February 2007 Archives

Here is another useful map of Florence - a satellite view (with street names, etc.) that you can zoom into, pan around and drag.

We heard that the state museums (The Uffizi, The Accademia, The Pitti Palace, etc.) were free this Sunday, the 18th (tomorrow) - but I have not been able to find anything about it on the web anywhere. The Italian/Florentine museum websites are pretty notorious for not being up to date unfortunately. We are going to go over to San Marco Sunday anyway to see if it is true.

Update: There is also a Carnevale parade on Sunday starting at 2:00 PM - last year it went from Piazza Ognissanti to Piazza Signoria, the route is probably similar this year. Phone 055 276 8030.

Good article from the NY Times about Amarone:

"CONTRARY to a widely held belief, big, powerful, almost monstrously concentrated wines are not a California invention. No, before the first California wines sent the alcohol meter reeling toward 17 percent, Amarone from Italy was setting the standard for dense, lush red wines that were routinely 15 to 16 percent alcohol.

But unlike some of those newfangled California wines, which have the comic, pumped-up character of professional wrestlers, a good Amarone has the more refined muscularity of a naturally robust athlete. It's a wine that you can't imagine any other way.

Amarone, or Amarone della Valpolicella, to give it its more formal name, is the flag-bearer of a special class of wines that are made from dried grapes. Amarone uses the same blend of grapes as Valpolicella, its lighter red sibling in the Veneto region: mainly corvina and corvinone, along with some lesser grapes like rondinella."

This project is definitely under way, one crane is up and the other is going up. I will try to get some pictures and add them when I get a chance. From the NY Times (behind the subscription wall for some reason):

"A bright yellow crane has recently gone to work, the most solid sign yet that the reconstruction of the Uffizi Gallery here may really, finally, actually happen."

The article goes on to quote some Florentines about the difficulties of doing anything new here in Florence, noting that the archive space that was emptied nearly 30 years ago to make room for this expansion is still empty. THIRTY YEARS AGO! You gotta love Italy...

This is something new and cool - a custom map of Florence that you can search for hotels, museums, etc. Check it out. More like this on the way for other cities and towns.

From the AP, as expected:

ROME (AP)--The Italian Cabinet approved measures Wednesday that will keep fans out of soccer stadiums until security precautions are met.

The decree includes "the explicit indication that in stadiums that are not up to code, they will play behind closed doors," Interior Ministry undersecretary Marco Minniti said.

"The measures are severe and without precedent," Minniti added. "Our objective isn't to play the games behind closed doors. Our objective is to play the games in safe stadiums with open doors."

More here.

The Certosa del Galluzzo is a hill top monastery just outside of Florence - a short drive (out the Porta Romana and follow the Via Senese), or accessible by bus or taxi. The 37 bus used to service this route, but that route seems to have disappeared from the ATAF website - the 36 looks like the one to take now. You will have to walk up the hill (here is a large image of the route).

The monastery has a few monks left and tours are conducted about every half an hour. The collection includes some important works by Pontormo who came here to escape the plague in 1522. Closed for lunch from 11:30 to 3, and in the winter open only afternoons - it is probably best to call ahead for a visit: 055 204 9226

After another death related to a soccer match, this one of a policeman, the Italians are taking serious and dramatic steps. I think they are totally correct in suspending the matches. I hope this ends up as a positive for Italy overall. Here is part of the most recent story from ANSA:

ROME (ANSA) - Italy has indefinitely suspended domestic and international soccer matches after clashes by rampaging fans left a policeman dead and more than 70 people injured in the southern city of Catania Friday evening.

Police inspector Stefano Raciti, 38, was killed when a home-made bomb was thrown into his car outside the city's Massimino stadium during clashes with hooligans following a Serie A match between Palermo and Catania.

More here, but the links go bad after a while.

I didn't know what "Branzino" was until I read "Heat" by Bill Buford. The story of a writer nearly burning his hands off over a commercial grill in some sort of higher pursuit that he doesn't really understand so intrigued me that when I saw this fish in the store I had to try it. The photo is of my second attempt - I think I have it down now - and my technique is not as dangerous as Buford's.

The recipe is below the fold.

Bagno Vignoni, known for its thermal baths and spas, is a hamlet in the rolling hills southwest of Siena in the quintessential Tuscan countryside of post cards and movies. Like a lot of small towns in this country it has been brought back to post-war life and is fully set up to exploit the tourism trade with ample parking, hotels (Albergo Le Terme, Hotel Posta Marcucci), and fancy places to eat (Osteria del Leone). Even so, it still retains a lot of charm and is one of those places you eventually have to see, especially for the large pool in the center of the town that has been used since Roman times. The film Nostalghia by Andrei Tarkovsky features the pool prominently, although when it was in a much worse state of repair (the film was shot in 1983). Here is a good map of the village, and this page has some additional information too.

The "Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard" or the "Vision of St. Bernard" is a wonderful Renaissance painting by Filippino Lippi (c. 1485). I keep thinking about writing a list of great paintings you can see for free in Florence, and this one would be near if not at the top (Pontormo's Deposition in Santa Felicita is another favorite). It is just inside the door, on the left, of the Badia (Abbey) Fiorentina, one of the oldest churches in Florence (the door into the church itself - not the door on Via del Proconsolo, which leads to the church).

The Badia is closed to visitors except for Monday afternoons, after 3 p.m. - but it is well worth a visit, for the Lippi, the several works by Mino da Fiesole, and the rest of the art and architecture (you can probably enter the church on other days and hours, as long as there is not a service taking place - it is open for worship all day long).

This painting depicts a visit from the Virgin to St. Bernard as he writes about the annunciation - it is an annunciation in itself, but with Mary visiting the Saint to "announce" his salvation. It is full of symbolism and detail and really needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. It is a marvel (and a delight) that a painting of this significance and beauty still hangs in this church and has not somehow been placed in a museum.

Here is the location of the church: