The fish tank was back. The same week that the huge colorful aquarium was returned to its place in the waiting room of the UNM Cancer Center, Ellen Reavis left this world for a new adventure. Ellen didn’t know that in a life of both big and little causes, she was the victor in her […]
Between 10 and 11 o’clock on Easter Sunday morning, a tradition that has played out annually over the last 500 years will be celebrated in front of the Duomo in Florence. The Scoppio del Carro, or Explosion of the Cart, is a mixed pagan/religious ceremony. Marking both Easter and Spring, the successful ignition of the
Behind the arched iron gate, just across the street from the Montevarchi train station, in a quiet courtyard, nestled below tall pines, is one of the trendiest restaurants in Tuscany. With an updated take on Tuscan cuisine, the kitchen at Ristorante Galeffi never fails to please. Ristorante Galeffi is built on the site of the
Often Florence can bring on an epic case of claustrophobia. When the Renaissance bankers built their McMansions, they did not widen the medieval streets. Although not many buildings in the historic center are much over ninety feet high (note: come visit soon – the Prime Minister is inviting everyone to add a floor or two to
As Italy is sucked into the worldwide economic crisis, and the general attitude in the streets of Florence is that of cynical pessimism, it is refreshing to see a write-up in the NY Times about the small Sicilian town of Salemi that gave artists and intellectuals power to remake the historic center of the town
It’s nearly impossible to find a store in the U.S. that has been in business for 130 years. And it is getting more and more difficult to find a multi-generational family business in Florence. But tucked across from the back side of the Duomo is one such place – Nante, a shop of timbri (rubber or
When a visitor tires of the noisy teeming crowds amid the gray stones of Florence, he or she should board the SITA bus or travel by car to the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, located south on the roads to Siena and Greve. In the green silence, this historic location is a place to learn about the
In the Oltrarno of Florence, upstream from the Ponte alle Grazie, is a small jewel of a museum that is open free to the public. The Museo Casa Siviero is located at the ground floor of the fine 19th century building on the banks of the river Arno, where the sophisticated collector and wartime “James
The village of Montefioralle is one of the most well-preserved medieval villages in all of Tuscany. Originally a walled castle, it is located in the heart of the Chianti Classico region on a low ridge above the town of Greve. Castello di Montefioralle, first mentioned in 1085, was built with two parallel octagonal walls. The
Snow in Florence is rare. But it does frost the Duomo every few years for a day or two. While Tuscan Traveler was enjoying the sun on the Pacific Ocean on the coast of Chile in 2005, snow fell on Florence. Again in 2008, this time the sun, but not the warmth, was in Santa