The cold winter has come all at once. After weeks of heavy rain, it suddenly became cold. The weather has become unpredictable, even here in Tuscany. Even though the weather forecasts will predict rain for this last weekend in November, today we still publish the main events in Tuscany for the upcoming weekend that will likely still happen rain or shine. If you’re willing to be out and about, here are some ideas of things to do this weekend.

Florence:

On Sunday November 28^th there will be the 27th Firenze Marathon, an appointment for thousands of runners coming from all over the world.
In Piazza dei Ciompi there will be the monthly appointment with the large Antiques market that spills out onto all of the streets around the Piazza.

Tuscany:

In San Miniato there will be the last appointment with the National Market Fair of the White Truffle, while the weekly appointment with Crete D’Autunno 2010 will be in Serre di Rapolano, near Rapolano Terme, with new olive oil tastings. Even in Reggello you can taste the local olive oil together with other local products.
On Sunday in Montepulciano the Fair of Sant’Andrea will take place, a large market celebrating the city patron, while in Stia in Casentino there will be the traditional Cold Fair with lots of local stalls. In Scandicci and in Galluzzo there will also be antiques markets.

Looking constantly at the weather forecasts hoping the temperatures won’t drop too much, I wish you all a nice weekend.

In the Chianti Classico region there will be many events: in Greve in Chianti there will be wine tastings, craft market and stars watching from 9.00 pm, in Castellina in Chianti the center will be animated by street musicians, craft market, wine and food tastings, and in Gaiole in Chianti wine and food tastings will start at 6.00 pm.

In Siena wine tastings will take place under the Loggia of Palazzo Pubblico from 9.30, together with guided tours to the Civic Museum and to Torre del Mangia, while in San Gimignano there will be in Piazza Sant’Agostino from 9.00 pm.

There will be also wine tastings and other events in Montepulciano, Castelnuovo di Berardenga, Castiglione d’Orcia and Campiglia Marritima, as well as other minor destinations. In fact the calendar of Calici di Stelle 2010 have many different events scheduled.

So look up high in the sky for your falling star while drinking a good glass of wine, and don’t forget to make a wish!

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!).

We really enjoyed our visit to the Sanctuary: it has richly decorated ceilings and frescoes dedicated to the life of Saint Marguerite, Cortona’s patron saint. Just above the Sanctuary, the Girifalco Fortress sits on the best vantage point on the hill. Some parts of the fortress are not open to the public, but we were still able to visit three floors and the battlements from which you enjoy an exceptional view of the Cortona countryside for kilometers.

We proceeded then to the more central streets of Cortona, window shopping at the local crafts shops selling terracotta and ceramic items as well as food shops offering mostly wines – we are in an area where fine wines are produced after all!.

On Monday morning, a holiday here in Italy, we visited the Cathedral, the Diocesan Museum (go in and at least see Beato Angelico’s Annunciation) and the MAEC museum dedicated to Etruscan archeological finds around the town. This last museum was a pleasant surprise: there were many interesting objects to see and everything is very well presented (with presentations and detailed videos playing in the various rooms, handicapped access to the entire museum and signs in Braille). Spread out over 4 floors, the MAEC has numerous archeological finds discovered in Cortona and the surrounding countryside that go back to prehistoric times (including two large mammoth molars) and to the Etruscan (the bronze chandelier is beautiful) and Roman periods with objects from the necropoli in the area. The Etruscan Academy also includes an Egyptian collection, a library and a picture gallery. The museum itinerary is rich so we recommend dedicating at least an hour and a half to the visit.

Longing to prolong our vacation as much as possible, we headed towards Montepulciano for the afternoon. The city is welcoming and is perfect for a stroll (you’ll also need comfortable shoes here as the walk up the streets can get steep). The central point for the city is Piazza Grande where you’ll find the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the Palazzo Comunale, or town hall, decorated in Travertine marble and whose design is very similar to Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

We found numerous wine shops and stores with local food products, many with signs offering “free wine tastings” – a welcome treat for all visitors. Even more interesting than the free wine was the visit to a small wine cellar of one of the larger wine producers in the area.

As we recently reported in another post (Montepulciano gets New Moon), the town of Montepulciano will be the location at the end of May for several scenes of the second sequel in the vampire Twilight series, “New Moon” and we were surprised at not finding any reference to this upcoming event or to the book as we walked around the town.

In the late afternoon, after a large gelato cone and a purchase of a beautiful framed painting as a souvenir of our visit (we really liked the wood landscapes created by Alberto Guidotti, we left Montepulciano and the Valdichiana to head home but already looking forward to our next trip! Where should we go?

This is just a quick post to let our readers know that this Sunday, August 31 the town on Montepulciano in southern Tuscany will be the set of the annual competition between the town’s 8 contrade (or districts) known as the Bravìo delle Botti.

The event is a contest between the various village districts to see who can roll their wine-barrel up hill and cross the finish line in front of the Duomo first. The “botti” are wine barrels that weigh 85 kilos and have a capacity of 500 liters of wine and the distance from the start to the Duomo is about 1650 meters. Montepulciano is famous for its “Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG” and “Rosso di Montepulciano DOC“, both robust red Tuscan wines.

The winner takes the “bravio” or price, which is a beautiful drape by a famous painter with an image of St. John the Baptist, Montepulciano’s patron saint. The “Panno” as it is called, is unique every year as it is designed and painted by a different artist.

The day starts at 10am with a lottery to indicate the starting positions, which is then followed by a flag throwing presentation and the blessing of the “barrel pushers”.

At 3pm there will be a historical pageant through the streets of the town, to be followed by a Medieval show in Piazza Grande at 4.30pm.

The Bravìo delle Botti starts at 7pm, with the awarding of the Panno right afterwards.

If you can’t make it this weekend, keep in mind that the annual event always takes place on the last Sunday in August.