Free concert of classical music

Next Tuesday, the 1st of July, enjoy a spectacular concert of beautiful classical music, performed by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra.

For the final concert Zubin Mehta will direct one of the most loved simphonies:
Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 Choral"
One of the best known works of the Romantic repertoire, and one of Beethoven's greatest masterpieces.

The concert will start at 9.30 pm in Piazza della Signoria.
Free entrance.

Restaurants on river Arno in Florence, italy

One of the best restaurants on Arno river is Golden View Open Bar: you can see the gorgeous Ponte Vecchio just in front of you, while you are eating, through the huge windows. And every evening there's live jazz music.

You can savour several kinds of “pizza”, “calzoni”, and “focacce”, topped with the most traditional dressings, and the most innovative ones, such as “Mezzaluna sull’Arno” and “Focaccia Barbablù”. From the Pizzeria’s oven comes out bread twice a day, the very bread you find on the tables, along with the delicious “schiacciatine”.

Golden View Open Bar
Via De' Bardi, 54/64 Rosso, Ponte Vecchio Firenze
Tel: +39 055 214502
Mob: +39 3334757400
Email: info@goldenviewopenbar.com
Opening hours 11.30 am - 1.00 am

Another place I really recommend is this nice tuscan restaurant in San Niccolò quarter. It's not exactly on the River, but it's quite close to. And it's one of the few places in Florence to find free wireless internet. There you can have an excellent brunch (except in Summer) for only 20 euros. It's not easy to find cheap good restaurants in Florence!

See also the post about the boat tour on Arno River>>

The historic football of Florence named "Calcio storico fiorentino"

Yesterday was Saint John, the patron of Florence. In Florence we are used to celebrate this day in several ways: first, everything is closed. People don't go to work, only touristic stores are open.

During the day there are historic processions and canoa races in the Arno river.
At the end of the day, exciting fireworks are waited from everybody.
But this year there was something special more longed for: the return of "Calcio Storico", the florentine historic soccer played in medieval costumes.
The game is played in the Santa Croce square, where a temporary field is built and covered with sand. Several matches are held between 4 teams representing each quarter of Florence in June. The final match is held on the 24th of June. It's a rough game, where players keep running with the ball (the "caccia") trying to avoid smash, fists and collisions.
Every year someone gets hurt and is brought to Hospital...
In 2006 the game was becoming too violent and it was suspended. Finally, after 2 years, the Calcio storico has come back with different rules and new teams (younger players).
Yesterday the final match was between the red team (representing Piazza Santa Maria Novella) and the blue team (Piazza Santa Croce). The final score was: 9 "cacce" and a half to 4, in favour of red ones.

Nottarno, the "white night" in Florence

Next saturday (21st of June) in Florence there will be the "nuit blanche" (=the white night): a special night with events through Florence all night long. From 7.30 pm until 4.00 am:

- Stores will be open

- In the streets there will be concerts and live performances (Irish music in Piazza del Carmine);

- You wil find music and entertainment in the squares of Piazza del Carmine, Piazza Pitti, Piazza Santo Spirito;
- Mortadella and other food given for free in Via Romana;
- the zoological museum "La Specola" will remain open until midnight, with a interactive video with the voices of animals;
- performances of scuplture, architecture, photography...
- clowns and events for kids at San Niccolò
- A open air market that sells biological products, fruits, vegetables, bread, wine, honey, oil and other italian food until 2.30 am.
And people everywhere!

The cloud at Pitti Fair

When I was visiting the Pitti Fashion Fair I was captured by a peculiar sculpture... when I touched one of the 15,000 individually addressable fibers, I realised that they where sensors.

The cloud responds to human interaction and expresses context awareness using hundreds of sensors. Constructed of carbon glass, spanning over 4 meters, and containing more than 65 km of fiber optics, the Cloud encourages visitors to touch and interact with information in new ways, manifesting emotions and behavior through sound and a dichotomy of luminescence and darkness. Each fiber represents a pixel that can be touched, modified, or moved in a physical way.

Located in downtown Florence outside the Fortezza da Basso. the Cloud is part of the “Redesigning Fashion Trade Shows” project that Pitti Immagine launched with MIT Mobile Experience Lab in January 2007. It is a long-term project that will creatively rethink the trade show concept and will propose innovative technologies, perspectives and sensory experiences for fashion trade shows.

Sundek Party for Pitti Fashion Fair

Yesterday I have been to the Sundek Party near the station: a special party in occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo 74. It was really nice, full of music, people, drinks in a great location.

The dj (Nicky Siano) is one of the most famous: coming from New York (Studio 54) he has shown a great talent during his performance.
I went back home at 1.00 am, but people continued to arrive even later!

Pitti Uomo 74: the fashion fair in Florence

This morning I went to Pitti Immagine Uomo 74, the fashion fair that takes place in Florence twice a year.

First, I visited the stands of well know brands (Prada, Hugo Boss, Woolrich, Sundek with the surf exhibition, Massimo Rebecchi with the italian vip "Morgan") but I also discovered some brand new companies that are launching their products and labels. Some are very innovative and inusual.


I entered the stand where there was the exclusive world preview by PUMA by Mihara Yasuhiro & dress for PLAYSTATION®3 : a sample exhibit of a new Fashion software being developed by Sony.

I really enjoyed the area "Welcome to my house": an exhibit dedicated to fashions influenced by street culture with a selection of young, but already well-known, brands that focus their research on street styles. In this area I noticed the one named "Dead meat" : a little fashion company that tries to gather political provocation and street design. You can read on their manifesto:
Dead Meat is born with the intent to transform the t-shirt into a canvas for the youth to express their ideas, on which we build and form piece by piece an message until it becomes poetry.

Then I walked through the area "New Beat(s)", the area that Pitti Uomo reserves for debuts by young talents. The new layout has transformed the Lyceum's rooms into a Portoguese courtyard decorated with azulejos, to showcase the offerings of young brands from the world over: from Russia to Japan, from Belgium to Finland.

Then I had a strange meeting... with a interactive cloud from MIT... I will tell about this later.

This night Lee will be present with a big event to celebrate the brand: Lee Rocks Firenze, Live set from 10 pm and Dj set from 12 pm at Teatro Gambrinus, with The Teenagers, The Tunas, Radio days.