In a holiday season filled with gift giving, the toy stores of Florence want to provide a drop-off point for those wishing to help children of economically distressed families. The “Sospeso” Toy Project brings an opportunity for people in the city to donate gifts that they wish to give to the less fortunate, named after caffè sospeso tradition in Naples which involves paying for someone else’s coffee when they cannot buy one [...]
After a two year hiatus, the British Institute’s Storytime and Afternoon Tea is returning this month to the Library, Lungarno Guicciardini 9. Thursday, November 25: Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, followed by Afternoon Tea This event is in English and will take place in the Children’s Room of the Library, which is located on Lungarno Guicciardini 9. This program is designed for children aged 3 to 8, but all ages are welcome. Author David [...]
Museumgoers rejoice! After months of waiting, the Uffizi Gallery reopened starting May 4 with not one, not two, not three, but 14 new rooms showcasing over 120 self-portraits from the 16th century. Newly displayed works by artists including Daniele da Volterra, Rosso Fiorentino, and Bartolomeo Passerotti will be showcased, with 13 rooms dedicated to the masterpieces by artists of Florentine, Emilian, and Roman origin. The 14th and final room will display the self-portraits of the artists along [...]
San Lorenzo Market will have a new ‘anti-Covid’ pavement put in as a safety precaution to reduce the future spread of virus transmissions in public spaces. The new non-slip and resistant flooring has recently been approved by the Superintendency and was announced by the Councillor for Public Works, Titta Meucci and the President of the Mercato Centrale, Massimo Manetti as the new project for keeping the Market safe and sanitary. The new flooring [...]
“Don’t judge, beauty will save the world.” The Florentine street artist collective Lediesis includes this caption on their Instagram @lediesis alongside a photo of their latest mural of Spanish-Italian actress, model, and TV presenter, Vanessa Incontrada, who recently posed nude for the cover of the latest Vanity Fair. Incontrada’s decision to model naked for the cover shoot and Lediesis’ mural in response both comment in favor of the body positivity movement. The [...]
Takeout is arriving in Florence and Tuscany in a big way. Easing into Phase 2 of the current Coronavirus lockdown, the kitchens of restaurants, cafeterias, cafés, diners, pastry shops, pizzerias and artisanal chocolate shops in addition to gelaterie that make gelato by hand in the location where the product is sold, can re-open on Friday, April 24 in a way inspired by the handling of the health emergency in the United States. [...]
Now that all schools in Italy have been closed for several weeks and restrictions are tightening up even further, parents and children must be getting bored, losing patience, bickering, starting to tear their hair out and searching for things to do to remedy the situation. Last week playgrounds were a possibility, but now they are closed, and visits to grandparents are strongly ill advised. Italian families are not alone. In addition to schools [...]
Recognizable by his red suit, beard and bag full of gifts, Santa Claus (in Italian: Babbo Natale) and his helper elves have decided to bypass Florence chimneys in favor of descending down from the 311 ft (95 meters) of Palazzo Vecchio’s Arnolfo Tower at 3 pm on Sunday, December 22. Once in Piazza Signoria, Santa and the elves will distribute sweets and small gifts to kids in a Christmas preview. This initiative entitled [...]
Florence residents and visitors are invited to the annual holiday party and theatre at the Children’s Lending Library on December 14. The staff will present a musical puppet show in English. The curtain will rise on “Dr. Giacomino’s Tiny Bookshop” with Mikela Rebua and Francesca Mura, a story about the magic of books for children age 5-12 and above on December 14 at 4:30 pm. There will be free entrance for library members, [...]
A woman has been appointed conductor and two women principal guest conductors of the prestigious ORT (Orchestra della Toscana). ORT artistic director Giorgio Battistelli went on record to say “to put things into perspective, if three men had been chosen, it would be taken for granted and not make headlines.” The 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Orchestra della Toscana will be celebrated in 2020 with a series of important changes with [...]