Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World
Yes, it’s that time of year again; the run up to Easter or Pasqua as we say here in Italy. Florence has experienced a big increase in tourist bookings for the Easter holidays so you can guarantee the city will be heaving. But don’t worry about that, it’s all part of the Florence experience at this time of year! Park your car south of the river and walk or telephone Taxi Firenze on 055 4390 and they will pick you up in no time! The shops are full of giant chocolate eggs and it will be a weekend of family festivities whether you are religious or not. In the foto you will see an advertisement for Quinoa Gluten Free Restaurant, which is my absolute favourite place to eat. Don’t be put off by the ‘gluten free’ thing, they cater for all diets and you will love their freshly baked bread. Website
Whilst in or near Florence, there are some really interesting museums and exhibitions to get your teeth into. The Stibbert Museum is one place I will be going to in the next few weeks. I have been promising myself a visit for ages! It is easy to reach on the tram, which you can pick up outside Santa Maria Novella train station. The museum has a vast personal collection of military and lots of other collections, from around the world. Frederick’s English father came to Italy after fighting against Napoleon in Spain. He came to Rome and then Florence where he met and later married Frederick’s Italian mother. After Frederick’s death, his home and museum was opened to the public in 1909. It’s a fascinating story, do read about it and try to visit. Website
Now I love the work of the Italian artist Marcello Scuffi. You would be forgiven for thinking his art was from the art deco period of the 1920’s or 30’s. But no, he was born in 1948 in Pistoia, near Florence and his medium is sometimes described as GrecoArte here in Italy. I am mentioning Marcello because he currently has an exhibition at the Florence Art Gallery, which ends on 27th April. If you like his style, do drop in for a visit. I would love to own one or two of his paintings. Let me know what you think!
Again, on the subject of museum pieces, we may think of Archimedes, his being one of the most famous historical mathematical geniuses of all time. Hang on a minute, I hear you say, but he was Greek not Italian! Yes, yes I know this, I was just testing. Well actually I was leading up to introducing Italy’s very own modern-day Archimedes, eighteen year old Valerio Pagliarino! It is a reminder that many of the most intelligent mathematicians and inventors were Italian. And still are. This is not just a land of wine, olives, pizza and pasta, oh no. Valerio’s innovative new technology, the LaserWan project, is able to transmit data with light and has been recognised as Industrial Patent of Invention! Unsurprisingly he was one of the winners at ‘Intel International Science & Engineering Fair 2017.’ So bravo to Valerio and all the other young brilliant Italian techno designers rising to the surface! Foto La Repubblica magazine.
Now what else did I have to tell you? Oh yes, the Chianti countryside is currently having a deluge of rain. It’s also cold. But the coming week is looking better and I know that many of you will be travelling here during the next couple of weeks and will be glad to know that. I can see the beautiful Hoopoe bird trotting around the wet garden at this moment, easily finding worms that have come up to the surface. There is nothing like spring in Tuscany. Foto Pininterest.
Well enough of that already. Must get the fotos added for you to enjoy and catch up with my Sunday to do list. Have a great week and do drop me a line. By the way, my man says this week’s blog is too much like a travel article. Do you agree? Let me have your views!
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Salute June x
PS The Italians are very active on Facebook and are constantly posting events. Pop in the location you want to visit and hey presto, masses of things come up including concerts, theatre, exhibitions etc! All newspaper extracts from La Repubblica.
Yes, Spring has sprung early this year, hopefully we won’t get another nasty cold snap and kill things off. Bees have been buzzing for the last couple of weeks and I learnt recently that they take nectar from dandelions if there is nothing else available, so don’t dead head those weeds yet! Other insects are appearing as are small creatures like lizards, which is a little worrying as animals are starting to come out of hibernation a tad too early. Our resident Viper will no doubt appear soon; she had a big nest of swirling babys last spring. Our resident pheasant Phil, is sending out mating calls from various perches around the garden so we look forward to seeing one or more hens arriving.
This is also the time of year for finding Wild Asparagus. These are not the big thick stems you find in the supermarkets, oh no. They are lovely thin stems often missed growing amongst grasses that resemble them and under brambles. Well, you know me, I let other people hunt them down and then I buy and cook them. I was delighted to find a big fat bunch in a pot of water, just waiting to be grabbed by me at La dispensa in Fiano. There was enough for me to eat them three days running. Now, most of you know I am not the greatest of cooks; I like to do things the easy way. I snapped off the tough bits, then steamed for about five minutes, dropped them on to some baking paper, drizzled with olive oil, topped with pecorino cheese & pine nuts and baked in a hot oven until the cheese had browned. And, hey presto! I know you are out there clapping, which I appreciate. I just hope my friend and neighbour the celebrity cook 
Today is Sunday and the forecast is for temperatures up to 17 degrees centigrade! Well, I braved it this morning, popped on some thin tights and flats, so glad to have my feet out of boots. Meanwhile, I have been thinking about spring jackets and coats. Why is it that on every change of season, I find myself with nothing to wear? My man is horrified when I say this, he says I have a wardrobe full of stuff, how can I have nothing to wear? But you girls understand, don’t you? Then I saw this rather lovely coat in a magazine at Sandra’s hairdressers, perfect for the cool to warm weather, what do you think? I love it. And, the bag too! But I could only find the bag on the website, which is a rather nice one, 
OK, enough of my fashion indulgences and time to go off for lunch at my daughter’s home between San Gimignano and Volterra. Meanwhile, here is another sunset picture; it’s the time of year for fabulous skies every night. Enjoy.
Well, thank God for that, spring is really here at last and the forecast is sunshine for the next couple of weeks. But hang on a minute, if you are thinking of rushing out to Tuscany with your cossies, the swimming pools do not open up until the beginning of May and anyway the air temperature can still be quite chilly this time of year. On the other hand, there are no mossies around in April, so if you pack layers and don’t want to swim outside, come anyway! Foto J Finnigan
Now for me, spring brings a big lift to the spirits and I feel much more like going out and about. I noticed an advert for an exhibition over on the coast in Pietrasanta, which is in the Comune di Lucca. It’s called ‘Il dolce Rumore della Vita,’ which translates to ‘The Sweet Noise of Life’. It is all about paintings and sculpture by very talented people including the Irish sculptor Paddy Campbell and Tuscan artist Simona Dolci. I really fancy going over, and to breathe in some sea air before the bulk of the tourists arrive. It’s easy to get a train there too, so no need to slog along the fipili dual carriageway. Now I just need to persuade my man to join me. Foto La Nazione. Have a look for yourselves, the exhibition is open until 10th June. Perhaps we’ll see you there. visit the 
Meanwhile, yesterday saw Florence full of fun runners and their supporters, all there for good causes. Yes, it was the annual Half Marathon. What I love about Italians is that they always remember to include families and particularly children. So, not only did you have the competitive race, but also a non-competitive race of 8km, a walking race over 5km and a kids race called ‘The Tommasino Run’ over 1.5km. The events were spread around the beautiful city and included Piazza della Signoria and Piazza Duomo. Foto La Nazione.
What else? Oh yes, we cannot ignore that beautiful Italian creation the actress Claudia Cardianale who is celebrating her 80th birthday! Can you believe it? Now, some of you younger readers may not have seen her films that included starring roles in the sixties opposite leading men like Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson and Paul Newman. Most of her films are now classics, so look them up! Just like Sophia Loren, Claudia still scrubs up very well indeed. Buon Compleanno to her. Foto La Repubblica 
Meanwhile, back in our local village of Fiano, relaxing over coffee and reading the newspapers, I found an article about Sulla Orma Citta Millenaria, that is ‘On the Millennium City Footprint.’ I know, it doesn’t really make sense, so one should not always try to translate literally. What it actually said was, it is a thousand (mille is a thousand in Italian) years ago when the foundations were laid for San Miniato al Monte and other churches in Florence and the surrounding province. A thousand years! Think about it, that’s the year 1,018 AD or the 9th century. These incredibly beautiful buildings were built all that time ago with no electronic or mechanical assistance. Of course Florence is a most stunning atmospheric ancient city, and that’s not just the places of worship. Florence was also the birthplace of Leonardo di Vinci and other illustrious designers and inventors. So, If you have not visited yet, you really should! 
Back here in our lovely bit of Chianti countryside, we had an invasion of bees in my study! A queen had flown in the open window, yes it’s warm enough, and refused to leave. After she eventually left, the worker bees found her scent and thought she was still here. So my man being a gung-ho ex-marine, goes in and tries to encourage them to leave by waving a cobweb brush around. The buzzing got angrier and louder. “Get out of there!” I screamed from outside the door, which opened a crack and he squeezed out. After much discussion, we decided to shut all connecting doors and wait. Over four hours later, all went quiet, they had finally given up and flown out into the dusk! What a relief. I hope they found their Queen. At least my daft hero man did not get stung! Foto Queen Bee – pixhark.com
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