News from Florence

News

2006 Elections. So far it appears that Italy does indeed have a new prime minister, Romano Prodi. His center-left coalition just squeaked by with the tiniest majority of votes cast, just barely beating out the center-right group led by Silvio “I’m-a-buffoon-and-proud-of-it” Berlusconi. However, the question is now whether such a government will be able to govern effectively and can remain stable to really accomplish anything worthwhile.

Gasoline (“benzina”) is running about 1.37 euros per liter, or about $6 bucks a gallon (3.7 liters to a gallon).

The bus station in Florence is undergoing major repair of some kind and so all the intercity busses are taking on and dropping off passengers next to the train station at Santa Maria Novella, on Via Alemanni (with your back to the tracks, located to the right out of the station).

Travel tips in Florence – “getting around online”

There is quite a bit of information online on Florence and of course a lot more on Tuscany. Below I’ve posted some of the sites which I think you might most helpful, particularly if you’re coming for just two or three days.

The official tourist offices in Florence can provide you with great maps and they’re free. They have two offices that are centrally located: one can be found directly across from Santa Maria Novella train station (and just to the right of Santa Maria Novella church). It’s down a few steps and not terribly well marked so you’ll have to look closely. But they can be very helpful in answering questions, giving directions, etc. The only “information” available in the train station is sold through vendors so head for the TI.

The other major TI office is at Via Cavour 1/r, which is just a block or so up Cavour from the Duomo and has a nice large “I” sign out front so you can’t miss it..

As for the TI desk at Florence airport I haven’t been there since they reopened the airport in March.

Italy’s user-friendly train system can be easily accessed online at: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

The official Florence tourist information website is: http://www.firenzeturismo.it/en_default.asp

If you are planning on being in Florence for several days or longer you might want to take a bus to Fiesole or one of the surrounding Tuscan hill towns. The Florentine bus system website is: http://www.ataf.net/Default_EN.asp

If you’re looking for access to the Internet while in Florence and your hotel or apartment does not provide that service, there are lots of choices available to you –probably too many. Anyway we use Internet Train. It is probably Italy’s largest train of Internet “cafes”. The great thing is you can use their prepaid cards literally anywhere in Italy, so if you’re going to be spending time in Rome, Venice, Milan or any one of many of smaller cities of Italy think about IT. If you are bringing a laptop your choices dwindle to very few places that can or will provide you with access; again IT does. Lest you think I make money from pushing IT, I wish. We’ve used them in several locations in Italy and the service is always first-rate – and in the larger cities they provides lots of other services as well such as shipping!

Anyway, there’s a link to their site: http://www.internettrain.it/wel_eng.asp

The English-language theater in Florence, the Odeon Cinehall, shows newly released movies in their original language several times a week. The theater is conveniently located just a block over from Piazza della Repubblica. You can access their schedule and find out more online at: http://www.cinehall.it/

Weather in Florence:
For maps of Florence: http://www.florenceandabroad.com/download.htm

For additional online resources for Florence check out the following:
http://www.discoveritalia.com:80/cgwe/itinerarioCitta.asp?IDtipoItinerario=1&IDcitta=10&lingua=en
http://www.firenze.net/dynamic/index.wbs?lingua=ENG
http://www.florencecitytourist.com/
http://www.arca.net/florence.htm
http://weekendafirenze.it/index.php

Out of the Ordinary – “The Photographs of Fratt. Alinari”

This is a unique shop right off the busy and frenetic Via Nazionale, just a stone’s throw from Santa Maria Novella train station. You might never notice the small sign outside at the entrance to the little tunnel that takes you inside a small courtyard that is mostly for parking now. Directly in front of you are the Alinari photographic archives, one of the largest photographic archive houses in the country. Researchers from all over the world use their collections. Anyway, to your right you will find the entrance to the showroom and bookstore. You might have to ring the bell for someone but go right ahead and do so. Once inside you will find a grand collection of photography books, photographic prints and numerous other items from the collections held by Alinari, all for sale. (Via Nazionale 14; hours Monday 2:30-6:30 pm, Tues-Friday, 9:00-1:00 pm and 2:30-6:30 pm; Saturday 9:00-1:00 pm and 3:00-7:00 pm.)

Restaurant of the week – “Golden View Open Bar”

I had read somewhere that this place was supposed to be quite good. Anyway we had walked by it a number of times since it was located on the southern side of the Arno (the “Oltrarno”) right along the river just a bit east of the Ponte Vecchio. We ate there on 31 March with some friends visiting from the US and then went back a week later with another couple who also live in Florence. They pointed out that it had fallen on hard times some years back and were truly amazed at the new restoration, remarking that the décor and overall ambience was quite pleasing indeed compared with the old look. Try to get a table overlooking the river and Ponte Vecchio. Touristy maybe but the air was fine, the view cool, the service friendly and the food as reasonably priced as it was tasty – and so were the wines. (Via dei Bardi 58r, ph. 055.214.502. www.goldenviewopenbar.com. “Always open”. They also have live jazz as well. Check their website for dates and times.)

Wines of the week – “southern reds”

While the Primitivo grape from the Salento peninsula in Puglia is starting to make headway in New World markets -- indeed some claim that it is in fact the ancestor of the American-bred Zinfandel grape – many southern Italian reds remain in the shadows of their northern cousins, such as Chianti and the Nebbiolo wines. We found the following two wines at our local Osteria shop

“A-Mano,” a delicious full-bodied wine made from the Primitivo grape from southern Puglia. Priced at: 7.60 euros (available at Osteria d’Ortolano, Via degli Alfani, Firenze.).

“Aglianico” from Dei Fratelli in Campania. The Wassermans in their exhaustive study “Noble Red Wines of Italy” declared that Italy produced three truly great red wines: the Nebbiolo wines (Barolo and Barbaresco in particular), the Sangiovese wines (Brunello in particular) and the Aglianico. Priced at: 11.00 euros (available at Osteria d’Ortolano, Via degli Alfani, Firenze.)

Please note that we pay for everything we eat and drink, and all our recommendations and suggestions are based on personal experience.
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Email me if you have any questions, problems or inquiries and I’ll see what I can do. The service is free so of course there are no guarantees. But then travel, like life, isn’t guaranteed, is it?

Wish you were here,

Steve