AIFS in Florence — Notes from Campus
Features from the AIFS in Florence RD Newsletter!
Photo: Richmond Students in St. Peter's Square
Pasqua in Italia … in Three Steps
The Via Frangenica
Good Luck in Florence
Carnivale in Viareggio
Quaresima Open Markets
Photos!
Thanksgiving Dinner
Markets in Florence
10 Important Things to Do in Florence
A Fun Itinerary for Parents and Visitors
Harvest Time in Italy
Photo: Richmond Students in St. Peter's Square
Pasqua in Italia … in Three Steps
Have a full immersion in the Italian Easter tradition following these three steps!
- Give your friends an Easter egg wrapped up in bright-colored paper … with a little surprise inside. An old tradition wants that Italian families make some hard-boiled eggs blessed in church to be eaten on Easter Sunday.
- Taste fried or roast lamb (agnello fritto o arrosto), a typical Easter lunch dish.
- A very important Easter symbol is the dove: the sign of purity and peace.
Are you staying in Florence for Easter Sunday? Don't miss Mass in Piazza del Duomo!
A huge explosion will be detonated Easter Sunday in front of the magnificent green- and white-marbled neogothic church in Florence's centro storico. Thousands of spectators will cheer the noise and smoke, for they will be witnesses to the annual “Scoppio del Carro” – explosion of the cart. For over 300 years the Easter celebration in Florence has included this ritual, during which an elaborate wagon, a structure built in 1679 and standing two to three stories high, is dragged through Florence behind a fleet of white oxen decorated with garland. During the midday service, a holy fire is stoked by ancient stone chips from the Holy Sepulcher, and the Archbishop lights a dove-shaped rocket, which travels down a wire and collides with the cart in the square, setting off spectacular fireworks and explosions to the cheers of all. A big bang ensures a good harvest, and a parade in Medieval costume follows.
The Via Frangenica
Do you want to be a real pilgrim for a day? Do you want to follow the same roa travelled for centuries by knights, saints, and merchants? Don't miss this field trip to the Via Francigena!
Richmond organizes an amazing field trip to one portion of this old road running through the Lucca area.
The Via Francigena is an ancient road between Rome and Canterbury, passing through England, France, Switzerland and Italy. It was an important medieval road and pilgrimage route connecting north-western Europe with Rome.
“Once upon a time there was a path, that still exists, which runs along the places
where we grew up. It is not a fictitious road, living in the shadows of our
imagination and of our feelings, but a real one. Its disjointed stones tell us of a
past that does not exist anymore, of a past discolored by the passing of the
centuries. This ancient road has its own story as well as an important name: it is
the famous Francigena Road (also known as Romea). On its pavement the
dreams of lost pilgrims faded away. They entrusted this road with their hopes
and wishes in order to reach the Sacred Places of the Christianity (Rome and
the Holy Land), where to get the forgiveness for their sins and the purification of
their souls. The history of ancient Europe has been written on this road among
its gross-grown stones, not only by pilgrims but by merchants, knights, kings and
armies ...”
By Comitato Via Francigena
Good Luck in Florence
If you are superstitious and looking for a place which could be good luck for any love affair, you can walk down VIA DEI BARDI, on the other side of the River, near the Ponte Vecchio. In this street the Florentine version of the love story between Romeo and Juliet took place.
Dianora was a young, beautiful lady belonging to the prestigious noble Bardi family; the boy named Ippolito came from an inferior class, the Buontalenti Family (although there is an ice-cream taste named as such, this family was not into the ice-cream business at all!). One night they decided to escape together. Dressed in black, he climbed the façade of her palace but the guards caught him, exchanging him for a thief. Ippolito did not want to dishonour his beloved and accepted to be sentenced to death, but as his last wish he asked to walk down the street in front of Dianora’s house. The story has a happy ending of course: Dianora was waiting for him ready to claim her love for the boy and to clear him of his charge.
Carnivale in Viareggio
The Viareggio Carnival was established in 1873 when some of the local "signori" decided
to organize a Sunday a little different from the rest, by inventing a procession
of decorated floats which travelled up and down the main street of the city. On that
occasion, a masked protest was also organized by a number of citizens, as they were
forced to pay too many taxes, and as a result, the chief tax collector was certainly
made fun of!! The idea of making floats that interpreted the humor and dissatisfaction
of the people came about in that year. Since then, Viareggio has become the
home of the Italian Carnival, with its masked parades characterized by allegorical
floats in paper-mâché. These floats are true works of art to which the local float
makers dedicate an entire year of workmanship. There is not one politician, entertainer,
or intellectual that has not been a target (protagonist) of one of these floats.
On every float young people and children find a place from which to throw confetti
and shooting stars onto the crowd.
A previous Richmond in Florence student describes her experience on Carnivale in Viareggio:
Carnevale in Viareggio was like no other experience I have ever had. People swarm around gigantic paper maché gorillas, pictures of their President, Berlusconi, and naked models of Naomi Campbell. It was not a place for anyone who likes peace, quiet or to stay even a bit clean or neat. Everyone buys at least one bag of confetti to throw on unsuspecting bystanders, even foam and silly string is used to douse people with all the fun that carnivale brings. So much work goes into the many, many colorful floats that depict mostly political ideas and poke fun at politicians and celebrities. It was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone in the area around February or March.
Quaresima Open Markets
Are you staying in Florence for the next few weekends? Are you studying for midterms and are you writing your papers?
Maybe you didn’t know that every Sunday until April 4th there’s a big open market in the Cascine Park! You can go there and take a break from your studies and take a walk in the park.
The market is huge and you can find everything there, from pets to clothesclothes and textiles!
Photos!
Thanksgiving Dinner
Richmond in Florence organized a Thanksgiving Dinner for its students at Palazzo Borghese, a beautiful palace in the heart of Florence. The dinner was held in the Ball Gallery, an enchanting room decorated with frescoes.
The catering staff of Palazzo Borghese has been organizing the Richmond Thanksgiving dinner for many years, and every year they surprise our students with the entrance of the turkey carried by two waiters.
Markets in Florence
Mercato Centrale
Via dell'Ariento - S.Lorenzo District
This market is located in a very characteristic district of Florence: San Lorenzo. The market is very cheap, and you can find here everything you need for your perfect Italian Style dinner: meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and the best Tuscan and Italian cheeses! Remember: the market is closed on Sunday! It is definitely worth a visit!
Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio
Piazza Ghiberti
The market is either indoor or outdoor. Outside you can find fresh fruits and
vegetables, clothes, flowers, shoes and house ware stands...Inside you can find meat, fish, pasta, general groceries, good cheeses, etc...Inside there is even a bar and a good (and cheap!) restaurant... A good place for shopping! Remember: it's open every weekday (except Sunday).
Mercato delle Cascine
Parco delle Cascine
Probably the biggest (and cheapest) market in town! Here you can find almost everything you need: fruits, vegetables, clothing, general groceries, house ware stands, antiquities, telephone cards...everything! Only one problem: it's open exclusively on Tuesday morning.
Mercato di Santo Spirito
Piazza S. Spirito (near the school)
It is an outdoor market. It takes place every morning, Monday to Saturday, from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Every day you find different vendors and there is a little bit of everything, from fresh fruit to shoes and clothes! It’s fun to go there every morning and pick your favourite vendor.
10 Important Things to Do in Florence
(When in Florence do what Florentines do!)
- To rub the pig nose at the "pig market" (the statue is located on the side of the pig market in Via di Calimala). This should bring you good luck!
- To taste the true bistecca alla fiorentina (Florentine steak means T-bone steak, 4 cm thick and half raw) with a glass of Chianti Classico (I said one glass!). My grandpa would say: Fa' sangue (it is good for your red blood cells).
- To watch a soccer match of Fiorentina (the team of the town) at Artemio Franchi Stadium, singing Ale' Voila Ale'.
- To walk through the open market of Cascine on Tuesday mornings (between 8:30am and 1pm) looking for designer clothing for cheap, after a healthy run through the park!
- To have a gorgeous aperitivo (it means a drink served with finger food, which Italians have right before lunch or dinner) at Caffe Gilli in Plaza delle Repubblica.
- To try the hot chocolate of Rivoire in Piazza della Signoria.
- To buy the Santa maria Novella Pharmacie's pout-pourrie (Via della Scala N°16).
- To ransack in the used, odd objects of the antique market in Piazza dei Ciompi (last Sundays of the month).
- To try the homemade gelato of Vivoli (in Via Isola delle Stinche, behind the Verdi Theater.
- To eat the Pugi Bakery's schiacciata in Piazza San Marco.
A Fun Itinerary for Parents and Visitors
Wake up between 9.00 and 10.00AM!
Take a walk through the narrow streets of the city centre and reach the bar Rivoire in Piazza della Signoria. If the weather is good sit outside and order some cappuccino and brioches. You are right in the centre of Florence, in front of the City Hall (Palazzo Vecchio). Rivoire is famous for its selection of chocolate pralines. Visit the Uffizi (it is easier if you reserve your friends' entrance in advance Tel. 055 294883).
After the Uffizi walk trough Via dei Calzaiuoli and in just one minute you will see the Baptistery and the Duomo.
Walk trough Borgo San Lorenzo and reach Piazza San Lorenzo, where you can admire the Brunelleschi Basilica and walk trough the open market where you will find lots of souvenirs and good opportunities.
By now it should be time to have lunch and you should not miss the opportunity to taste some genuine Florentine food in one of the restaurants located around the Piazza del Mercato Centrale (see your meal plan).
After lunch walk along via dei Tornabuoni, where you can admire the glamour windows of Gucci, Armani, Tiffany etc., cross the river at Ponte S. Trinita and reach Boboli Garden where you can relax for a couple of hours.
At about 4.00PM walk through the centre and go to Vivoli to taste the most famous ice cream of Florence. See Piazza Santa Croce.
Walk through the Ponte Vecchio and continue along Via Guicciardini until you reach Piazza Pitti. Keep walking another few hundred yards and go to dinner to the in one of the typical trattoria surrounding Piazza Santo Spirito (when the season is nice most of them have outside tables) and try some typical Tuscan food.
Have you yet tasted any of these Florentine specialties: Pappa al Pomodoro (Bread and tomatoes soup), Ribollita (Vegetable soup with bread) or Bistecca alla Fiorentina (a very thick steak, rare coocked!). If not this is the moment…
After dinner you might consider taking a little walk along the river to admire Florence bridges mirroring in the Arno.
Harvest Time in Italy
Harvest time in Tuscany is a sensory celebration of food, wine and flavor. Throughout Tuscany, September is the month of grape picking, one of the merriest and most joyful harvests in the farming world. With the exceptionally warm weather that continues through September here, the only real signal that the loveliest season in Tuscany is about to begin is the traditional autumnal vendemmia, or grape harvest. As leaves on the vines are just barely changing from the vibrant summery green to a golden-brown, troops of harvesters are heading to pick one of Italy's most famed product, the grape.
During this period the fields are full of people picking grapes. They fill up plastic containers, then they carry them to the end of the row and dump them into a big open container that is pulled by a tractor. You can see these containers full of grapes driving down the country roads. It is even possible to smell the fermenting taking place when you walk by farms. Some of the best wine in the world, the Chianti Classico, comes from this region. But before the wine is ready, there are other treats to enjoy. The schiacciata con uva, or flat bread with grapes, can be found in every bakery during the harvest. It. Is a delicious bread that is slightly sweetened by grapes cooked inside of it. It's best when just taken out of the oven. Celebrations and festive events are held almost everywhere, thus giving visitors the chance to enjoy themselves as wells as taste the local events. The most famous, and oldest, of such is the Grape Harvest Festival at Impruneta on September 27th.
So don’t miss the chance!
This is a very freaky time to visit the Chianti area! Also, please note that grapes are crushed by machines only (EU and Italy laws), so unfortunately, you will not be able to partake in this process.
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