Florence - A Last Minute Guide to Italian Vacation

Florence at sunset. Photo by jonrawlinson

Photo by rgtmum

Florence was established in 59 BC by Julius Caesar as a settlement for senior military personnel. It was originally named Florentina (flourishing) and built along the lines of an army camp. The main streets of this original settlement intersected at the site of the modern Piazza della Repubblica. Situated in the fertile Arno River valley, Florence quickly grew to be an important center of commerce.

Florence and the Renaissance: There was a surge in artistic, literary, and scientific activity in Florence from the 14th to 16th centuries. There was a corresponding growth in the economy and private and public funding for academic and artistic endeavors. Florence weather papal schisms and the Black Death, surviving to become the modern city it is today.

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Festival of the Rificolona

Sep (annual)
Where:Piazza Primo Maggio
Cost:Free
Opening Hours:9pm

Photo by fondelli.nadia


Piazza Annunziata. Photo by FaP ;-)


Photo by stringbot

Florence's Rificolona is a traditional festival where children carry lanterns through the streets of the city. There are street performances, parties and a final procession, led by the cardinal, with celebrations lasting into the wee hours of the morning. One theory about the origins of this event links it to an important market that used to take place at the beginning of September. Peasants that lived far from the city would leave for Florence before dark, carrying candles to light the way, and the whole family would dress up for the occasion. Cruel cityfolk would laugh at their attempts to imitate them, and the children would be allowed to maliciously sneak around with mock lanterns and set fire to those of the unfortunate travellers.

Jazz in Piazza Annunziata

Jun - Sep (annual)
Where:Piazza SS Annunziata
Cost:Free
Opening Hours:10pm

The city of Florence spoils its citizens and visitors with a two-month long free jazz festival, staging different concerts every night in Piazza SS Annunziata. The curators of the festival have combined jazz, world music, contemporary expressive and classical music concerts. Afro-American music, folk, funk and Philadelphia sounds are all represented too. The 2005 opening sees Islamic traditions blending with jazz tunes performed by the El Moresco quartet.

Wine Championship

Sep (annual)
Where:Florence
Opening Hours:10am-5pm

Organised by Slow Food Firenze and branded as an "olympic oenological championship", this popular event is held annually in and around Florence and features 16 teams of connoisseurs competing against each other by answering as many wine-related questions as possible. The programme also includes meetings, debates, food and wine-tasting, and other learning activities aimed at raising awareness on the philosophy of the Slow Food Movement. The Slow Food Firenze website publishes full details of this year's programme as soon as they are available.

Toscana Classica

4 May - 15 Sep (annual)
Where:Chiesa Orsanmichele
Opening Hours:9pm

Toscana Classica is a series of classical concerts held from May until September at Chiesa Orsanmichele in Florence. Opening with a concert by Quartetto Arcadia, the 2008 edition is curated by artistic director Riccardo Sandiford. Highlights include Hungarian violinist Xenia Akeynikova (22 June), accompanied by the Toscana Classica Orchestra, and Russian mezzo-soprano Anastasia Boldyreva (5 & 6 July), accompanied by Caterina Maria di Tindari and Sarina Rausa, both renowned Italian sopranos. There are also two special concerts performed by the Solisti Fiorentini and Toscana Classica orchestras, which are held at Museo del Bargello.

Photo by Lonelytraveller_76

Arno Festival

Oct (annual)
Where:Florence

Every year the Arno Festival in Florence promotes the "good health" of Tuscany's main river. During the four days there are talks and meetings on upcoming projects to improve the quality of the water and lower pollution, activities like canoeing, walking and cycling tours, and a horse parade along the river banks.

Creativity Festival

Oct (annual)
Where:Fortezza da Basso
Cost:Free

Creativity of Camera Toss Workshop.
Photo by clickykbd

Held at Florence's Fortezza da Basso, the Creativity Festival is a four-day culture-based event packed with exhibitions, concerts, shows, meetings, artistic performances and workshops. There are 400 events in total, attracting thousands of international artists and art experts, including mass media guru Derrick De Kerckhove, New York-based designer Joshua Davis and Mario Gerosa, leader of the international "Wikipedian" gathering.

People Festival

Nov (annual)
Where:Florence

Florence's People Festival, or Festival dei Popoli, is a long-established international event held at a number of venues, offering a rich programme of film documentaries on contemporary topics. A broad panorama of documentary cinema explores people and their countries, portraits of men and women and stories from all over the globe. By encouraging debate and confrontation, analysis and dialogue, the festival allows for public interaction with experts in the field, including film-makers and key personalities in showbiz.

Italian Food. Photo by shok

Shrimp Scampi with Linguini.
Photo by Divine Domesticity


Florence Food. Photo by seanomatopoeia

Antico Fattore

Cuisine Florentine
The Antico Fattore was a literary watering hole early in the 20th century and remained a favorite trattoria just a few steps from the city's premier museum until the 1993 Uffizi bomb went off a few feet from its doors. The interior has been rebuilt and the restaurant reopened, but many claim it isn't what it used to be. You can't deny they still make a tantalizing lombatina all'aceto basalmico (one of the thickest and most tender veal chops you'll ever find, cooked in balsamic vinegar). You can precede this with a ribollita (more souplike than usual) or a traditional Tuscan pappardelle sul cinghiale (wide noodles in wild boar sauce). If veal's not your style, try their specialty piccione (grilled pigeon

Trattoria Belle Donne

Cuisine Tuscan
Tucked away on a narrow street (whose name refers to the women of the night who once worked this then-shady neighborhood) parallel to exclusive Via dei Tornabuoni, this packed-to-the-gills lunch spot (with no identifying sign) immediately drew the area's chic boutique owners and sales staff. It now tries to accommodate them and countless others in a rather brusque style -- no lingering over lunch; dinner isn't as rushed. Tuscan cuisine gets reinterpreted and updated by the talented young chef, who placates the local palate without alienating it: Traditional dishes appear in the company of innovative alternatives such as cream of zucchini and chestnut soup or lemon-flavored chicken.

Paoli

Cuisine Tuscan
Paoli has one of the most suggestivo (oft-used Italian word for "evocative") settings in town, with tables under a 14th-century vaulted ceiling whose ribs and lunettes are covered with fading 18th-century frescoes. It's in the heart of the sightseeing zone, meaning the prices are as high as they can reasonably push them; very few Italians drop by, but the food is actually quite good. The ravioli verdi alla casalinga (spinach ravioli in tomato sauce) may not be inspiringly prepared, but it's freshly made and tasty. In mushroom season you can order risotto ai funghi, and year-round the scrumptious secondo entrec?te di manzo arlecchino (a thick steak in cognac-spiked cream sauce with peppercorns and sided with mashed potatoes).

La Mescita

Cuisine Sandwiches & Home Cooking
This tiny fiaschetteria is immensely popular with local businesspeople and students from the nearby university. Lunch can be a crushing affair, and they have signs admonishing you to eat quickly to give others a chance to sit. You'll be eating with Italians, and it's not for the timid because you have to take charge yourself: securing a seat, collecting your own place setting, and getting someone's attention to give your order before going to sit down. They offer mainly sandwiches, though there are always a few simple meat and pasta dishes ready as well. Melanzana (eggplant) is overwhelmingly the side dish of choice, and you can look to the cardboard lists behind the counter to select your wine, although the house wine is very good, and a quarter liter of it is cheaper than a can of soda.

Il Vegetariano

Cuisine Vegetarian
Come early to one of Florence's only vegetarian restaurants and use your coat to save a spot at one of the communal wood tables before heading to the back to get your food. You pay at the start of the meal, after choosing from the daily selections penned on the wipe board, and take your dishes self-service style from the workers behind the counter. The menu changes constantly but includes such dishes as risotto with yellow squash and black cabbage; a soupy, spicy Tunisian-style couscous with vegetables; a quichelike pizza rustica of ricotta, olives, tomatoes, and mushrooms; or a plate with farro (emmer) and a hot salad of spinach, onions, sprouts, and bean-curd chunks saut?ed in soy sauce. You can mix and match your own salad, and they make a good chestnut flour cake stuffed with hazelnut cream for dessert

Da Ganino

Cuisine Florentine

Hours Mon-Sat 12:30-3pm and 7:30-10pm
Address Piazza de' Cimatori 4r Location Near the Casa di Dante, Near the Duomo
Transportation Bus: 14

Reservations recommended
Phone 055-214-125

Prices
Primi $7.80-$16
secondi $13-$26
Credit Cards AE, DC, MC, V
Season Closed Aug

Frommer's Review The tiny family-run Ganino has long been a major destination for hungry tourists because it's across from the American Express office as well as halfway between the Duomo and the Uffizi. This has caused the place to jack its prices to eyebrow-raising levels but not sacrifice its friendly service and good food, from the big ol' chunk of mortadella that accompanies your bread basket through the tasty ribollita or gnocchi al pomodoro (ricotta-and-spinach gnocchi in tomato sauce) to the filetto all'aceto basalmico (veal filet cooked in balsamic vinegar) or coniglio in umido (rabbit with boiled potatoes on the side) that rounds out your meal.