sand.

For the final match, the Reds will face off the Blues on Wednesday June 24 at 5 p.m.

About an hour before the start of the game, the Historical Pageant will start in Piazza Santa Maria Novella and cross through the main streets of Florence’s center until it arrives in Piazza Santa Croce.

The website for the city of Florence indicates tickets can be purchased at the Box Office located in via Alamanni 39, with tickets that go from 15 to 40 euro + presale fees (which I don’t think is exactly cheap). Tickets for the final game will be sold up to a few minutes before the start of the game. You can buy tickets directly in Piazza Santa Croce or, also on the day of the game, at the Teatro Verdi located on Via Ghibellina, about a block north from the square.

The calcio storico is a very “physical” game where the calcianti (literally translated as “kickers” – yep, that is what they are called) play quite violently on the field. The Calcio Fiorentino was an early form of soccer (football) that originated in the 16th century. The official rules of calcio were published for the first time in 1580 by Giovanni de’ Bardi, a Florentine count. Just like Roman harpastum, it was played in teams of 27, using both feet and hands. Goals could be scored by throwing the ball over a designated spot on the perimeter of the field. The playing field is a giant sand pit with a goal running the width of each end. There is a main referee, six linesmen and a field master. Each game is played out for 50 minutes with the winner being the team with the most points or “cacce“.

Originally, the game was played only by rich aristocrats who played every night between Epiphany and Lent. In the Vatican, even Popes such as Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII are said to have enjoyed the game. The last few years, however, the game has come under attack because many deem the matches too violent. In 2006, the final match was actually interrupted because of fights that broke out on the playing field. The entire edition for 2007 was canceled as punishment for their behavior.

We hope that in the future the game can continue to be played in the best of spirits. The first two games this year have gone well from this point of view. The Calcio Storico is in the end part of the celebrations for the city’s patron saint and as such, aside from the competitive nature of the sport, should continue to be a fun and entertaining way for all of us to continue a centuries-old tradition of celebrating on June 24. So if you are in Florence this Wednesday and have nothing else to do, consider heading towards Piazza Santa Croce and seeing if you can get a last-minute ticket to attend one of Florence’s most popular annual events! Remember the fireworks display from Piazzale Michelangelo that same night, best seen from the lungarno.

We have just returned from a short vacation in Maremma: we decided at the very last moment to leave on this trip, taking advantage of the warm sun and nice days this mid-October was giving us.

We had never visited the upper part of Maremma close to Monte Amiata, between the Tuscan coast and Val d’Orcia. It was a nice surprise. The landscape reminds us of the Crete Senesi which so often are potrayed in postcards from Tuscany: soft hills of vineyards, brown and yellow fields with big, isolated trees in the middle of a cultivated field, woods with oaks and chestnut trees. There are few houses, mainly farms that often offer accommodation and may also have a restaurant where you can have a good typical meal.

We chose one of these “agriturismo” for our stay, but we’ll talk about it in the next post.
We spent almost a week visiting the small villages and towns in the area: Pari, Civitella Marittima, Paganico, Roccastrada, Roccatederighi, Campagnatico, Monticiano. These are all small, mostly well-conserved medieval villages, usually sitting on the top of hills and that surrounded a castle and were protected by stone walls. In October, they seem very quiet (almost too quiet!), with only a few locals and a random tourist. We particularly liked Roccatederighi which was more alive as a town and sitting on a hill made of volcanic rock: the houses, the church, the tower seem to rise from the rock itself and huge rocky spurs form almost another natural tower next to the ancient castle.

We didn’t eat at a restaurant at a local agriturismo since we were often further away but we did discover some really good restaurants: you can definitely tell that there are great places to eat in the area. We were particularly impressed by the Locanda nel Cassero in Civitella Marittima where we had two excellent dinners. The chef prepares dishes that are revisitations of the typical Tuscan cuisine made only with fresh local ingredients, so the menu changes every season and possibly every day. The restaurant is very popular and it was full even in this low season so they recommend to call and reserve (see www.locandanelcassero.com for more info).

With its tranquility and beautiful natural landscapes, this part of Tuscany and Maremma as a whole, is a perfect place to go hiking, mountain biking or horse riding. On the other hand, we were not able to find maps of the paths and unpaved roads for this particular corner of Maremma, or detailed descriptions of the itineraries. That didn’t stop us, but on some of our walks we lost the way several times as the paths were not clearly marked and we ended up walking much more than we intended to! We also went hunting for new geocaches since we saw several were hidden in the area and it was a perfect excuse to discover the hidden corners we might not otherwise seen

While geocaching and hiking we visited several castles, the most beautiful of which is the ruins of the castle of Sassoforte, of which only the great walls are still standing among huge vulcanic rocks.

Walking was fun (when we don’t lose the way) but it must be even better to go mountain biking on the hills of Maremma. There are plenty of wide unpaved road and paths in the woods and even on the main roads cars were few. At the end of our trip we met Riccardo, in Roccatederighi, who rents bicycles and organizes bike tours in Maremma. Riccardo was very friendly and helpful and found 2 mountain bikes for us to go for a short ride. Unfortunately, we had to cancel at the last moment, but we plan to go back at least for a weekend of pure mountain biking in Maremma. If you have the same idea you can visit Riccardo’s website at www.maremmainbici.it.

On our last day of vacation we visited the abbey of San Galgano, between Monticiano and Chiusdino. It was maybe the most beautiful place we visited on this trip and definitely a must-see. Only the walls of the magnificent medieval abbey are still standing: the roof and bell tower collapsed centuries ago. What is left now is a magnificent cathedral in a valley surrounded by cultivated fields and woods, with the sky as a roof. Entering into the cathedral you don’t have the impression of entering a ruin, because as you look upward and view the sky it almost seems that you have a clearer view towards God and to His Creation (at least that was my impression).

San Galgano is also famous for its sword in the stone, located within the Montesiepi hermitage near the abbey. Even if it a sword in a stone makes one think of King Arthur, the sword here has a very different story. Galgano used to be a knight but in 1180 he decided to give fighting up forever. With great strength and convinction to not use it as a weapon any longer, he struck his sword into the stone to use it as a cross where he could pray. Today, under the protection of a clear dome, it is still possible to see the ancient sword in the stone at the center of the Montesiepi chapel, which contributes a little magic to this place.

Just a few days ago the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing drew to an end. The 29th edition of the summer Olympics was highly anticipated and debated due to the complex political climate; many times, the real protagonist of the games – the sports and its athletes – risked being left in the background.

Regardless of the political environment, we think it correct to honor the athletes that participated putting months and months of hard training to the test, often for just a few minutes of competition.

The two unquestioned winners of these Olympics are the American Michael Phelps with 8 gold medals and the Jamaican Usain Bolt who estabilished a new world record for the 100 metres in 9″69.

Italy also enjoyed great satisfaction at these Olympics, with almost three hundred athletes participating. Tuscany in Beijing 2008 was represented by 28 athletes in many different sports, from fencing and swimming, to sailing and athletics. Giulia Quintavalle, a young athlete born in Livono and living in Rosignano Solvay, gained the gold medal in the under 57 kg weight class in Judo and Luca Agamennoni from Livorno partecipated in the conquest of the silver medal in the men’s quadruple sculls in rowing. The windsurfer Alessandra Sensini from Grosseto won the silver medal in the RS:X class honouring her loved Maremma that sponsored the athlete for these Olympic Games with the brand “Maremma Tuscany” (it’s the first time a geographic territory sponsors an athlete). Aldo Montano from Livorno and Salvatore Sanzo from Pisa won two bronze medals, in the men’s team saber competition and the men’s individual foil, respectively.

The winners can now enjoy a well-deserved period of rest, while those that did not reach their goals are already looking forward to start training for the next Olympics. The rendezvous for everyone is in London 2012!

Last night we joined over 35,000 Fiorentina fans at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence to cheer the Viola team as they battled the Slavia Prague in the first leg of the Champion’s League qualifier. It was a good match, Fiorentina dominated the field throughout the entire game and won the match 2-0 which places the team in a favorable position to win the tie match on the 27th of August and move forward into the exciting group stages of the European contest.

Even if Florence is deserted these days since many Italians are away on vacation, devoted fans made the trip back into town to watch this important match (the same can’t be said for other Italian teams that have faced other qualifying matches this August to almost empty stadiums). It was the first real game of the season and the first chance for fans to meet the team’s new players. The new players played well and the returning guys seemed to be in good shape. Adrian Mutu scored early on a great free kick and new addition Alberto Gilardino scored pretty late, both part of the front line that generated a lot of attention over the summer.

Great sportsmanship was also on display at the end of the game as the Viola team formed a corridor and shaked hands with the Slavia Prague team as they exited the field to applause by the whole stadium.

Overall, the team played well and gave fans a great game. We’re looking forward to next week’s match and to a great season!!