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 17th – 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 »
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:
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.
September is here and days are shorter than before. I like this month because the weather is sunny and mild and the countryside starts changing colors. In addition there are many events in and around Florence.
On Saturday I will stay in Florence and go for a walk in the city center. I want to go to Piazza Santissima Annunziata where the Fierucola del Pane will be taking place, a traditional festival of organic bread and products. There will be lots of organic food grown following traditional customs by local farmers. In addition there will be music and activities for children. Then I will go to the Tepidarium at the Horticulture’s Garden in via Bolognese. Inside this large recently restored glasshouse fly hundreds of colorful tropical butterflies. For all September it’s possible to take tea with the butterflies flying around you. The Tepidarium is open every day and from 7.30pm to 10 pm is “happy hour” time. The entrance costs 8.00 euro. Read full post »
This weekend is Ferragosto, the day of the Assumption, which is a national holiday in Italy. So we have decided to spend the whole weekend in Mugello, the green valley to the north of Florence. Read More »
I haven’t yet planned everything I will do this week end. The only thing that is certain is that I’m heading to Mercantia in Certaldo tonight. I’m going to go see this great Festival of Street Artists that I liked very much in the past. I’ll be in Certaldo around 8 pm and after taking a look at the market in the lower part of Certaldo and dinner, I’ll climb up to upper Certaldo to go see all the events.
On Saturday I’m planning a morning of total relax. After lunch, I’m planning to go to Cerreto Guidi, a nice Renaissance town about 35 min driving distance from Florence. There is Medicea, an event about culture, food and wine. At 6 pm the “historical reconstruction of threshing”, as well as wineries will open, with wine tastings and art exhibits. At 9.30pm a guided tour will be offered within the beautiful Medicean villa of Cerreto Guidi. This Renaissance villa, turned into the Museum of Hunting and of the Territory, was built by Buontalenti as a hunting villa for the Grand Duke Cosimo I.
I have yet to decide what to do on Sunday. I’d like to go to San Gimignano, where a new and very interesting museum opened two weeks ago. The museum is called San Gimignano 1300 and is a spectacular and extremely detailed reconstruction of this beautiful medieval city in Tuscany at that time. It should be really impressive. On the other hand, I’d like also to go to Palazzuolo sul Senio in Mugello for the medieval festival “At the Ubaldini’s Family Court”. The peculiarity of this festival is that this year it’s an historical reenactment of the heroic deeds of Roland. There will a free shuttle bus service from Florence and Pontassieve.
I think I’ll wait and decide on Saturday night what to do on Sunday. In the meantime I wish you a nice weekend!
Easter is coming soon. And we have information to share with you on what to do and what to see in Florence and Tuscany next weekend.
Most of the museums in Florence will be open on Easter Sunday and Monday (April 4 and 5). In particular some State Museums are “extraordinarily” open such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Gallery which are generally closed on Mondays. The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, the San Marco Museum, Medici Chapels, Bargello Museum and Palazzo Davanzati will all be open. Read Full Post »
The tiny village of Marradi organizes every Sunday in October the traditional Sagra delle Castagne or Chestnut Festival, and this year marked its 45th edition.
This last weekend we participated too!
Marradi is a characteristic little village of the Upper Mugello almost on the border between Tuscany and the Emilia Romagna territory. The Chestnut Festival organized in Marradi is dedicated to marroni chestnuts since these delicate chestnuts grow here and across the Mugello. They even are identified and protected by law as the “Marrone del Mugello IGP“, considered one of the best quality chestnuts in Italy.
Read more about the Chestnut Festival >>
This past weekend we tried something different from the medieval festivals we’ve come to love and went to Scarperia to step back into time, but not so far back: only about five centuries back into the Renaissance. The festival took place on September 6 and 7 as part of the festivities that precede the Palio del Diotto that takes place on September 8 of every year in Scarperia.
Continue reading about Scarperia in the Renaissance...
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