It’s finally Spring in Tuscany!

Lost Florence – comparing past and present of the city in paintings

Ever wondered how Florence looked a hundred years ago, or more? Various paintings in Florentine galleries and churches show recognizable scenes of Florence that are fun to compare to the present day. For the holiday season 2012, the state museums of Florence are offering a free map to visitors of Palazzo Pitti to get out …

On not drinking in Italy

Once again it’s Italy Blogging Roundtable time, and this time my colleagues have come up with a helluva topic: Drinking (and/in Italy). I will tell you why I find this to be a difficult topic, and then talk about what it’s like to be a non-drinker in this country.

December and Christmas 2012 with children in Florence

This is my second post about pre-Christmas initiatives for children in Florence and I’m not going to repeat the ones suggested in last year’s post. I’ll tell you what I’m planning to do this year with 4 year old Francesco.
If you want activities for kids between Christmas 2012 and Epiphany 2013 click here.

Lambrettas, Lorenzo Lotto and Lunch in Pitigliano

The chances of finding a really special restaurant in Italy are pretty good, though it doesn’t happen every day. But what are the chances of stumbling upon a place in Maremma run by art historians?

Pitigliano, a hill town in Maremma, is known for its unusual tufa structure, being built right out of this soft rock, …

10 reasons Milan is not just grey and boring

Personally I don’t know Milan well: this is a guest post by an ArtTrav reader, Patricia, who had commented on another article on this blog, from which followed some correspondence in which she declared that she loved Milan, and had chosen to live there on her own, not for a man, but for the city. …

Win 4 nights at Behind the Tower in Pisa and support Passports with Purpose

Gloria from the Pisa vacation rental “Behind the Tower” and I, Alexandra from ArtTrav, have teamed up to offer a prize in the 2012 Passports with Purpose charitable campaign – proceeds go to providing clean drinking water in Haiti. Do you want to win four nights in Pisa, a great starting point to explore both …

Corvara for kids: don’t come with a three year old

This month’s “for kids” article is a team effort between Laura, our kids’ columnist, and I, Alexandra, certified non-expert in children. My close friends know that I don’t much care for children, so when Laura proposed taking a week’s ski holiday together in the mountains, at close quarters, with 3.5 year old Francesco, to be …

Did you know that Florence has a planetarium?

It’s called La Fondazione Scienza e Tecnica di Firenze e il Planetario and it’s Florence’s planetarium; the institute has been around since the 80s while the planetarium (of the ZEISS ZKP2 type, apparently) opened in 2002.
The 8 meter diameter cupola allows kids and adults to see the night sky in simulation. While activity concentrates on …

Public art and the Piazza – Paladino in Santa Croce

The topic of this month’s Italy Roundtable is the piazza, and Florens 2012 handed me the perfect solution to what to write. On the occasion of the Biennial of cultural and environmental heritage, Fondazione Florens commissioned an impactful work of public art by the Italian contemporary artist Mimmo Paladino. Piazza Santa Croce became a magical …

Heading into Florens 2012

I’m heading into a deep tunnel of work, but it’s a good thing. That’s because I’m leading a social media team of 21 people at the major international conference and event, Florens 2012, from November 3-11. Florens is a week dedicated to cultural heritage and economy – more specifically where the two meet (I’ve reflected …

The gardens at Medici Villa Petraia

On a recent sunny afternoon, I had some very difficult guests in the house, and they were itching to get out: my parents. My parents have been to Florence so many times that they, like many residents, have stopped doing anything at all touristy. But with a few hours to kill, I thought: what can …

3 day Amalfi Coast itinerary

As my parents have been to Florence countless times, last week while I went to work, they took the car down to the Amalfi coast. In this post, Mom reports back proving that the area is as beautiful as they say!

Although many people say it’s not wise to drive on the Amalfi Coast due to …