Tuscan Traveler’s Tales – Have You Seen Arnie & Soot?

Within the historic center of Florence, the Arno River, the islands supporting its bridges and the intermittent riverbanks abound with wildlife. The observant and patient visitor can see carp, catfish and mullet under the Ponte Vecchio and from the balconies of the Lungarno Hotel. Midway on the Carraia Bridge and on the Rowing Club lawn, a family of nutria (kind of a cross between a mouse and a beaver) searches for scraps. Rats and mice pop up everywhere. Herons, ducks, gulls egrets and pigeons are not hard to find.

But there aren’t many cats.

Feral cats hang out in the … Read More

Tuscan Traveler’s Tales – Open House at the Synagogue

Every year in September (this year it was on the 5th) the Synagogue in Florence holds an Open House for the general public. This year it was a chance for everyone, Florentine and tourist, alike, to enjoy the exquisite restoration of one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, while munching on great food, listening to interesting speakers and music, as well as poking into parts of the grand edifice that are not usually open.

The Open House is part of a Europe-wide Day of Hebraic Culture, which included 62 locations across Italy: Giornata Europea della Cultura Ebraica.… Read More

Tuscan Traveler’s Tale – Opera in Spoleto

Taking a short break from Tuscany in August, visitors are well advised to avoid the crowded beaches and head to Spoleto, arguably one of the most musical towns in all of Italy. In August, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM Spoleto) takes over where the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (June/July) leaves off.

CCM Spoleto is open to all students from around the world. In 2010, CCM offered the experience of a lifetime to singers, instrumentalists, conductors, accompanists, and stage technicians. Over 100 talented young people were chosen to travel to Spoleto and participate in numerous … Read More

Tuscan Traveler’s Tales – Having a Bardini Kind of Day!

A couple of days every week a phenomenon overwhelms even the most hardened Florentine.  It is know to some as the “boat people” scrooge. It happens on the days when gigantic cruise ships dock at Livorno. Thousands of pastel-clad tourists shod in flip-flops are unloaded and stuffed into dozens of buses, which transport them to Florence for eight hours of hot, humid sightseeing. They are herded from the Academia to the Uffizi to the Duomo, then through Piazza Signoria and across the Ponte Vecchio.

To escape the armies of sweating, sore-footed deck-crawlers, the wise visitor to Florence will decide on … Read More