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

With February, Carnival season 2012 comes alive and Tuscany prepares to celebrate with big masked parades and events dedicated to Carnival.

Have you already prepared your fancy costume and bought some confetti and streamers?

If you answered “Yes”, then you have only to choose the destination to celebrate! Otherwise, do not worry, you still have a few days to find a pretty carnival costume .

In the coming weeks in Tuscany you will find many fun Carnival events, both in small towns and larger cities.
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Tuscany is preparing to celebrate the Carnival with many amusing events organized in next weeks in the main cities as well in the tiny villages of the region.
From the great and famous Carnival parades in Viareggio to the events in smaller towns, such as the Carnival at Mugello in Dicomano or San Gimignano, there are a lot of funny and colorful appointments for both adults and children.

Viareggio and its famous allegoric floats

Viareggio offers one of the most famous Carnival parade in Italy. Its allegorical floats in paper mache animate every year the seaside avenues of the city, well known as “La Passeggiata”.
On Saturday 19 a cerimony will officially open this Viareggio Carnival 2011. The real parades will take place around 3 pm on Sunday 20 and 27 of February, March 6 (Sunday) and Thursday 8. The final parade on March 13 will start at 5pm. The events required entry tickets.The Viareggio Carnival is really a funny (a bit crowded) event, enjoy a short video of one of its past masked parade.

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Here we are, the last weekend before Christmas. Bells are ringing and weather forecasts predict snow… what better way to say Christmas than this? Joking aside, here are the main events in Tuscany for this third weekend of December if you’re fine with covering up well to deal with the low temps around here at the moment.

Florence:

On Saturday and Sunday, December 18^th and 19^th, you can head over to Piazza Santissima Annunziata to the Arts&Crafts market. There will be several craftsmen showing their works, you might find something interesting for a gifts or two.

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It’s almost mid-December but it’s still warm. After a couple of freezing days we came back to mild, gray weather. So let’s see the main events for this second weekend of December:

Florence:

This weekend, head to the German Christmas Market in Piazza Santa Croce, open every day from 10am to 8pm. Then visit Florence Noel at the Leopolda Station until Sunday.
In Piazza Santo Spirito on Sunday December 12^th there will be the monthly arts and crafts market, while within walking distance in Piazza Tasso, at the Ex-Leopoldine Mercanatale, you’ll find a market of local farmers selling only organic products.

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Wow! Today is December 1^st and the countdown for Christmas has started! Florence has been lighted up with thousands of Christmas lights all around the city. As usual during the Advent there are several Christmas markets and lots of events all around Tuscany.

Christmas markets are the ideal places for finding unique Christmas decorations, handmade gifts and for tasting Christmas sweets and local products. Here you have a list of main Christmas markets in Tuscany 2010:

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Good and bad news in and about Tuscany

We have decided to start a new blog’s column, if we can call it this way. Every week we’ll collect the most interesting articles about Tuscany and its cities and regions. News telling about its excellence and about its worst. The following are the main articles and news about Tuscany of the past weeks:

Chianti Waste-Less – Florentine Chianti municipalities -  Barberino Val d’Elsa, Greve in Chianti, San Casciano and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, will start producing less waste following a revolutionary project. The municipalities will provide restaurants, offices, shops, accommodations, as well as events and fairs with a “waste-less” logo in order to promote their green attitude. They will also promote a healthier and greener lifestyle for citizens, as well as the re-use of packaging and the construction of new salvage centers.

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Hoping that the weather will be mild and won’t rain, these are the main events in Florence and across Tuscany for this upcoming weekend of November.

Florence:

This weekend will finish Food and Wine Biennial 2010. The main event will be Florence Wine Event 2010 from Friday 19^th to Sunday 21^st November in the Ammannati Courtyard inside Palazzo Pitti. It’s an important appointment for wine lovers that will taste wine and oils purchasing the “tastings kit”, that includes a drink card, the goblet and a brochure.

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Last week we turned back the clock and now at 6.00 pm it is already dark. For me, November is the gloomiest month of the year, because it’s cold, the days are short and you don’t yet feel the holidays as in December. Luckily, in November there are many fairs and food festivals to cheer me up .

On November 6^th in Florence the Food and Wine Biennial 2010 will begin and last until November 22^nd. On Sunday November 7^th there will be Sweet Temptations where you can taste sweet wines as typical vinsanto together with typical cakes and cookies. In Piazza Santissima Annunziata there will be the nice and interesting Fair of Shepherds and Wool. There will be the exhibition of sheep and bovines, as well as organic food and wool. Read more »

October will end soon and on Saturday night we will have to turn back the clock  to the solar time. This means that we will sleep one hour more but we’ll lose one hour of day light I recommend you take note and don’t forget to turn back your clock!

This last weekend in October is also the Halloween weekend. If you still don’t know what to do I recommend you read our suggestions for spending the Halloween weekend in Florence.

In Tuscany there are other events such as the last appointments with autumn and food festivals in Mugello. In addition in Barberino del Mugello from Saturday October 30^th to Monday November 1^st there will be the Market fair of black and white truffle. Read more »

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!