ISSUE No. 124
ISSUE / No. 124
June 3, 2010
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News - Florence
Look different
Google offers a new perspective on Florence
The world's largest Internet search engine and Internet services firm, Google, recently launched its latest 3D cities. Alongside Milan and Venice, Florence can now be visited virtually with three-dimension software.
But will this new view of Florence bring with it a new …
News - Florence
Capital of culture
Florence presents its culture week programme
City officials recently presented one of the biggest events of the year, Florens 2010, the international week of culture and the environment that will be running next November 12 to 20 throughout the city and environs.
Florens 2010 takes its name from …
News - Florence
Taught to tour
School kids become guides in Santa Croce and Boboli
Students attending the Liceo scientifico and the Geometri dell'istituto Russel Newton in Scandicci recently acted as tour guides at Florentine monuments as part of a project called Communicating Art.
After months of careful study and preparation, from April 16 through 25, during …
News - Florence
My friends
Ode to Monicelli series in Florence
Thirty-five years after the first of three Amici Miei movies was filmed in Florence, Mario Monicelli returns to Piazza Santo Spirito on June 6 to assist in the re-enactment of one of the most popular scenes of the blockbuster trilogy. Organized …
News - Florence
A good deal
Florence to launch museum card
Thirty-three museums and free public transport for 72 hours: the new ‘city card' signed into accord by mayor Matteo Renzi with the head of Italy's museums, Mario Resca; regional councillor Maddalena Ragni; and the head of Florence's Polo Museale, Cristina Acidini …
News - Florence
Calcio Storico... or not?
Two teams drop out of traditional event
Two of the four teams that compete in the Calcio Storico will not participate in the traditional showdown this year. The San Giovanni neighbourhood team, the Verdi, has forfeited its spot in this year's historic Calcio Storico, Florence's most anticipated sports …
News - Florence
Restorations at Palazzo Vecchio
Museum to undergo one-year effort
A new entrance to the Sala d'Arme and a face-lift to the courtyard made by Michelozzo: these are the two of the most important restorations set for at Palazzo Vecchio. The work, beginning this month and expected to cost over 500,000 …
News - Florence
It's war!
Graffiti and wall writings targeted
Palazzo Vecchio has declared war on local graffiti artists and writers, those who pen their words on city walls. As the result of the recent a ‘security campaign' launched by Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni, Florence officials aim to mitigate the …
News - Florence
...And many more!
Florence's Scuola del Cuoio turns 60
Located inside the Basilica of Santa Croce, in the Antico Noviziato, one of Florence's most renowned artisan enterprises recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. The Scuola del Cuoio, with its unique location in the historic church, was founded after World War II …
News - Florence
New boss in town
Changing heads at Maggio Musicale
Francesca Colombo was recently named the head of the Fondazione del Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino, replacing outgoing superintendent Francesco Giambrone.
The new administrative council of the Fondazione comprises Florence mayor Matteo Renzi; former president of Fiat, Paolo Fresco; former mayor of Florence …
News - Florence
Dog oasis reopens
Space for the four-legged
Following ‘months of hard work by volunteers of the Associazione Amico del Guinzaglio (Friends of the Leash Foundation), the new Canine Oasis, a dog park adjacent to the park of Villa Favard (via Rocca Tedalda), finally re-opened on May 15.
Volunteers have …
News - Florence
Breathalyzers in bars?
Alcohol test being tested in a Florence locale
Pop Cafe, a bar in piazza Santo Spirito, will be the first in Florence to have on the premises a breathalyzer, the machine that tests how much alcohol is in the blood by measuring the amount of alcohol in the air …
News - Florence
Your health-in your pocket
Tuscany issues new card with microchip
The Electronic Heath Card (CSE) will soon arrive at homes across the region. The government started sending out the new health cards in late-April and by the end of June, Tuscany's 3,600,000 residents will have received one in their mailbox.
The new …
News - Florence
Local leaders absolved
Former mayor of Florence Leonardo Domenici and former president of the Tuscan region Claudio Martini were among the local politicians recently acquitted by a Florence court for negligence in maintaining the quality of Florence's air, which had exceeded the Italian and …News - Florence
Oblate celebrates
When the Oblate library (via dell'Oriuolo, 26) marked its third birthday with a week of events that ranged from a group recital to children's activities, workshops and ‘meet the author' nights, it was also celebrating three years of accomplishment. The Oblate …News - Florence
Malkovich opens up shop
A new store in Prato called OpificioJm is American actor John Malcovic's latest venture in the Tuscan city. The store will sell a selection of clothing from 30 Tuscan brands, in addition to Malkovic's on clothing lines. Not just a clothing …News - Florence
Traffic cure
Thanks to a recent initiative launched by the city of Sesto Fiorentino, the Tuscan town has successfully reduced urban traffic levels. Called Millepiedibus, the project, which charged 20 volunteers to walk elementary school children to school every day, has ‘drastically reduced …News - Florence
Under the moonlight
Pisa is now offering an exciting new way to see the city-under the moonlight. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pisa city administration has opened the monuments in Piazza del Miracoli to evening visits for the summer. From June to …News - Community
Comparing democracies
Kent State University, which has had a campus in Florence since 1972, is establishing a centre for the education and study of European civilization. As part of the program, the university, in collaboration with the Association of American Colleges and University …News - Community
Mock Auditions with Gayletha Nichols from the Met
Gayletha Nichols is the Director of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (MONC). In the mock auditions conducted by Nichols, students will have the opportunity to present their repertory ‘package' in an audition setting and get feedback on their presentation. Selected …News - Community
Congratulations Jane!
TF's own becomes Doctor of Humane Letters
Cultural editor at the The Florentine and much (much) more, Jane Fortune is a woman of two continents and many causes. Whether at her home in Indianapolis or her residence in Florence, Italy, she is a champion of the arts who …
News - National
Italy picks Rome
Capital bids for 2020 Olympics
Much to the disappointment of rival Venice, by a vote of 68 to 1, the CONI committee selected Rome as the Italian city that will bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. According to the CONI report, ‘Venice did not …
News - National
No pub crawls
Taking a hard line against tourists' excessive drinking
Rome recently enacted an ordinance banning ‘booze tours' in its historic city centre until December 31. Those who continue to organize pub crawls for tourists will be slapped with hefty fines and bars that take part can be closed from 3 …
News - National
Napolitano in America
Italian president's official visit to Washington
Three years after his last trip to the United States, president of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano recently travelled to Washington to pay an official visit to Barack Obama. The meeting between the two leaders was ‘very cordial, both on a …
News - National
Are you linkedin?
Italian survey analyzes social networking power
The world's most popular professional online social network, LinkedIn, boasts almost 70 million users across the world, one million of whom are in Italy. Founded seven years ago, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site for professionals. It is used in …
News - National
The best reputation
Barilla the most respected company in Italy
According to a survey by the Reputation Institute in New York, Google, Sony and Walt Disney have the best reputation in the world, but in the gastronomic sector, Parma's Barilla takes the top spot.
The survey, which analyzed 600 of the world's …
News - National
Immigrants feel at home'
According to a recent survey conducted by the Gdf Institute, approximately 7 out of 10 immigrants living in Italy say they feel ‘at home' here and about 80 percent are ‘satisfied' with the cities they live in. Involving over 2,000 immigrants, …News - National
The next Mastroianni?
The star of director Daniele Luchetti's La Nostra Vita, Elio Germano, garnered critical acclaim in Cannes, winning the festival's Best Actor award. He is the first Italian actor to win the prestigious award since the late Marcello Mastroianni won in 1987. …News - National
Italy mourns fallen soldiers
The two Italian soldiers who died in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan on May 20 were given a state funeral in Rome's Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli, attended by President Giorgio Napolitano, Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top figures. …News - National
Vespas for India
Boasting an 11.2 percent in-crease in sales, the Piaggio Group, based in Pontedera, Pisa, has decided to take one of Italy's most renowned icons to India. After reporting its sales increase in the first quarter of 2010, the Piaggio Group, which …
News - Sport & Leisure
Viola corner
by Melinda Gallo
Kroldrup signed until 2012
Danish defender Per Kroldrup extended his contract another two years, ending June 2012. Upon his decision to stay in Florence, he said, ‘This choice is both a personal and sporting one.' He also added that he anticipates getting …
News - Sport & Leisure
Bike and party
Bettini Day celebrates with La Notte Blu
On June 12 and 13, pedalers should get ready to celebrate Bettini Day 2010. The two-day bike extravaganza along Tuscany's Costa Degli Etruschi is being held simultaneously with La Notte Blu, an all-night party to ring in the summer season. From …
News - Sport & Leisure
NBA action in Italy
Knicks to play in Milan
On October 3, the New York Knicks are coming to Milan to kick off NBA Live 2010 at the Mediolanum Forum. The NBA team faces Armani Jeans Milano in the much-anticipated match, which will feature Danilo Gallinari and Mike D'Antoni, two …
News - Sport & Leisure
Fifa 2010 in Florence
Franchi stadium opens for music and soccer
From June 11 to July 30, the Fiorentina's home stadium will host more than soccer games. Starting June 11, the Artemio Franchi stadium will hold free live screenings of the 2010 FIFA World Championships in South Africa, and it will be …
News - Sport & Leisure
Rugby with flippers
Europe competes in Florence
Florence recently hosted an un-usual championship tournament when teams from Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Norway made their way to the Costoli Pool to compete for the European Underwater Rugby championship.
Underwater rugby, which blends diving, rugby and …
Movie Reviews
Sex and the City 2
by James Douglas
Friday June 4 & Saturday June 5 5:15 - 8:00 - 10:45pm
Sunday June 6 4:00 - 6:45 - 9:30pm
Monday June 7 & Tuesday June 8 6:45 - 9:30pm
Wednesday June 9 6:45 - 9:30pm
Thursday June 10 & Friday June 11 6:00pm
Saturday June 12 & Sunday June 13 4:00 - 6:45 - 9:30pm
Tuesday June 15 & Thursday June 17 6:45 - 9:30pm
*with Italian subtitles
Sex and the City 2. ‘What happens after you say "I do?"' The New York quartet are back for their second movie outing, which sees them getting on with their lives in the way to which we've become accustomed, but also …
Top Picks
'He's coming..!'
FESTA returns to the Bargello
Florence English Speaking Theatrical Artists (FESTA) returns to the Bargello with Bram Stoker's Dracula. On stage from June 26 to July 9 (except Mondays) at 9:15pm, performed in English with Italian subtitles, the production is adapted by William McNulty and directed …
Top Picks
Comparing Democracies: American Exceptionalism Exported?
June 11 at 9:30am - Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio
June 12 at 9am - Kent State University, Palazzo dei Cerchi
Does the United States police the world without abiding by the same rules that it imposes on others? The symposium will address this concept as it applies to international law and U.S. international relations, as part of Kent State University's Comparing …
Top Picks
78th Pitti Immagine Uomo
June 15 to 18 - Fortezza da Basso
Wondering why you're seeing so many model-quality men with champagne flutes and well-heeled women with press tags are trotting about town? Pitti Immagine is back in town! Pitti Immagine Uomo is the world's most important men's fashion fair, in which designers …
Top Picks
MotoGP World Championship Gran Premio d'Italia TIM'
June 4 to 6 - Mugello motor racing circuit
The Grand Prix of motorcycle racing is hitting the Mugello circuit! Don't miss the chance to see the fast-paced, physics-defying racing of these, the best motorcyclists in the world. For more information, visit www.mugellocircuit.it or call 055/8499111. …
Top Picks
Historical Florentine Football Tournament and Florence Historical Parade
June 12, 13 and 24 - Piazza S. Croce
Held (almost) every year since 1530, Calcio Storico can best be described as a mix between rugby and soccer with some medieval costumes and bare-knuckle boxing thrown in. Each quartiere fights for the championship, with a final match by night on …
Top Picks
Opera festival 2010
Starting June 7 - Boboli Gardens and San Galgano Abbey, Siena
The famed opera festival of Tuscany is finally here! Every year, the Opera Festival brings musical masterpieces and more to the most scenic locations in Tuscany. This year, the Boboli Gardens will again be transformed into a spectacular stage for Le …
Top Picks
Esther Mahlangu: The Colours of my Tribe
May 28 to June 27 - St. Art Event Space, Calenzano
The South African artist chosen by FIFA to represent her country and its cultural heritage at the 2010 World Cup, by Fiat to paint for the new Agnelli collection of Fiat 500s and by BMW for its new international series is …
Top Picks
Frank Lloyd Wright at Fiesole after 100 years
June 17 to August 30 - Fiesole
An array of events to celebrate the centenary of Frank Lloyd Wright's stay in Fiesole in the breathtaking location of the ‘resplendent hill.' Exhibitions, conferences, meetings and publications to pay tribute to one of the most famous architects in history. For …
Italian Sketches
Giovanni Michelucci
by Deirdre Pirro
The patriarch of modern Italian architecture
Living two days short of 100 years is a feat in itself, but occupying the main part of those years, as the architect Giovanni Michelucci did, by designing some of the most significant buildings constructed in Italy during the twentieth century …
Book Reviews
Contemplating Florence
Florence: A Map of Perceptions By Andrea Ponsi
University of Virginia Press, 2010
Andrea Ponsi's Florence: A Map of Perceptions takes an unusual and innovative look at the birthplace of the Renaissance through the eyes of an architect. Ponsi, who has lived both in Florence and in the United States, takes both a personal …
News - Current Issues
OP-ED Editorials & Opinions
We introduce this space as a forum in which TF readers can voice and exchange their opinions, concerns and kudos about life in Florence and Italy. E-mail your letters to the editor, essays and opinion pieces to inbox@theflorentine.net and we will …
Expats in Florence
Trine West
by Melinda Gallo
A Dane promoting Florence's nightlife
In 1991, when Trine West was just 18, she left her hometown of Horsens, Denmark, to travel around Europe for a year. Her plan was to visit cities in the neighboring countries and get a taste of what the world has …
In Other Words
We are at the Fruit
by Linda Falcone
Some articles are born faster than others. The one you're reading now would not reveal itself until I'd cleaned every room in the house. In fact, it held out until I'd emptied all the heavy clothes from the closet and loaded …
Florentinisms
Bracare, Andare a mimmi, Gora, Bucoritto
by Alexandra Lawrence, Francesco Stefanelli
Bracare: To be nosey. To get in other people's business.
Example: ‘Viaaa! Vieni in casa, un stare a bracare!' (‘Come on! Get inside the house! Quit getting in everyone's business!')
Andare a mimmi: To go out and play with kids. Usually used with …
Interviews
An interview with Bill Viola
by Brenda Dionisi
A pioneer of video art
Born in New York in 1951, Bill Viola is widely recognized as one of the world's leading visual artists. Over the last 35 years, he has created video tapes, architectural video installations, sound spaces and video and electronic music performances, flat …
The Arts
A master's muse
by Devin Tooma
Frank Lloyd Wright in Fiesole
His iconic homes took the U.S. architectural world by storm in the early twentieth century. Considered the ‘best American Architect of all time' by the American Institute of Architects, Frank Lloyd Wright is the original ‘household name,' known worldwide for the …
Travel
Pisa by candlelight
by Mary Ann Pinto
Festival of Luminara di San Ranieri
Every June 16 at twilight, the citizens of Pisa light nearly 70,000 candles in honor of San Ranieri, Pisa's patron saint, transforming the city into a sea of twinkling lights for a tradition now called the Luminara di San Ranieri. Homes, …
Life
A landmark en passant
by Joelle Edwards
Florence's English Cemetery: Part II
More than 120 years after its 1877 closure, the ‘English Cemetery' of Florence had fallen into a derelict state. Tombstones were unstable and cypresses were falling.
Permission for a restoration project was officially granted in 1997, when the city of Florence also …
Food & Wine
Donald's lunchbox
by Rachel Priestley
The fine art of a simple pasta
I went downstairs to eat at Fuori Porta the other day and was lucky enough to find my friend Donald walking in the door with some free time for an aperitivo. We enjoy chatting about politics, the weather (and how Italians …
Features
Articles
Special Issues
Friday, September 10, 2010