In these days of celebration panforte Siena makes its appearance, along with panettone, pandoro and ricciarelli, on the shelves of supermarkets and bakeries, and not only in Tuscany. The goodness of this traditional Christmas cake of Sienna is now famous throughout Italy, but how and when it is born panforte?Old recipe books tell of secular origin that becomes miraculous in legend. On Christmas Eve it is said that a child brought as a gift to Jesus a little bread with almonds that, following the...
lunedì 29 dicembre 2008
New Year's Eve in the square in Pisa
The New Year's Eve in the square in Pisa doubles and even quadruple to celebrate the arrival of 2009, four shows will indeed take place in the evening of December 31 in four of the Tuscan city squares: Square Garibaldi, Square San Paolo all'Orto, Square Gambacorti Chiara and Logge the benches.The event called Last of the year Carnival will interlace culinary journeys to entertainment shows and music of every genre, from Blues to Rock, from Jazz to Reggae, Ska from the Latin American dances, to culminate...
sabato 27 dicembre 2008
In Siena watching the stars of the New Year
Only 4 days, 8 hours, 9 minutes at the stroke of midnight of the new year, in newspapers, on television and radio astrologers communicate forecasts of 2009, strictly divided sign for sign. While waiting to find out what was in store for us next year, I want to suggest you an appointment with the stars, quiet, I do not to submit to yet another horoscope, the sky that I invite you to observe is that 'astronomical'.Not quite on a New Year's Day but on 3 January 2009 in Siena the Observatory's Astrofili...
venerdì 26 dicembre 2008
Kinzica de' Sismondi, who was she?
How many live or know some of Pisa will know that one of the historical neighborhoods that had divided the Tuscan city was called Kinzica (for those who are handy was more or less up to via San Martino). Its name derives from that of a woman lived in Pisa in the Middle Ages and still remembered here as an heroin, especially at events such as the Maritime Republics' race involving Amalfi, Venice, Genoa and Pisa course.During the costume parade before the person that has the shoes of Kinzica dei Sismondi...
Biscuits Befanini for a sweet New Year
What's better to wish someone a sweet Christmas giving as a gift something really sweet, maybe we prepared? On the Christmas' sweets the Tuscan recipes are of a wide variety of biscuits and cakes that can be selected. What I have decided to propose to you for these festivals is traditionally one of the recipes prepared in Tuscany in the early days of the new year, as the name reveals: the Befanini (from Befana, an old woman who brings the sweets to children for the epiphany).Ingredients: For the...
Palace Alla Giornata in Pisa
Poised between myth and reality, the story that I want to tell you in this holiday concerning the origin of the term At the Day (Alla giornata) with which is named one of the historic buildings that are located on the river Arno of Pisa, current seat of the Rector of the University, story that had a happy ending just one day of Christmas of a few centuries ago.The narration of the facts leads us in the seventeenth century and the protagonist is a knight Pisan that, following fierce naval battle,...
Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano
Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano is located a few kilometers from Florence, in the province of Prato ant it is easily reachable by bus from the station of Santa Maria Novella. Built by Giuliano da Sangallo for the will of Lorenzo the Magnificent on an area belonged to the historical Florentine families of Rucellai and Strozzi, the villa of Poggio a Caiano has seen in years the alternation of various artists including Filippino Lippi for the fresco in the loggia on the first floor, Andrea Sansovino...
Art, genius and madness in Siena
Next 2009 the schedule of exhibitions in Tuscany is quite full of interesting encounters with art, like the one I want you to talk about.Art, genius and madness, exhibition at the Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, from January 30 to 25 March 2009. The exhibition aims to analyze the combination between artistic genius and madness through an excursus full of big names, such as Van Gogh, Munch, Ernst, Dix, Grosz, Guttuso, Ligabue and the list still includes other famous artists.All this for a total...
Unusual, secret Tuscany
Unusual, secret Tuscany is a book, published by Jonglez, that addresses at tourists who want to discover a non-postcard Tuscany and at those who live in Tuscany and think they know all the places in which they live. It is not like a traditional tourist guide, so if you are planning holidays in Tuscany will do better to rely on travelers' canonical bible Lonely Planet with his valuable advice, but if you want to walk out of the beaten track, then this book is for you.I accidentally discovered on...
Villa Medici of Quarrata is... Magic
In a green protected area, nestled in the hills of Montalbano in the province of Pistoia, lies the Villa Medici of Quarrata whose name is: The Magic (La Magia. The beautiful Renaissance palace is located in a park museum where there are works by contemporary artists merged with nature, as in the Micat in Vertice by Fabrizio Corneli (installation of light and shadow on the facade of the limonaia) and The factory memory by Anne and Patrick Poirier (installation sandstone whose shape echoes the ellipse...
Oh my beloved Puccini, another book on puccini? no
The reading reported this week in the book section, One book, two minutes on Radio Lady (97.7 fm, spread throughout the central and western Tuscany, and streaming) is Oh my beloved Puccini (O mio Puccini caro)written by Cerrone Virginia.The title does not deceive you, this is not a biography nor a volume of celebration of Puccini, despite its publication by Editions Cinquestampe at the 150th anniversary of his birth. The figure of the great composer appears in the story, or rather his tunes that...
Lesson 21 by Baricco at the Cinema Stella in Grosseto
Traditional like Christmas tree decorated with a thousand lights and colored balls, better than a sweetie, done for pleasure rather 'at all, as every year at Christmas a lot of typical Christmas films for families have invaded cinemas and multiplex cinemas. So while the couple alas erupted Boldi-De Sica (now instead of one are two of their films Christmas) rages on big screens throughout Italy, was pleased to know that in this desert oasis are seeking shelter in which to see something different...
That crib on the bottom of the sea
Italians, we seafarers not only in summer, when there are more beach umbrellas on our coasts than fishes in water, but even in winter, in the Christmas atmosphere. In this period cribs are prepared in many houses and in every church, while those living wind in recent days along the streets of various countries, then the cribs these days are really everywhere, even on the bottom of the Mediterranean. One of these cribs divers are set each year in the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, opposite the island...
Living crubs in Tuscany
The first crib made by St. Francis on Christmas Eve of 1223 in Greccio was a living crib, this ancient tradition is preserved today and indeed there are many depictions of the birth of Christ in which, instead of statuettes, there are people in flesh and bones. They are usually located in countries more than big cities, and given the history and architecture of medieval villages, many Italian living cribs become even more impressive. I thought of give some information on the main living cribs that...
New Year in costume in Florence
If you plan to spend the New Year 2009 in Florence know that, in addition to traditional festivals animated by dj in the numerous nightclubs Florentine (Yab, Saschall, Colle Beret...), the city offers you the opportunity to greet the New Year in a somewhat unusual participating in the evenings in costume.Cradle of the Renaissance, Florence could not possibly welcome to 2009 with a large banquet renaissance of the end of the year? He backdrop to this event the sixteenth Gattai Palace Budini made...
Christmas gift.... made in Tuscany
In this period of festivities many people are locked in the hunt for the gift, which is why I thought to give you some idea about Christmas gifts to suit every budget and strictly made in Tuscany.Items in alabaster. These products typical of Volterra, in Pisa, are made from various farms in the area where the craft sometimes reaches levels of true art. By varying measures, the forms that these items may have also changed their prices. For a simple thought can buy a keychain in the shape of animal...
Christmas Concerts in Tuscany
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way ... Last Christmas I gave you my heart... like every year in December to these songs are again in many shops and supermarkets and even from the speakers in the main shopping streets citizen to become a sort of soundtrack of life for many of us. Cities become a decorated party where snowflakes and garlands descend from above illuminating streets and squares, and what we get is a Christmas atmosphere somewhat 'cold', as the temperature of this period,...
Food Sicilian cuisine restaurant in Pisa
In Tuscany among the best place to taste some typical Sicilian cuisine continues, after dinner last night, is La Stanzina in Pisa. As its name indicates (Stanzina means little room), this place is really small, with just one room and covered as well as I seem to appreciate this restaurant in many, it is best to go about booking.The central location (a stone's throw from Borgo Stretto), the atmosphere, the soft loci, the relationship between quality and price make La Stanzina one of my favourite...
The Deposition of Christ by Pontormo: Gem of Mannerism in Florence
When understood in Florence near Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), as has happened to me in these days, a step almost obligatory for me is the church of Santa Felicita. During a lesson on unversitaria Pontormo, restless genius of Mannerism, I discovered that this small Florentine church retains one of his most valuable: the altarpiece depicting the Deposition of Christ. The interior rather gloomy makes it impossible to appreciate better the vibrant shades of colors used by Pontormo. For this advice to...
It was a dark and stormy night ... In Maremma
In a rainy day like those that unfortunately occur lately in Italy, including Tuscany, when I was a little girl and I had to stay at home, my grandmother used to tell fairy tales and legends. For this reason, the ticking of violent rain on the windows is sometimes surface from a trunk of memories baggage of images and stories related to my childhood. Among the legends that my grandmother loved to tell there were some of their traditional Maremma, set in the land of Tuscany that, today sought tourist...
Florence... Not only Uffizi
Florence, with its museums and its ten hundred masterpieces by far girar la testa, I have the fortune to know quite well since I live near there. For this reason, last weekend because my friend from Milan stopped for a few days in Florence I thought to suggest a tour 'alternative', the discovery of those corners of the city some 'less beaten by the tourist trail.Saturday 29. Meet at 10 before the pharmacy station Santa Maria Novella and path to the first stage of our weekend in Florence: the Museum...
Iscriviti a:
Post (Atom)