Free live music in Florence

In Piazza Beccaria, not far form Santa Croce, every night enjoy a different live concert on the stage close to the club "Kitsch".

At 7.30 pm have a glass of wine for 7 euros and a "all you can eat" aperitif with pasta, pizza, vegetables, ham, cheese, wurstel, potatoes and more... You may find seat inside and outiside the club.

At 9.00 pm listen to the live jam on the stage: from jazz to blues, from italian rock to latin music. You don't have to pay for the concert.

Until September, 2011.

Best ice cream in Florence, Italy

A five-minute walk from Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Vecchio this small "Gelateria de' Neri" dishes out superior sorbets and ice creams. The flavours are always changing, many ice cream flavours are innovative (be sure to try the ricotta cheese and figues).  Classics such as cioccolato (=chocolate), fior di latte (=white cream) and stracciatella (cream with pieces of chocolate) are supplemented by seasonal specials (strawberries, melon, peach, lemon...). I enjoyed the bittersweet intensity of the green tea and the pistacchio flavour ( creamy flavour of nuts from Bronte, a Sicilian city known for its pistachio).

All ices are made in house.

Two-flavour cones cost 2.50 euros.

Gelateria de' Neri

Via de' Neri, 20-22 red

Firenze.

Winetown: Florence the location of a special wine festival in courtyards and cloisters of historical buildings

At the end of September, 2011, there will be a great event in Florence: Winetown, a wine festival with a lot of events. What's going on in Florence for the Winetown wine festival? here are some tips:

• Shows and concerts that enliven the tastings of fine wines inside important Historical Buildings that will be open to the public only for this special occasion. 
•  There will be cooking shows, a discussion and reflection on the design of the bottle and new technology on the second floor of the "San Lorenzo" Central Market. 
• The treasure hunt through the streets of the historical center 
• The game Vinopoli for children to play. 

Two intense days, complete with an unusual itinerary and an unconventional way of bringing wine and people together.

Opening hours:

Saturday 24 September 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Sunday 25 September 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The tastings will be conducted during the opening hours of the event upon purchasing the WineCard.

WHAT IS WINE TOWN

Wine town is a new concept and way of communicating the territory: to enhance the wine making tradition in a different context than usual, the idea to open the great private buildings of the nobility of Florence, which will then be rediscovered by the general public. Wine Town 2011, with the support of Toscana Promozione, the City of Florence and the Wine Town Committee, is a permanent annual event. WINE TOWN will take place in Florence on Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th. The city of wine, the city that for its past was left with skills which were stratified by centuries of daily practice in the fields of tradition and therefore demands more than anything else, the right to be represented by one of its many strong themes. In short, the capital of the Chianti region, the lands of Tuscany, the Sangiovese, the great and historic families in the vineyards where they have always been and where most of them have withstood the difficult years of depopulation and, finally, many fond producers who, in recent decades have reshaped, reevaluated and requalified agricultural land, restoring the fabric of rural construction in Tuscany. 10 themes or ten points of view to talk about wine, architecture, art, archeology, marketing, communication, innovation and children’s play.

Ten is also the number of the provinces represented by different food products and the most important chefs in the ten Territories.

24th of September – 25th of September 2011

Sponsors: City of Florence (Comune di Firenze), Toscana Promozione and the Wine Town Committee

In cooperation with the Italian Sommelier Association (A.I.S Associazione Italiana Sommelier and the Italian Historic Houses Association ( A.D.S.I. Associazione Dimore Storiche Italiane).

Information: Wine Town Firenze Committee

Tel. +39 055 2050400/462 Fax. +39 055 2050500

info@winetown.it www.winetown.it

Shellac professional colour nail design

I already wrote about Joe, my hairdresser in Florence, right in the city center.

Now I can also have my nails done at Joe's: a young woman who works there has now specializes in semi-permanent nail-polish application, gel, nail reconstruction..

I'd never heard about semi-permanent nail-polish and it's been a real re-birth for me.

This is how it works: she first applies nail-polish (Shellac - CND); and then you place your hands into a sort of small oven so that in a couple of minutes your nails are dry!

And they look perfect! It stays for almost 2 weeks. I never before had such gorgeous hands and I can now forget about filing, polish remover and all the rest! And it's quite inexpensive, on top of that!!

And the colours are really cool: I personally love coral red and fucsia pink.

Hairforce

Via Ghibellina 74/R Florence
Tel. +39 (0)55 241736
hairforce@fastwebnet.it (you can make reservation by email!)

Luxury italian stone jewels

I just received an email from a italian reader who lives in France: she has created some luxury "mosaic jewels" with tuscan travertine stone. Here is what she wrote to me:

The idea of creating stone-made jewels came to my mind some years ago. When I run into the small mosaic tesseras of Tuscany travertine marble, I had the chance of setting stones off and driving them into an intimate and private world.

Besides being a clear esthetical choice, this series of stones and silver-made jewels represents for me also an ethical choice: recovering discarded materials from mosaics. Such a choice deeply roots in the Tuscany land and in its history. Precious objects are created from materials commonly used in the building industry. The simple design of my jewels merges contemporaneity and traditions and enhances the intrinsic beauty of the stones. It accords shapes and shades of color, thus putting forth a new concept of discreet and un-standardized luxury.

For info: http://www.valeriaevarossi.it/

Champagne and aperitif with amazing view in Florence

God Save The Wine of fairies and magic ...with Champagne and Italy's finest bubbles!

After having baptized the summer with the huge crowd at the God Save The Wine in the beautiful Teatro Romano in Fiesole, we came back where it all started in 2010 on the fascinating Terrace Bardini, one of the most striking spots in Florence to celebrate a night of spells and magic.

10 producers, a lot of bubbles, from Champagne to the "new" Prosecco unfilterd sur lie and Franciacorta DOCG, also featuring old and new red wines from Puglia, Sicilia (the vulcan Etna!) and some tuscan classic, not to mention the 80th birthday of Riserva Ducale Ruffino.

An invitation to discover corners of Italy (Apulia, Franciacorta, Maremma, the majestic Mount Etna, the varied Chianti Classico, the miracle of the North East with Prosecco) to renew the magic in our country using the power of Bacchus to seduce and abduct the senses and the imagination to travel with us, in the glass and the people we love to have party with...

Wine List of the evening (including a mixed warm buffet): only 20 euros! eat and drink as much as you like...

Champagne Pommery

Champagne Brut Apanage

Summertime Champagne Blanc de Blancs

Champagne Rosé s.a.

Ruffino (San Polo, Greve in Chianti FI)

Rosatello Rosato IGT Toscana 2010

La Solatia Pinot Grigio IGT Toscana 2010

Riserva Ducale Chianti Classico 2007

Contadi Castaldi (Adro - BS)

Franciacorta Brut

Franciacorta Satèn 2007

Franciacorta Rosè 2004

Tenuta La Badiola (Castiglion della Pescaia GR)

Acquagiusta Maremma Toscana Bianco Vermentino

Acquagiusta Maremma Toscana Rosato

Acquagiusta Maremma Toscana Rosso

Agricoltori del Geografico (Gaiole in Chianti SI)

Vermentino Campo Vernino IGT 2010

Chianti Classico DOCG Molinlungo 2008

Pulleraia Igt Rosso 2007 Merlot

Antichi Vinai

KOINE' etna rosso doc riserva 2007

PETRALAVA etna rosato doc 2010

PETRALAVA etna bianco doc 2010

Cantele Vini

Negroamaro I.G.T. Salento 2009 (100% Negroamaro)

Teresa Manara Bianco Salento I.G.T. 2009 (100% Chardonnay)

Rosato Negroamaro IGT Salento 2010 (100% Negroamaro)

Selezione Zanotto

Zanotto Col Fondo Vino Bianco Frizzante Colli Trevigiani

Zanotto Prosecco fermo IGT

Casa Belfi – Prosecco Colfòndo Azienda La Basseta. San Polo di Piave (Treviso)

20 € wine and food

Moba Terrazza Bardini

Costa San giorgio 4a, Firenze

tel. 055 - 2008 444

email: info@moba.fi.it

info e prenotazioni

Firenze Spettacolo info@firenzespettacolo.it

What's on in Florence in July

Here the are 2 events in english!

A Stubborn Woman - When Stefano Massini first learned about the death of Anna Politkovskaya he created more than a play.  He created an opportunity for those of us who work on it and those who see it to think about the world in which we live.  To consider the question of 'who is our enemy?'

Staged reading - English/Italian with subtitles

Le Murate  via dell'Agnolo Florence

9.30 pm, 15 July

The Nina Variations - When asked to write an adaptation of 'The Seagull' Steven Dietz said: "I was mesmerized by the magnitude of this single fateful encounter."  For those who wonder what 'could have happened' at any moment of our lives, Dietz offers several possibilties for two of Chekov's greatest characters.

Staged reading - English/Italian with subtitles

Le Murate  via dell'agnolo Florence

9.30 pm, 16 July