Your faithful editor’s love of celebrity gossip news (really, I’m trying to quit) comes in handy this time of year to report to you where are the big stars are vacationing in Italy this summer. Just like us mere mortals, the celebs love Bella Italia. Here’s a rundown on who’s where, doing what: Oprah Winfrey was spotted earlier this month …
Introducing Florence’s Link Travel & More
Link Travel & More is a Florence-based association of professional guides and tour leaders who make Florence and Italy come to life with a blend of history, architecture, literature, music, politics and gossip through the ages. Link offers guided tours in and around Florence, wine tasting and gourmet tours, cooking classes, special events planning, archaeological visits as well as hiking …
Italy’s Top Free Attractions
FREE. In these tight economic times, free is a beautiful word, and if you are planning a trip to Italy, “free Italian attractions” might just be the most beautiful words you’ve ever heard. TripAdvisor, has compiled a list of the Top 10 Free European Attractions, and Italy can boast three spots on that top list: St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice …
Florence’s Cammillo Trattoria: Revisiting an Old Friend
My mom called me on Sunday to tell me that “Cammillo” was in The New York Times. I hadn’t thought about this Florence restaurant in a long time and wondered what made it newsworthy to appear in the paper now. You see my mom and I ate at Trattoria Cammillo in 1995 on our first trip to Italy. We went …
Florence: Christmas and New Year’s Events
Christmas Market (Il Mercato di Natale) in Piazza Santa Croce November 28 to December 16, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Forty-nine exhibitors from 13 European countries will be selling their wares: Christmas decorations from Germany, reindeer furs from Finland, typical sweets from Austria, China-bone from England, dolls and glass from Hungary and amber from Poland.Ice Skating in Piazza della Libertà …
Tuscan Tourism on the Rise
If it seems like more and more people are treking off to spend some time “under the Tuscan sun,” it’s not just your imagination. According to The Florentine, “Statistics from 2006 reveal that tourism in Tuscany is up 7.6 percent from the previous year and there is no sign of it declining. Second only to the region of Veneto, Tuscany’s …
Five Favorite Casual Restaurants in Italy
It is Dream of Italy’s 5th anniversary!And you will see a number of features using the number “5” in the coming months. I’m inaugurating the series this month with “Five Favorite Casual Restaurants in Italy.” I was going to just pick my five favorite restaurants from my travels over the last five years but, although it may sound cliche, it …
Florence Nixes Calcio Storico This June
Every June, Florence engages in a city-wide historic soccer (calcio storico) tournament, which rivals even the pomp and ceremony of Siena’s Palio, but this year’s tournament has been called off due to increasing violence surrounding the event. The historic game of calcio storico is a predecessor to modern soccer and combines elements of soccer, rugby, “Greco-Roman wrestling” and “bare-knuckle fighting.” …